Darlington Provincial Park is a part of the Ontario Provincial Parks system. It is located just south of Highway 401

Highway 401 (Ontario)

King's Highway 401, also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway and colloquially as the four-oh-one, is a 400-Series Highway in the Canadian province of Ontario stretching from Windsor to the Quebec border...

 near the town of Courtice, between the cities of Bowmanville and Oshawa

Oshawa

Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. It is now commonly referred to as the most...

. A small park, the topography is dominated by gentle hills, a terminal moraine

Moraine

A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...

 deposited by glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age. The park borders on the northern shore of Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...

 also encloses McLaughlin Bay. The Bay is shallow, and at some point in the 1990s was completely closed off from the lake by the action of the waves. The property bordering the park to the west is the home of General Motors Corporation's Canadian headquarters.

Park wildlife

Darlington Provincial Park is home to several varieties of plants and animals. The flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

 of the park consists mostly of second-generation regrowth, as the park was reforested in the 1960s after being cleared for farmland. Invasive plant species are a serious problem in the park, especially the aggressive purple loosestrife

Purple loosestrife

Lythrum salicaria is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae, native to Europe, Asia, northwest Africa, and southeastern Australia. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Primulaceae...

 growing in the marshy areas bordering McLaughlin Bay. Animal species present in the park range from the white-tailed deer

White-tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...

 to squirrels and other small animals http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/darl-multiple.html. Other animals such as coyotes and grey wolves

Grey Wolves

The Idealist Youth , commonly known as Grey Wolves , is an ultra-nationalist neo-fascist youth organization. It is accused of terrorism. According to Turkish authorities, the organization carried out 694 murders between 1974–1980.-Name:...

 have been rumored to be wandering around the park. Fish and amphibian life are also present in the park, especially in and around McLaughlin Bay. The park is known for migrating Monarch Butterflies

Monarch butterfly

The Monarch butterfly is a milkweed butterfly , in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer...

. It offers an annual Monarch tagging and educational program.

Annual Migration Festival

Near summer’s end, Monarch butterflies begin to migrate south to Mexico. The park is part of a greater Monarch conservation program. It tags Monarch butterflies at its annual migration festival, the Monarchs and Raptors

Bird of prey

Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....

Weekend, held in early September. This event attracts young families who are given an opportunity to help with the tagging.

Loyalist Heritage

This part of Canada was settled by three loyalist families in 1794; Roger Conant, John Burk and John Trull. They moved onto British soil in response to Lord Simcoe's offer of free land to the loyalists. Samuel Burk, a descendant of John Burk, purchased the land which is now the park in 1918 and resided there until his death in 1933. Located on the park property is a cemetery used by the Burk family.

Annotated References

"Hiking in Ontario gives in-depth coverage of some 400 trails in 65 parks and conservation areas, rated by level of difficulty, plus a listing of more than 160 additional hiking locations. More than 20 maps to keep you on track. All the necessary practical information (directions, trailheads, services) are given, as well as descriptions of each area's natural and cultural features." Google Books. This includes Darlington Provincial Park's four trails.

External links

• Official Park Website