Opeongo Hills

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Opeongo Hills
Range
none Highway 41 winding through the Madawaska Highlands in Renfrew County.
Highway 41 winding through the Madawaska Highlands in Renfrew County.
Country Canada
Province Ontario
Highest point Unmarked point
 - elevation 586 m (1,923 ft)
The Opeongo Hills are the bright, hilly region in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario
The Opeongo Hills are the bright, hilly region in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario

The Opeongo Hills (sometimes called the Opeongo Mountains and the Madawaska Highlands, particularly for the eastern-most hills) are a range of hills in Southern Ontario, near Algonquin Provincial Park. The hills stretch from Opeongo Lake in Algonquin Park in the west, along the Madawaska and Opeongo Rivers, towards the Opeongo Colonization Road, and extending towards the Deacon Escarpment (north of Killaloe, Ontario in Renfrew County), Bonnechere, Ontario, and Dacre in the east. To the east of the Opeongo Hills lie the Madawaska River valley, the Mississippi River Valley, and the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben along the Ottawa River. The hills continue into Quebec across the Ottawa River as the Laurentian Highlands and the Laurentian Mountains. Its tallest peak is roughly 7 km northeast of Highway 60. At roughly 586 meters, it is the tallest point in Southern Ontario. The community of Foymount, Ontario (along former Secondary Highway 512, the Opeongo Line) is the highest settlement in Southern Ontario.

The Opeongo Hills are a continuation of the Laurentian Highlands, which extend into Eastern Ontario, towards Gananoque, and across the Ottawa River Valley into Quebec, and the Laurentian Mountains, which continue parallel to the St. Lawrence River, north of Montreal, Trois-Rivieres, and Quebec City.

The geography in this area of Central Ontario is dotted with rolling hills and forests with streams, lakes, and small waterfalls, typical of a place in the Canadian Shield.

The first explorer to visit the region is Samuel de Champlain, in 1615, while exploring the area with the Huron natives. When settlers first started arriving in the area in the late 1790s and early 1800s, land areas were given to settlers by the Canadian Land and Emigration Company for settlement and farming. The soils of the area were not perfectly suited for farming, but small-scale agriculture was able to be conducted on the land. Today, the Opeongo Hills are crossed by many provincial highways, many of which still follow the original Historic Colonization Roads.

Contents

[edit] Municipalities located in the Opeongo Hills

Below is a list of communities and municipalities located in the Opeongo Hills, from west to east

[edit] Frontenac County

[edit] Haliburton County

[edit] Hastings County

Highway 62 just north of Bancroft.
Highway 62 just north of Bancroft.

[edit] Lanark County

[edit] Lennox and Addington County

[edit] Nipissing District

[edit] Renfrew County

[edit] Lakes and rivers

[edit] Parks

Below is a list of Conservation areas, Provincial and National parks located in the Opeongo Hills

[edit] Roads

The north-eastern end of Highway 28 in Denbigh.
The north-eastern end of Highway 28 in Denbigh.

Roads that cross the Opeongo Hills include:

[edit] Notable attractions

[edit] External links

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