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William Ennis
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William Ennis
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William Ennis
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William Ennis
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William Ennis
Story and photos by William Ennis
Travellers across Northern Ontario enjoy many miles of wilderness, interrupted occasionally by small bits of civilization. Hidden in this vast forest is the second highest waterfall in Ontario — the Kakabeka Falls, a mighty flow of water, split by a column of rock and falling an impressive 40 m (130 ft). Here the mighty Kaministiquia River pauses for a moment to plunge ferociously into the gorge, before continuing its journey to Lake Superior.
Perhaps best of all, the falls are located in Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park, which has a place for you and your RV. The Kaministiquia River was part of the early canoe route of the explorers and then later the fur traders used it as their highway west, so you will be parked amidst a lot of years of Canada's history.
There are three campgrounds:
Whispering Hills is the only site for you if you have electrical needs. It has back-in sites, as well as a few drive-through sites. The washrooms have showers and laundry facilities.
Near the side of the river are Riverside and Fern's Ridge. They both have some drive-through sites and outdoor privies. Between the two campgrounds, you will find a flush toilet building.
The hikes here won't take you miles into the backcountry, but they are good places for a walk after a long day in the RV.
The Mountain Portage Trail starts at the Visitor Centre and marks out the places where the early fur traders portaged around the falls. It also gives you up-close views of the river, the canyon, and the waterfall. The trail is a 1.25 km loop.
The Boardwalk Trail awaits you right from the parking lot. A bridge puts you in position for great views of the falls, as do the viewing platforms on either side of the falls.
If you want something tougher, try the Little Falls Trail, which you pick up from the Mountain Portage Trail, and then drop steeply into the gorge where you can see scenic Little Falls. The trip up and out follows the historic portage trail. (2.4 km)
The Popular Point Trail meanders for 4 km near the Whispering Hills Campground through an aspen forest. It is a colourful sight in the in autumn.
However, it is the waterfall that is the focal point of this provincial park. Kakabeka may come from the Ojibwe word meaning "Thundering River," or "Water Falling over Cliff." Either way, it's well described. One of the legends about the attraction describes an imminent attack on the Ojibwe tribe living below the falls. The attacking Sioux tribe are met upriver above the falls by the daughter of the chief of the Ojibwe. She is captured, but bargains for her life by telling the Sioux that she will lead them down the river to where her tribe is hidden. Setting out in the lead canoe with the other Sioux warriors paddling behind, the brave girl leads them straight over the lip of the waterfall and destroys them all. Legend has it that when you look over the waterfall, you can see her beckoning in the mists.
This waterfall only exists because of two geological features. The Kaministiquia River runs southward over the hard igneous rocks of the Canadian Shield. In the Thunder Bay region of Lake Superior, there is a segment of sedimentary rock lying tilted against the edge of the igneous rock of the Canadian Shield. Usually, you could find sedimentary rock eroding more quickly than igneous rock so why is there a high waterfall dropping into a deep canyon? It is because of a very similar process to what is happening at Niagara Falls. Once the river reaches the generally softer sedimentary rock it still doesn't erode quickly. The bed of the river runs on a very hard, erosion resistant layer, a metre thick deposit of chert. Under the chert is the more easily eroded shale. The chert holds firm while the water pours over it, but down below in the plunge pool the shale erodes and breaks free, cutting back under the waterfall cliff. After a while, the hard chert layer breaks off, and the waterfall moves back a small distance. In places, this creates an almost vertical cliff.
Since the last Ice Age, 10,000 years ago, the Kaministiquia River gorge has proceeded upstream by about 500 metres. The procession is much slower now than it was when terrific flows of water were coming from the melting glacier.
The underlying sedimentary rock at the base of the waterfall is almost two billion years old and contains fossil stromatolites. This was a striking find for the geologists discovering them in this region. More information about the fossils can be found at the Visitor Centre.
If you are looking for a side trip, you can drive into Hillcrest Park in Thunder Bay. Here, on a high hill, on the top of the sedimentary rock layers, you can look out on Lake Superior and see an outcropping of the sedimentary rock that is above the water. Many people, with good imaginations, claim that the formation looks like a figure of a sleeping man, and so the Sleeping Giant is the name.
For anyone interested in other earthly geological events, you can see unusual fragments of rock fused into the rocks along a cliff. Another rock outcrop near the park has big rock pieces embedded in it. Research suggests that these fragments came from a meteorite that blasted a hole in the ground in the Sudbury area 600 km to the east. Some blast! Yet it provided the Sudbury area with vast resources of nickel.
Another place of interest is the Fort William Historical Park, near Thunder Bay. The North West Fur Company built a trading post on the Kaministiquia River to store furs brought down the river by the First Nations. Trade goods were kept here and the furs were re-packed and sent back to Montreal. The reconstructed Fort William is very realistic and so are the actors who portray everyday life in the busy fort. The park is a must stop for anyone interested in Canadian history, or anyone wanting to mingle with the ghosts of the past.
Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park is overlooked by thousands of cars going east and west across Canada, yet it is certainly worth a short visit if only to see the spectacle of tons of water hurtling over the cliff. See it for yourself on your next trip across Northern Ontario.