Manitoulin Island Radio ~ Spotlight On! Misery Bay

Manitoulin Island-Radio.Net

Spotlight On!

Misery Bay
Provincial Nature Reserve

Misery Bay ~ Collage, Manitoulin Island
© 2002-6 by SLaF, Cricket Hill ~The Digital Darkroom,
Original Digital PhotoArt, All Rights Reserved

The Misery Bay Provincial Nature Reserve is one of our
Favorite Places to Visit and Photography on The Island!!

ManitoulinIsland is located in Lake Huron north{west} of the Bruce Peninsula across
the Channel connecting the Lake to Georgian Bay. As an extension of the Niagara
Escarpment/Bruce Peninsula - the geologic formation over which Niagara Falls
spills the waters of the Niagara River - Manitoulin Island shares, despite its
seemingly 'removed' location, many of the geological characteristics of this area.

Limestone

Piece of 'Earth Puzzle'

Like the Escarpment/Peninsula, Manitoulin Island is, geologically-speaking,
Limestone-Based, with high rocks/bluffs along its northshore, and flatlands
sloping slowly into Lake Huron on its southshore.

As with the rest of the Escarpment/Peninsula, Manitoulin Island is home to
the unique and rare Alvar Habitat - Alvars have been refererred to as 'nature's
rock gardens'. In fact, this area has the only Alvars found in North America,
and most of the known Alvars found in the world.

               Beach ~ Misery Bay, Manitoulin Island
           © 2002-6 by SLaF, Cricket Hill ~The Digital Darkroom,
                          Original Digital PhotoArt, All Rights Reserved

Alvars are grassland, savanna and sparsely vegetated rock barrens that develop
on Limestone Outcrops and Bedrock with shallow soils. These are harsh and
inhospitable environments, which support an extraordinary diversity of hardy,
but rare plants, animals and invertebrates. These habitats are also fragile
and extremely sensitive, and so are easily damaged by many human activities.

Mushroom ~ Misery Bay, Manitoulin Island

© 2002-6 by SLaF, Cricket Hill ~The Digital Darkroom,
Original Digital PhotoArt, All Rights Reserved

It so happens that the South Shore of Manitoulin Island is home to one of
the best intact Alvars remaining in North America. This fact prompted The
Nature Conservancy of Canada, in association with the Ontario Provincial
Government, to purchase a tract land to create a Special, Protected Site.

Misery Bay Provincial Nature Reserve was designated as a Nature Reserve in

1989 by the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Ontario Provincial
Government. It is an 860-hectare Ontario Provincial Park located on the south
shore of Manitoulin Island, approximately 35-40 kilometers West-Southwest
of Gore Bay, and about 15 - 20 minutes West and South of the village of
Evansville.

As an aside ~ some say that The Island is at its narrowest point between Misery
Bay on the South and Elizabeth Bay on the North .. a distance of approximately
4 kilometres.

Shore ~ Misery Bay, Manitoulin Island

                                                                   © 2002-6 by SLaF, Cricket Hill ~The Digital Darkroom,
                                                                               Original Digital PhotoArt, All Rights Reserved

The Misery Bay Provincial Nature Reserve was established to protect not
only the areas of Alvar Habitat, but also, a large and uniquely diverse
Wetland Area, which contains elements of bog, fen, and marsh vegetation
surrounded by a Cedar Swamp. Protected also are a large unbroken area of
mixed woodland, old beach ridges left by glaciation, as well as, 15 kilometres
of beautiful, largely unspoiled, Lake Huron Shoreline.

                                                                   Plantlife ~ Misery Bay, Manitoulin Island
                                                             © 2002-6 by SLaF, Cricket Hill ~The Digital Darkroom,
                                                                           Original Digital PhotoArt, All Rights Reserved

Misery Bay Provincial Nature Reserve is a wilderness park with few services;
other than a Visitors/Interpretive Centre, which is usually attended by a Park
Staff Member or a Volunteer [Friends of Misery Bay]. A set of trails [hiking
and boardwalk] measuring approximately 9 kilometers, however, traverses the
Reserve's varied Environments, and will bring you through some of the Quietly
Extraordinary Areas contained within the Reserve.

As well, the Reserve affords Visitors with the possibility of/for bird-watching,
seeing all sorts of fossils, and opportunities for Peaceful Solitude in the company
of some of Nature's More Subtle Wonders. People planning to visit the area are
advised to bring along items for back-country hiking (a water bottle, some
food, a compass, and possibly bug repellant).

Two things to remember, when visiting the Reserve ~ it is open for day-use-only,
and, to please leave the Reserve with as little trace/evidence of your having been
there as possible!