Ouimet Canyon is a large
gorgeA canyon, or gorge, is a deep valley between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Most canyons were formed by a process of long-time erosion from a plateau level. The cliffs form because harder rock strata that are resistant to erosion and weathering remain exposed on the valley walls...
in
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is
100 metresTo compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 100 metres and 1000 metres .Distances shorter than 100 metres-Conversions:100 metres is equal to:* 328 feet...
deep, 150 metres wide and 2 kilometres in length, and is situated in
Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park in
Northwestern OntarioNorthwestern Ontario is the region within the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior, and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the Canadian province of Manitoba, which disputed Ontario's claim to the...
, about 60 km northeast of
Thunder Bay-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of two places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
.
There is a walkway consisting of
boardwalkA boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden path for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles. Boardwalks are often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments. Boardwalks along intertidal zones are known as...
s and
trailA trail is a path or road used for walking, cycling, cross-country skiing, or other activities. Some trails are off-limits to everyone other than hikers, and a few trails allow motorized vehicles....
s, which leads to viewing platforms overlooking the canyon. Visitors to the canyon should remain on the marked trails for their own safety. Also in the Ouimet Canyon area, there are rare alpine flowers that are considered especially beautiful and arctic plants normally found 1000 km further north.
The canyon was named after a former railway station, Ouimet Station, which used to be located nearby on the
Canadian Pacific RailwayThe Canadian Pacific Railway , known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a Canadian Class I railway operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. Its rail network stretches from Vancouver to Montreal, and also serves major cities in the United States such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City...
line.
Ouimet Canyon is a large
gorgeA canyon, or gorge, is a deep valley between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Most canyons were formed by a process of long-time erosion from a plateau level. The cliffs form because harder rock strata that are resistant to erosion and weathering remain exposed on the valley walls...
in
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is
100 metresTo compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 100 metres and 1000 metres .Distances shorter than 100 metres-Conversions:100 metres is equal to:* 328 feet...
deep, 150 metres wide and 2 kilometres in length, and is situated in
Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park in
Northwestern OntarioNorthwestern Ontario is the region within the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior, and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the Canadian province of Manitoba, which disputed Ontario's claim to the...
, about 60 km northeast of
Thunder Bay-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of two places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
.
There is a walkway consisting of
boardwalkA boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden path for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles. Boardwalks are often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments. Boardwalks along intertidal zones are known as...
s and
trailA trail is a path or road used for walking, cycling, cross-country skiing, or other activities. Some trails are off-limits to everyone other than hikers, and a few trails allow motorized vehicles....
s, which leads to viewing platforms overlooking the canyon. Visitors to the canyon should remain on the marked trails for their own safety. Also in the Ouimet Canyon area, there are rare alpine flowers that are considered especially beautiful and arctic plants normally found 1000 km further north.
The canyon was named after a former railway station, Ouimet Station, which used to be located nearby on the
Canadian Pacific RailwayThe Canadian Pacific Railway , known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a Canadian Class I railway operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. Its rail network stretches from Vancouver to Montreal, and also serves major cities in the United States such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City...
line. The station itself was named after the Canadian
Minister of Public WorksThe position of Minister of Public Works existed as part of the Cabinet of Canada from Confederation to 1995.As part of substantial governmental reorganization, the position was merged with that of the Minister of Supply and Services to create the position of Minister of Public Works and Government...
from 1892 to 1896,
Joseph-Aldric OuimetJoseph-Aldric Ouimet, PC was a Canadian parliamentarian.Ouimet was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in an 1873 by-election as Member of Parliament for Laval, Quebec. He was a Liberal-Conservative and supporter of the government of Sir John A...
.
Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park covers an area of
7.77 km²To aid in the comparison of sizes of different geographic regions, areas between 1 km2 and 10 km2 are listed below. See also areas of other orders of magnitude....
around the canyon. This is a day-use park; there are no camping facilities.
Geology
The canyon is believed to have formed when a
diabaseDiabase or Dolerite is a mafic, holocrystalline, intrusive igneous rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. In North American usage the term diabase refers to the fresh rock, whilst elsewhere the term dolerite is used for the fresh rock and diabase refers to altered material....
sillIn geology, a sill is a tabular pluton that has intruded between older layers of sedimentary rock, beds of volcanic lava or tuff, or even along the direction of foliation in metamorphic rock. The term sill is synonymous with concordant intrusive sheet...
dating from a billion years earlier was split open, either by the weight of advancing
glacierA glacier is a perennial mass of ice which moves over land. A glacier forms in locations where the mass accumulation of snow and ice exceeds ablation over many years...
s or the large volumes of water released during their retreat.
ErosionErosion is a gravity driven process that moves solids in the natural environment or their source and deposits them elsewhere...
by wind and rain continued the formation of the canyon. A large rock column known as the Indian Head can be seen from one of the viewing areas.
The legend
A long time ago, there was a giant Omett. He helped
NanabijouThe Sleeping Giant is a formation of mesas and sills on Sibley Peninsula which resembles a giant lying on its back when viewed from the West to North-Northwest section of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. As one moves southward along the shoreline toward Squaw Bay the Sleeping Giant starts to separate...
make mountains and lakes. Omett fell in love with Nanabijou's daughter Naiomi. One day, Omett was moving a mountain when part of it fell off and killed Naiomi. Omett quickly hid Naiomi. Nanabijou desperately looked for his daughter. When he sensed something underground, he sent a thunderbolt to split open the ground which created a canyon and he discovered his daughter at its bottom. He buried her there and to punish Omett he turned him into stone and put him on the canyon walls to watch Naiomi's grave forever.
Eagle Canyon
Near Ouimet Canyon is the privately owned and operated
Eagle Canyon, which features on-site camping and a footbridge spanning the gorge.
The 182 metre long footbridge is suspended 45 metre above the canyon floor and claims to be Canada's longest foot suspension bridge.
External links