We have visited the North Bay area several times, and I kept omitting to visit this one location. I can’t tell you why. It is effortless to find. It is on the main road leading north of the city, has a huge parking lot, and has some fantastic views of incredibly tall trees.
It was Victoria Weekend here in Ontario. This holiday is the summer’s unofficial start, and I took my mom and wife camping. This time, I would include a visit to Black Forest Park. And even then, I had not considered visiting.
This camping trip was a dress rehearsal for our major trip to Alaska in a month. I wanted to ensure I had everything we needed and to see if everything was in good repair. Black Forest Park would be a stop on our first day of a 39-day journey to Alaska and back. My thinking was that we were going to be in British Columbia, but I would not be travelling near the epically vast trees of the coast found in that province. In order to show Charlene just how tall some trees can get, I decided to add Black Forest Park to that upcoming trip.
But then I had a problem with our current Victoria Day holiday; we finished some of our journeys too quickly. Earlier in the day, we would have visited Duchesnay Falls, Eau Clair Conservation Area, Wasi Rapids and several other places. It was hard to predict how long it would take my mother to hike these locations. I gave us ample time but too much time. I would include some shopping, and when that wasn’t enough, Black Forest Park it was.
Honestly speaking, I am glad that I took my mother here. I told her that this was stop number three on our Alaska trip. She liked hearing this and enjoyed that she was being included on our future trip of a lifetime. Not visiting this park in a few weeks freed up a spontaneous stop here or there.
Black Forest Park was planted decades ago. This was quite helpful during our visit. Tall trees need time to grow, and I imagine the first decade or two of this park was rather boring. We walked along the wide and easy pathways, remembering to look up to see the sheer scale of height many of these trees have reached. There were areas of smaller trees where the interpretive signs stated that there was a wind storm that knocked down much of the forest. It is taking a while for it to reach its full potential again.
The setting is white and red pine. These can be very tall trees. Usually only growing to a height of 80 feet, in ideal conditions, they can grow to 200 feet. It can take decades to reach these heights, so a lot of foresight and planning had to take place for us to see them at their current glory.
The park is free to visit with a large parking lot. Just remember to look up to feel incredibly small.
- Black Forest Park is found north of North Bay. A map here can be used for directions.
- Free access most of the year, but the parking lot is closed for the winter.
- Plenty of signs to read about the history of the park, the trees and the animals that live here.
