Opeongo Hills

Opeongo Hills
Opeongo Hills near Boulter, Ontario.
Highest point
Peak	Unmarked point
Elevation	586 m (1,923 ft)
Geography
The Opeongo Hills are the hilly region in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario
Country	Canada
Province	Eastern Ontario
Range coordinates	45°30′N 77°40′W / 45.5°N 77.67°W / 45.5; -77.67Coordinates: 45°30′N 77°40′W / 45.5°N 77.67°W / 45.5; -77.67

The Opeongo Hills (sometimes called the Opeongo Mountains or Madawaska Highlands, particularly for the eastern-most hills) are a range of hills in Southern Ontario, near Algonquin Provincial Park. The hills stretch from Opeongo Lake in Algonquin Park in the west, along the Madawaska and Opeongo Rivers, towards the Opeongo Colonization Road, and extending towards the Deacon Escarpment (north of Killaloe, Ontario in Renfrew County), Bonnechere, Ontario, and Dacre in the east. To the east of the Opeongo Hills lie the Madawaska River valley, the Mississippi River Valley, and the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben along the Ottawa River. The hills continue into Quebec across the Ottawa River as the Laurentian Highlands and the Laurentian Mountains. Its tallest peak is roughly 7 km northeast of Highway 60. At roughly 586 meters, it is the tallest point in Southern Ontario. The community of Foymount (along former Highway 512, the Opeongo Line) is the highest settlement in Southern Ontario.

The Opeongo Hills are a continuation of the Laurentian Highlands, which extend into Eastern Ontario, towards Gananoque, and across the Ottawa River Valley into Quebec, and the Laurentian Mountains, which continue parallel to the St. Lawrence River, north of Montreal, Trois-Rivières and Quebec City.

The geography in this area of Central Ontario is dotted with rolling hills and forests with streams, lakes, and small waterfalls, typical of a place in the Canadian Shield.

The first explorer to visit the region is Samuel de Champlain, in 1615, while exploring the area with the Huron natives. When settlers first started arriving in the area in the late 1790s and early 19th century, land areas were given to settlers by the Canadian Land and Emigration Company for settlement and farming. The soils of the area were not perfectly suited for farming, but small-scale agriculture was able to be conducted on the land. Today, the Opeongo Hills are crossed by many provincial highways, many of which still follow the original Historic Colonization Roads.

Municipalities located in the Opeongo Hills

Below is a list of communities and municipalities located in the Opeongo Hills, from west to east

The northern portion of Hastings County is characterized by the Opeongo Hills.

Highway 41 winding through the Madawaska Highlands in Renfrew County.

Below is a list of Conservation areas, Provincial and National parks located in the Opeongo Hills

The north-eastern end of Highway 28 in Denbigh.

Roads that cross the Opeongo Hills include:

Balaclava ghost town
Art Gallery of Bancroft
Opeongo Mountains Resort, in Eganville
Bonnechere Caves, near Fourth Chute
Quadeville is home to a cottage once owned by famed gangster Al Capone. It still stands to this day north of the hamlet near a ghost town called Letterkenny.
Near the intersection of Highways 41 and Highway 132 is a spot known as "Magnetic Hill", where the road slopes uphill but appears to be going downhill.
Mount Pakenham Ski Resort, near Pakenham, Ontario
Calabogie Peaks Ski Resort

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/31/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.