purposes; their use is entirely at your own risk. own your at entirely is use their purposes; A FOSSIL ON DISPLAY AT THE BONNECHERE CAVES BONNECHERE THE AT DISPLAY ON FOSSIL A

Graben Illustrations: Michael Bainbridge | Photos: Courtesy Bonnechere Caves, Beth Kennedy, Don Webb Don Kennedy, Beth Caves, Bonnechere Courtesy Photos: | Bainbridge Michael Illustrations: Graben

that is the foundation of life in ’s Highlands region. Highlands Ontario’s in life of foundation the is that Authors: Michael Bainbridge and Don Webb | Illustrations: Blakeney Malo, www.seedandstonefarmstead.ca Malo, Blakeney Illustrations: | Webb Don and Bainbridge Michael Authors: ability. These resources are presented for informational informational for presented are resources These ability.

heritage geological unique the of part important an reveals river the

Assess carefully, and act within the limits of your own own your of limits the within act and carefully, Assess •

@madawaskavalley #MadawaskaValley madawaskavalley

As it cascades through a billion years of Earth’s history, history, Earth’s of years billion a through cascades it As

hazards, abandoned wells, etc. And stay out of old mine workings! mine old of out stay And etc. wells, abandoned hazards,

Thanksgiving to May long weekend, Wednesday to Saturday, 10 am–4 pm am–4 10 Saturday, to Wednesday weekend, long May to Thanksgiving encounter constructed features such as old buildings, unmarked mine mine unmarked buildings, old as such features constructed encounter Township of Madawaska Valley. At its heart is the Madawaska River. River. Madawaska the is heart its At Valley. Madawaska of Township

September to Thanksgiving, Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm 4 to am 10 Sunday, to Wednesday Thanksgiving, to September

as cliffs, dead-fall, loose slopes, etc., also be aware of the potential to to potential the of aware be also etc., slopes, loose dead-fall, cliffs, as Between the Algonquin Dome and the Ottawa Valley lies the the lies Valley Ottawa the and Dome Algonquin the Between

July and August, daily from 10 am–6 pm, and Fridays 10 am–8 pm am–8 10 Fridays and pm, am–6 10 from daily August, and July

Aside from the typical, natural hazards that one might encounter, such such encounter, might one that hazards natural typical, the from Aside •

May long weekend to June, Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am–4 pm am–4 10 Sunday, to Wednesday June, to weekend long May

of Natural Resources office for schedules. for Resources office Natural of

HOURS

season (mostly in the late fall). Contact the local Ministry local Ministry the Contact fall). late the in (mostly season

Federation of Mineralogical Societies affiliated club. club. affiliated Societies Mineralogical of Federation

613-756-5885 | www.madawaskavalley.ca | [email protected] | www.madawaskavalley.ca | 613-756-5885

Avoid trekking around in the woods during hunting hunting during woods the in around trekking Avoid •

facilitate access negotiations. Also consider joining a Central Canadian Canadian Central a joining consider Also negotiations. access facilitate 19503 Opeongo Line/Hwy 60 • Barry’s Bay Barry’s • 60 Line/Hwy Opeongo 19503

or unprepared for sudden rain is no fun. Sturdy footwear is a must. a is footwear Sturdy fun. no is rain sudden for unprepared or

doors. Ontario’s Highlands Recreational Access Toolkit is designed to to designed is Toolkit Access Recreational Highlands Ontario’s doors.

TOWNSHIP OF MADAWASKA VALLEY MADAWASKA OF TOWNSHIP

Dress appropriately. Being caught in the beaming sun without a hat, hat, a without sun beaming the in caught Being appropriately. Dress • consider allowing recreational use of their rural property can help open open help can property rural their of use recreational allowing consider Art Centre | Visitor Information | Museum | Information Visitor | Centre Art

Barry’s Bay Railway Station Railway Bay Barry’s Understanding the protections offered to a property owner who might might who owner property a to offered protections the Understanding Bring food and drink, as well as bug repellent and sunscreen. and repellent bug as well as drink, and food Bring •

gear for your trip (safety, first-aid, survival, navigation, etc.). navigation, survival, first-aid, (safety, trip your for gear respectively.

