La Verendrye Provincial Park
Encyclopedia
La Verendrye Provincial Park is a waterway provincial park
located in Ontario
, Canada
, on the border of Minnesota
, USA. The park stretches from Quetico Provincial Park
through Lake Saganaga, up the Pine River
, across the Height of Land Portage
, then down the Pigeon River
to Pigeon River Provincial Park on Lake Superior
. The park is named after Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye
an early explorer of Canada.
The park is a "non-operating" park, meaning no fees are charged and no staff is present with only few services offered. As part of the international boundary, the portages, lakes, and waterways along the border are open to the citizens of both nations.
La Verendrye Provincial Park is part of the historic voyageur
fur trade
route from Lake Superior to Winnipeg
, and features several scenic diabase-capped mesas, as well as several types of rare and unusual plants.
Provincial park
A provincial park is a park under the management of a provincial or territorial government in Canada.While provincial parks are not the same as national parks, their workings are very similar...
located in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, on the border of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, USA. The park stretches from Quetico Provincial Park
Quetico Provincial Park
Quetico Provincial Park is a large wilderness park in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, renowned for its excellent canoeing and fishing. This park shares its southern border with Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is part of the larger Superior National Forest...
through Lake Saganaga, up the Pine River
Pine River (Minnesota-Ontario)
The Pine River flows along the Minnesota-Ontario border a short distance, primarily within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and La Verendrye Provincial Park. From Gunflint Lake, the river flows north into Magnetic Lake and from there into Clove Lake and finally Granite Lake where it joins...
, across the Height of Land Portage
Height of Land Portage
Height of Land Portage is a portage along the historic Boundary Waters route between Canada and the United States. Located at the border of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S...
, then down the Pigeon River
Pigeon River (Minnesota-Ontario)
The Pigeon River forms part of the US-Canada border between the State of Minnesota and the Province of Ontario west of Lake Superior. In pre-industrial times the river was a waterway of great importance for transportation and trade.-Geography:...
to Pigeon River Provincial Park on Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
. The park is named after Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye was a French Canadian military officer, fur trader and explorer. In the 1730s he and his four sons opened up the area west of Lake Superior and thus began the process that added Western Canada to the original New France in the Saint Lawrence basin...
an early explorer of Canada.
The park is a "non-operating" park, meaning no fees are charged and no staff is present with only few services offered. As part of the international boundary, the portages, lakes, and waterways along the border are open to the citizens of both nations.
La Verendrye Provincial Park is part of the historic voyageur
Voyageurs
The Voyageurs were the persons who engaged in the transportation of furs by canoe during the fur trade era. Voyageur is a French word which literally translates to "traveler"...
fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
route from Lake Superior to Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, and features several scenic diabase-capped mesas, as well as several types of rare and unusual plants.
See also
- List of Ontario Parks
- Voyageurs National ParkVoyageurs National ParkVoyageurs National Park is a United States National Park in northern Minnesota near the town of International Falls. It was established in 1975. The park's name commemorates the voyageurs, French-Canadian fur traders who were the first European settlers to frequently travel through the area...
- Boundary WatersBoundary WatersThe Boundary Waters — also called the Quetico-Superior country — is a region of wilderness straddling the Canada–United States border between Ontario and Minnesota, in the region just west of Lake Superior. This region is part of the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota, and in Canada...
- Boundary Waters Canoe Area WildernessBoundary Waters Canoe Area WildernessThe Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness , is a wilderness area within the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota under the administration of the U.S. Forest Service...
- Quetico Provincial ParkQuetico Provincial ParkQuetico Provincial Park is a large wilderness park in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, renowned for its excellent canoeing and fishing. This park shares its southern border with Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is part of the larger Superior National Forest...