Algonquin Provincial Park

Established in 1893, Algonquin Provincial Park was Ontario's first provincial park. Today, it's the third largest provincial park in Ontario with an area covering more than 760,000 hectares. Algonquin is classified as a Natural Environment park and is managed for protection, heritage appreciation, recreation, tourism, and use of resources. It is the only provincial park in Ontario where commercial forestry is allowed.

All activities within the park are guided by the Algonquin Provincial Park Management Plan. The plan defines the zones that guide the range of activities allowed in the park. These zones are nature reserve, wilderness, historical, natural environment, development, access and recreation-utilization. The recreation-utilization zone is the largest, covering 78 per cent of the park.

Ontario Parks Board

The Ontario Parks Board of Directors is a public advisory committee providing advice to the Minister of Natural Resources on the management of Ontario's provincial parks, including policy, planning, and business strategies. The board is made up of a chair and twelve directors, representing a diverse range of interests from across Ontario.

Algonquin Forestry Authority

The Algonquin Forestry Authority is a provincial Crown agency responsible for sustainable forest management in the park. Responsibilities also include the harvesting and distribution of wood products to mills in communities adjacent to the park. The authority's activities are overseen by a Board of Directors made up of individuals from local communities whose main interest is the maintenance of Algonquin's unique values for future generations.

The Algonquin Forestry Authority has offices in Huntsville and Pembroke.

Recreation

also from around the world. Park attractions include world-class recreation opportunities, the visitor centre, logging museum and an art centre. Visitors can enjoy public wolf howls, guided walks, presentations, spirit walks, and a wide variety of children's programming provided by park staff.

Hundreds of kilometres of trails are located throughout the park for hiking, mountain biking, backpacking, cross-country skiing, and dog sledding. The park also has multiple day-use areas, thousands of campsites of various types, and over 2,100 kilometres of canoe routes. In addition, there are four research stations, 305 cottage leaseholds, three park lodges and six youth camps.

Natural Heritage

With its vast interior of maple hills, white pine forests, rocky ridges, spruce bogs, and thousands of lakes, ponds and streams, Algonquin Park supports an amazing diversity of plants and wildlife. The park has more than 1,000 plant species, 272 bird species, 45 species of mammals, 14 species of reptiles and 16 species of amphibians. Species at risk found here include the bald eagle, eastern wolf and shortjaw cisco.

Algonquin is famous for wildlife viewing, especially eastern wolves, moose, deer, beaver and black bears. Public wolf howls - offered by the park's natural heritage education program - provide visitors an opportunity to appreciate the call of the wild.

The park contains 2,456 lakes in 19 watersheds and protects the headwaters of several major river systems. It's a renowned trout fishing destination for thousands of anglers every year, with 149 lake trout lakes and the largest complex of naturally reproducing brook trout lakes in the world.

Forestry

Logging has taken place in Algonquin Park since it was established, making it unique within the provincial parks system. Algonquin's significant forest resources are an important source of wood for the forest industry. The harvest represents over 40 per cent of the Crown wood supply harvested in central Ontario, and supports about 2,800 jobs within the region.

Logging is allowed within the park's recreational-utilization zone, as set out in the park management plan. The Algonquin Forestry Authority's forest management plan guides how the logging takes place. Only about 1.5 per cent of the park area is harvested annually.

In 2008-2009, the value of forest products sold by the Algonquin Forestry Authority was $20.8 million. The wood supply from Algonquin Park has primarily supported 13 mills in local communities of Huntsville, Whitney, Madawaska, Pembroke and Rutherglen. The Algonquin Park forest contributes approximately $134 million to the Ontario economy annually.

• Contact Us
• Accessibility
• Privacy
• Help

• Full Site
• Important Notices