Visit ontarioshighlands.ca for more information on recreational geology. recreational on information more for ontarioshighlands.ca Visit

Make sure you have, and know how to use, the appropriate outdoor outdoor appropriate the use, to how know and have, you sure Make • information about crown land, mining rights, and property ownership, ownership, property and rights, mining land, crown about information

Resident Geologist, and Land Registry offices can help you find find you help can offices Registry Land and Geologist, Resident knows where you’re going, and when to expect you back. you expect to when and going, you’re where knows

Local Ministry of Natural Resources offices, the Southern Ontario Ontario Southern the offices, Resources Natural of Ministry Local Never go out in the woods alone. Plan your trip; make sure someone someone sure make trip; your Plan alone. woods the in out go Never •

Safety First! Safety

you research your intended destination beforehand. destination intended your research you

TRAILHEAD AT THE DEADY QUARRY, #2 ON THE MAP THE ON #2 QUARRY, DEADY THE AT TRAILHEAD Private property often isn’t marked, so make sure sure make so marked, isn’t often property Private trespassing. no means

respect to entry. Note that a red circle painted on a tree or similar marker marker similar or tree a on painted circle red a that Note entry. to respect to check for gem rough gem for check to

Sturdy gardening or work gloves work or gardening Sturdy • engaging in a particular activity. Always obey any posted signage with with signage posted any obey Always activity. particular a in engaging Flashlight to shine into samples samples into shine to Flashlight •

Be aware and obtain all necessary permissions before entering a site and and site a entering before permissions necessary all obtain and aware Be

Safety glasses Safety • land status) land

Packsack or utility pails utility or Packsack • geological, (topographical, for recreational geology. recreational for

Area maps and guidebooks guidebooks and maps Area • collecting destinations, check out Ontario’s Highlands online resources resources online Highlands Ontario’s out check destinations, collecting wrapping samples wrapping

For more links and resources about where to find rewarding mineral mineral rewarding find to where about resources and links more For Plastic bags and newspaper, for for newspaper, and bags Plastic • quarries or near rock faces rock near or quarries

rock to be seen), including plenty of freely accessible crown land. land. crown accessible freely of plenty including seen), be to rock

Hardhat, if you plan to work in in work to plan you if Hardhat, • 1-inch)

potential to explore just about anywhere in the region (anywhere there’s there’s (anywhere region the in anywhere about just explore to potential

Prybar and chisels (1/2-inch to to (1/2-inch chisels and Prybar • Notebook, to record your findings your record to Notebook, •

In addition to the public collecting sites listed here, you can find great great find can you here, listed sites collecting public the to addition In

or small sledge hammer sledge small or (no open toes) open (no Where to Look to Where

Geologist’s pick, mason’s hammer hammer mason’s pick, Geologist’s • shoes or boots Sturdy •

BASIC GEAR BASIC

LOCATIONS, MAP AND INFORMATION FOR ROCKHOUNDS FOR INFORMATION AND MAP LOCATIONS,

search of your very own buried treasure. buried own very your of search

that will allow a rockhound to collect and protect a wider range of samples. of range wider a protect and collect to rockhound a will allow that

Valley Please familiarize yourself with these best practices before you go off in in off go you before practices best these with yourself familiarize Please

interest in rocks and a love for the outdoors. There are a few pieces of gear gear of pieces few a are There outdoors. the for love a and rocks interest in

of Mineral Societies Code of Ethics provides additional guidelines. guidelines. additional provides Ethics of Code Societies Mineral of

FOSSILS IN EGANVILLE, #14 AND 15 ON THE MAP THE ON 15 AND #14 EGANVILLE, IN FOSSILS

Mineral collecting requires little in the way of equipment apart from an an from apart equipment of way the in little requires collecting Mineral

legislation that governs this activity, and the Central Canadian Federation Federation Canadian Central the and activity, this governs that legislation

Madawaska

some rules to be aware of. The Mineral Collecting Policy of Ontario is the the is Ontario of Policy Collecting Mineral The of. aware be to rules some Mineral Collecting in Ontario: a Guide for Rockhounds for Guide a Ontario: in Collecting Mineral from part, in Taken,

In a Rockhound’s Backpack Rockhound’s a In

Hobby mineral-collecting in Ontario is a privilege, not a right, so there are are there so right, a not privilege, a is Ontario in mineral-collecting Hobby

Essentials

in the in

GEOLOGY

THE SIGNATURE EXPERIENCE OF RECREATIONAL GEOLOGY RECREATIONAL OF EXPERIENCE SIGNATURE THE About Mineral Collecting Mineral About RECREATIONAL RECREATIONAL

