The Quetico Foundation

 

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    The Quetico Foundation was established in 1954 and is "Dedicated to the preservation of wilderness values of Quetico Provincial Park."  The Quetico Park is popular among many canoeing enthusiasts with 85% of the users coming from the United States.  For the past 50 years the group has been active in keeping the Quetico the pristine paddling wilderness that it is.  They will celebrate their successes at their Annual Dinner on Wednesday, October 18 in Toronto, Ontario.  If you are interested in attending or would like to find out more about the Foundation or about the Quetico Park then be sure to check out their informative website.  Below are some interesting facts from the website.

  • The area of Quetico Park is 4,758 square kilometres. Almost 100 Prince Edward Islands would fit inside the Park. Together with the other wilderness parks in the area, this parks system contains over 10,000 square kilometres, an area about half the size of Wales.
  • According to one Ojibwa legend, the word "Quetico" was borrowed from a Cree term describing a benevolent spirit whose presence was felt strongly in places of great beauty.
  • The Park has 28 known native pictographs in it, mainly painted on flat rock surfaces just above the water level. It is believed that most of them were painted by natives standing in their canoes. There are pictures of moose, hunters, canoes, thunderbirds, foxes, turtles and even a pelican. 
  • The Park has over 1,400 km of canoe routes and 612 portages. The Park has 6 hiking trails, including the Pines, the Pickerel River and the French Portage trails. There are 2,146 interior campsites in the Park.
  • On the shores of Otter Track Lake (in the southeast corner of the Park along the U.S.-Canada border), there are magnetic, iron-rich rocks which may throw off your compass.