Murphys Point Provincial Park

Moving further east near the towns of Perth and Smith Falls and located on Big Rideau Lake is our next stop, Murphys Point Provincial Park. This 1,239 hectare provincial park opened in 1979 and is part of the historic Rideau Waterway. The park is open year round offering about 200 campsites divided into two areas during the warmer months. The Fallows Campground is all non electrical and closed for the season. The Hogg Bay Campground which is where we camped has both electrical and non electrical sites.

Murphys Point and the surrounding area has a long history. For thousands of years native people hunted and gathered along the Rideau. After the American Revolution War(1783) the British offered land grants to those who fought along side them. The area remained largely unsettled due to the poor farming conditions. It wasn't until 1812 the land became settled by emigrants of Irish descent. Poor farmland was better than famine, poverty, and political upheaval. They eventually supplemented their income by mining and lumbering. The Murphy family for which the park was named settled here in 1856.

In 1832 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John By the Rideau Waterway with its locks, canals, and lakes was completed. It provided a navigation link between Kingston and Ottawa. Initially created for military purposes the Rideau eventually played a major role in the areas economy barging minerals and lumber up and down the river.

It turned out to be a beautiful day sun was shining, birds were chirping, and Hogg Bay was as calm as could be.

Today I spent most of the day exploring the park. We camped here before but weather did not favour us exploring. The main beach is on Hogg Bay. The day use area has its own beach area. Both are nice and sandy with drop offs so swimmers beware. Its a little cool so no swimming today for this northern gal. The park provides a very nice boat ramp and dock for those who want to venture out onto Big Rideau Lake. There is a Canoe Loop of 6 km which is considered easy to moderate. Care must be taken on Big Rideau Lake as treacherous high winds can occur. During the summer months its a short walk to the amphitheater where they show evening nature shows.

There is always an abundance of deer in the park. Its nice to see they are still afraid of people and cars. Which means people are not feeding them. That's a good thing. I was only able to get 100 meters or so away before it took off into the woods.

There are more than 20 kms of hiking trails in and around Murphys Point PP. During the winter months well groomed cross country skiing trails are available. From our site in Hogg Bay Campground we decided on hiking the McParlan House Trail. This 2.5 km easy out and back hike is also part of the Loon Lake Trail.

The trail leads to the restored McParlan House which is the site of an early 1800 sawmill, farm, and later cottage. The 1-1/2 story house was built in 1812 with hand hewn timber and dovetailed corners.

Due to poor soil conditions, settlers were attracted by the timber in the area and the valuable transportation route the Rideau Waterway provided. The Burgess Mill was constructed in 1812 on Hogg Bay and the power of Black Creek was used to turn the mill's water wheel. There is no evidence of the mill today that we could see but Black Creek still flowed nearby.

With a great trail adventure coming to an end another awaits us tomorrow.

Across the road from the Lally's Homestead parking lot is the Silver Queen Mine Trail. This easy 2.5 km out and back trail leads to a restored early 1900's partially open pit mica mine.

Murphys Point is situated on the edge of the Frontenac Axis which is a narrow southerly extension of the Canadian Shield. Early settlers soon discovered that farming this rocky outcrop area was not going to be enough to feed and cloth their families. Solid rock is only a few very thin layers below the surface.

Valuable mineral deposits namely apatite and  mica were discovered along the Frontenac Axis. Farmers could make a few dollars for every ton of apatite mined. Apatite is a green mineral also called phosphate an important element in fertilizer. Mica is a black shiney mineral and is used as windows in woodstoves because it can withstand heat up to 800 degrees C.

During summer months horse drawn ore wagons would make their way from Silver Queen Mine to the docks at Hogg Bay, about 1-1/2 km. Barges were loaded with this valuable cargo and sent down the Rideau Waterway and Canal.

Silver Queen Mine started as an open pit mine on the top of the ridge. After drilling and blasting into the ridge the miners followed a vein of mica and apatite. One such vein lead to form the adit or entrance to the mine.

The southern Canadian Shield is rich with mineral deposits however the deposits are sometimes small and irregular. Veins of mica and apatite often stopped suddenly. Test pits were dug like this in hopes of finding more minerals. A horse was harnessed to the driving beam of the hoist and then walked in circles to hoist ore. 

Small scale mines like Silver Queen could not afford the newest high-tech mining equipment due to the irregular mineral deposits. By 1906 steam power made hoisting heavy buckets of ore easier. During mining operations tools and men would travel in and out of the140 foot deep mine using this method. 

Miners would call bunkhouses similar to this, home for a couple months to a whole year. As many as 20 workers lived here at a time.

Another great day of hiking and adventures. We made our way back to the parking lot, drove to the campsite to have a much needed hot drink.

Darlington Provincial Park

Located on the shores of Lake Ontario and just south of the Hwy 401 between the cities of Bowmanville and Oshawa, lies Darlington Provincial Park (PP). Considered to be small in comparison to the many other PP in Ontario but a very important park to birds and monarch butterflies for spring and fall migration.

Darlington Provincial Park is open year round offering a variety of recreational activities such as camping, birding, hiking, swimming, boating, and snowshoeing in the winter. This was a quick stopover on our way further east.

It was a bit of an ugly cool/rainy day but I was still able to get out and explore on my bike. The first place I hit was the campstore to get my sticker and register. Know one was around when we arrived. I hung out at the store since it was raining cats and dogs.

After the rain stopped I continued on towards the Campground and Waterfront Trails. These trails are flat, wet and not very long. The sumac is just starting to change colour. Fall is coming.

Lake Ontario was looking a little angry today, pretty but definitely not happy. There is a long sandy beach for swimming in the summer time. No lifeguards are provided.

Ontario is home to eight species of bats. Four of which are listed on the endangered list. It was nice to see a bat house on my adventures. Not sure which kind of bats hang out here possibly Little or Big Brown Bats.

The waterfront trail leads to the Darlington Pioneer Home. This particular cabin dates from the 1830's and restored in 1967 as a centennial project. The cabin was probably larger than the ones built in the early days.

In 1792 the Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe divided Upper Canada into 19 counties. To encourage settlers to the area, Simcoe offered land free to any man over 18 years of age. In 1794 three loyalist families moved to Darlington Township from New York State. In the spring of 1795 the new settlers had a monumental task of building on the new land. Land was cleared, logs were dragged to the home sites and cabins were built. These first homes proved to be cold, damp, and smoky.

The final trail that awaits is the 2.25 km Burk Trail which includes a pioneer cemetery and viewing platform. The cemetery contained a single gravestone containing the names of Samual Burk, his wife Mary, their son Peter, his wife Barbara, and three children Sylvester, Harvy, and Sarah.

All in all it was a great day of exploring. Having my bike to ride was fun. Made getting around easier on a dark and dismal day.