Cross-section of a Graben

FOYMOUNT Opeongo Rd

Get the whole picture! Locations of present-day rivers and cities are shown for context. More information at the Ottawa Valley lookout and interpretative sign near Foymount. ~850 MILLION-YEARS-AGO ~500 MILLION-YEARS-AGO ~18,000 YEARS-AGO ~11,000 YEARS-AGO 2. Deady Quarry (Causeway Quarry) 5. Madawaska Kanu Centre (MKC) 10. Beryl Pit and Rose Quartz Pit The quarry operated from 1942 to 1948. During that time, the Opeongo View the enormous boulder surrounded by the patio at MKC. It was Whether you’re looking for fine examples or rare minerals, pretty rocks Mining Company shipped 260 tons of potastic-feldspar (K-Spar) and 323 placed there over ten thousand years ago by retreating glaciers, and for your garden, gem-quality amazonite, rose quartz and aquamarine, or RECREATIONAL tons of quartz from the quarry. At this time a causeway was constructed is now incorporated into the deck’s design. Then walk down to see the just something different to do with the family this summer, you’ll find it across the lake to link the mine with the newly constructed Highway 60. mighty Madawaska River, channeling through the rocky shores. MKC is all in Quadeville. Passes and directions to the Beryl Pit can be obtained This feature lays slightly below the lake-level, clearly visible below the 14 km south of Barry’s Bay, at 247 River Rd, off of Siberia Rd. at the General Store in Quadeville. The Rose Quartz Pit requires a surface, and can be seen from both the mine and highway. Feldspar and reservation, including a guided tour. GEOLOGY 6. Crooked Slide Park quartz are the primary minerals of interest. Quartz was an important in the 11. Madawaska River Rentals material to early peoples for the manufacture of stone tools and nearby Crooked Slide Park and Rockingham Creek are situated in a valley formed archaeological sites indicate that the ancestors of the Algonquin people by a glacial spillway over 13,000 years ago, during the breakup of the Madawaska River Rentals shares their passion for geology with their Madawaska Valley lived in this area for at least 10,000 years. Situated 13.6 kms west of last Ice Age. Also at the park is a seismic thrust-fault — one of several extensive local collection. See and learn first-hand how to identify Barry’s Bay (from the intersection of Hwys 60 and 62), the site is a short in this area that are responsible for low-magnitude earthquakes that area rocks, crystals and minerals. Participate in the Quadeville Rocks walk from the recreation trail that crosses Highway 60. Limited parking. occasionally rumble through the area. That fault also forms the granite Exchange! by bringing an interesting rock you’ve found, put it in a sealed sill over which the falls and historic timber-slide now flow. Located on bag with a note saying what it is (if you know) and where it originally 3. Bonnechere Provincial Park Old Barry’s Bay Rd, 3 km east of Hwy 62. came from, then trade with us for one of our local specimens! Here you’ll find beautiful scenery and rewarding interpretive programs 7. MacDonald Mine 12. Foymount: Ontario’s Highest Populated Place about the region’s unique geological and human history. Want to learn 1. Spectacle Lake Quarry Site how people lived in ancient times? Be sure to ask about archeological The MacDonald Mine was one of the biggest feldspar producers in the Peer into the depths of the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben from high atop region, resulting in a large, artificial cavern that used to draw visitors Ontario’s highest populated peak. The Royal Canadian Air Force chose This site dates back to the Second World War when large quantities of programming in the area. to marvel at an inside view of a giant pegmatite. The caves have since Foymount as a site for a radar station on the Pinetree Line due to the high feldspar and quartz were mined locally as raw material for the Allied war 4. Whispering Pines Lookout been filled in with material from the mine dump, but this means great vantage point provided by the durable rocks of the Canadian Shield. Although effort. The quarry (operated by the Opeongo Mining Co. of Barry’s Bay) Hike to the top of Kwe Asin, the Anishinaabe name for Woman’s Rock, new opportunities for rock hunting as fresh material has been brought the base was decommissioned in 1974, the abandoned buildings still remain. was part of a regional mining industry that employed local workers in the in Bonnechere Provincial Park to enjoy a sweeping view of the valley. to the surface. Excellent crystals of feldspar, quartz, zircon and several Turn off Hwy 512 and follow Sebastopol St through the village of Foymount. two world wars. Cobbing mica, quarrying feldspar, quartz and phosphate is bounded by relic shorelines where North America’s rare minerals have been found. From the Bancroft Chamber of Commerce (apatite) supplemented incomes of many local families through the first 13. Ottawa Valley Lookout and Interpretive Sign first peoples once camped and fished. The rock itself — a banded (8 Hastings Heritage Way) turn left and go to the intersection of Station half of the 20th century. Tailings of waste quartz and feldspar can be gneiss — is an excellent exposure of some of the oldest rocks in the St and Hasting St. Turn left and travel north for 7.6 km to the Musclow- On the Opeongo Road, just around the corner from Foymount, is another seen 500 m south of Hwy 60, on the right-hand side of Spectacle Lake township. The lookout is 8 km west of the intersection of Paugh Lake Rd Greenview