Ontario Parks
Lake Superior Provincial Park
The Agawa Rock Pictographs at Lake Superior Provincial Park.
A big week for Ontario Parks
Get outside, Ontario folks! Today is the Healthy, Parks Healthy People day in Ontario, and provincial parks are free for day-use activities. The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal has more details, and here’s a listing of special events.
Another free parks day in the province is slated for Aug. 16.
+ Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park turns 60 on Saturday and will celebrate with “local musical talent from Thunder Bay, a guided walk around the falls to meet historical characters of the past, children’s programs, and more!” This post from Ontario Parks looks at the history of the park and the area.
+ Pancake Bay Provincial Park rolled out two special wheelchairs for visitors. Similar in concept to a fat-tire bike, the wheelchairs have extra-large wheels that allow users to traverse the park’s excellent sand beach. One of them even floats in the water, writes SooToday’s Kenneth Armstrong.
+ Also from the Ontario Parks blog: How did Pancake Bay get its name?
Duluth’s Lincoln Park to get big improvements
John Myers writes for the Duluth News Tribune:
The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday announced a $750,000 grant to the city of Duluth to help refurbish recreational facilities in Lincoln Park.
The project will improve playgrounds, basketball courts, disc golf and handicapped-accessible trails that federal officials hope will encourage local residents to be more active.
Duluth is contributing another $550,000, part of its broader revitalization work in the St. Louis River corridor, and private donors will chip in $250,000.
+ In other Minnesota trail news: A “hidden gem,” the Knife River Hiking Trail is grappling with access issues as county-owned land sells, reports Jamey Malcomb for the Lake County News-Chronicle.
A berry good time to pick
Blue Vista Farm in Bayfield made this announcement in their newsletter this week:
We have an overabundance of Raspberries and need to get them harvest as soon as possible!! This Sale begins Friday July 21 and ends when we are picked out.
The farm is offering 20 percent off when you pick at least 10 pounds of raspberries.
+ Bayfield’s Berry Farm & Orchard Report is the place to check for updates on this fruit-rich area.
+ Over in Minnesota on the Gunflint Trail, the first round of the Biggest Blueberry Contest starts today and continues for a week. Submit the biggest wild blueberry you can find for a chance to win a prize. Rounds two and three will follow in the subsequent weeks.
See Konnie on TV: Lake Superior Magazine’s Konnie LeMay was on WDSE•WRPT’s “Almanac North” to discuss last weekend’s Lake Superior Day celebration. (She’s in the second studio segment, about halfway through.)
Copper Harbor celebrates the Lake: The Keweenaw town, meanwhile, hosts its Lake Superior Day festivities this Sunday, highlighted by 40-minute excursions on the Michigan Tech research vessel Agassiz.
Underwater sounds of the Lake: “A failed attempt to use sound to help track the currents and movements of ice sheets in Lake Superior has turned into a new type of audio study for a researcher who studies the large lake,” reports CBC Thunder Bay.
Northland College divests from fossil fuels: The environment-focused private college in Ashland, Wisconsin, “has committed to eliminating its investment in fossil fuels as a part of the college's endowment portfolio over the next five years,” writes Elizabeth McMahon for Wisconsin Public Radio.