Rd. Turn right and drive along this road for 10.9 km to Cross- popular stopping place where you’ll find a captivating view across the Rd. Park on the opposite side of the road on the shoulder. and Basin Depot Rd. Country Rd where a trail leads off to the right, marked by orange flagging Ottawa Valley to the foothills of the Laurentians in Quebec. Be sure tape. Park just off the road and walk 200 metres into the mine. to check out the on-site interpretive sign to gain a new perspective on YOU ARE HERE… separation! Located on Opeongo Rd, not far from the intersection at Hwy 8. Bancroft Mineral Museum 1 billion years ago you would 512, on the east side of the road. Indicates the general areas of Bancroft is known as Canada’s Mineral Capital and for more great ideas have been standing 9,000 m high 14. Bonnechere Caves on the Granville Mountains. 4 the Bonnechere River and the about where to collect and what to look for, it’s worth a drive to the Madawaska River, as they head In 1853, a government surveyor made the first note on the caves’ 750 million years ago (mya) Bancroft Mineral Museum. You’ll find the best of what the region has to 3 towards the . you would have been offer, beautifully displayed at the fully-restored and newly-reopened Old existence — two words: subterranean channels. One hundred years later, looking at a prairie. Train Station, 8 Hastings Heritage Way in downtown Bancroft. a WWII flying ace tied a rope around his waist and rediscovered Ontario’s 500 mya you would have been natural wonder. Today, you can go underground as you hear harrowing under the sea at the Equator. 9. Metamorphic Road Cut tales of the early exploration of the caves and the process of creating 300 mya you would have See how solid rock can turn to putty at this metamorphic road cut, one of the Ottawa Valley’s most popular attractions — no ropes required! bumped into South America to make Pangaea. 15 comprised of white and grey marble and shows plastic deformation. This And if you’re not careful, you might just learn something in the Ordovician EGANVILLE is what happens to ordinary, flat-lying limestone when it gets buried many Fossil Capital of Canada, Eganville, Ontario. 1247 Fourth Chute Road. 125 mya the bottom of the 14 kilometers below the surface of the Earth. The rocks in this region were Ottawa Valley fell down, 1 15. Bonnechere Museum — Ordovician Fossil Capital of Canada almost splitting Canada in two. 2 formed around a billion years ago, when an enormous mountain range Whitney During the Ordovician period, warm tropical seas bred fresh seafood near 85,000 ya you’d have been pushed the edge of the continent down into the mantle. Rock flowed standing under 2 km of ice BARRY’S BAY like a thick liquid. Turn onto County Rd 514 (between Palmer Rapids and the sunny beaches of the highlands. That was five-hundred mya, but you can still see the evidence deposited in stone in this area. Let the curator, Preston 12,000 ya you’d have been Quadeville) and travel 1.3 km to the rock cut. You will see a small lake on standing at the bottom of 13 the right hand side of the road (going west) across from the trailhead. O’Grady, be your guide as you hunt for fossils. 85 Bonnechere St, Eganville. the huge Champlain Sea. 12 FOYMOUNT 5 10,000 ya the inland sea rushed to the ocean carving deep channels FELDSPAR: This common mineral During this time only simple like the Madawaska Valley. 6 makes up 60 percent of the Earth’s lichen, fungi and several species AMAZONITE: The bright green important additive in steel armour crust. It can be seen in rock cuts of algae populated dry land, while variety of feldspar used in jewellery plate. Beryl is a major gemstone; the along our local highways as in comparison, Earth’s oceans PALMER and bead work. The Beryl Pit is a the pink-coloured veins which teemed with complex life-forms. RAPIDS green variety is emerald and the pale 10 QUADEVILLE source of good quality amazonite. blue-green crystals are aquamarine. have intruded into the older rock ROSE QUARTZ: The rare units. Semi-precious sunstone 9 11 APATITE: A group of phosphate CORUNDUM: Barrel-shaped pink variety of quartz; the is a gem variety of feldspar. minerals used commercially in hexagonal crystals that are used crystalline variety of silica. manufacturing and agriculture. commercially for abrasives. It MYA: Million Years Ago TAILINGS: The waste rock The mineral is common in local is the second hardest mineral (5 MYA = 5 million years ago). from a quarry or mine which is pegmatites. The translucent-green after diamond. The blue-coloured MICA: A mineral group characterised of little economic interest. variety is considered a semi-precious variety is called sapphire and by its ability to be divided into thin ZIRCON: An important mineral gemstone locally and valued by the red variety is ruby, two of the elastic sheets. In the past, mica for geologists for the radiometric jewellers and crafts-people. most treasured gemstones. was an important mineral in the dating of rock. The ROM (Royal AQUAMARINE: The translucent, pale manufacture of vacuum tubes. 7 CONVECTION: The movement of Ontario Museum) maintained quarry blue-green gem variety of beryl. fluid mantle-material in currents ORDOVICIAN: The period between near Letterkenny Rd from which BERYL: The mineral from which beneath the Earth’s crust — the the Cambrian and Silurian eras enormous zircon crystals were beryllium is extracted. It is an engine that drives continental drift. dated between 4.8–4.4 MYA. collected for museum specimens.

8 BANCROFT 45° 77° 76°