July 16th, 2009
Here’s your chance to literally go where no one has gone before: Would you believe that in this age of GPS and Google Earth, there are some parts of Ontario in which humans have never set foot? There are more than a few acres – square kilometers even – on Earth where no one has been. And in recorded history, we haven’t even been to all the places where lines of latitude and longitude meet.
Want to be the first to get there?
Grab a GPS and see how you can make it to one of the last unexplored corners of Ontario, with a little help from the good folks at the Degree Confluence Project.
NOTE: The images below are of the general area near each unexplored region OBVIOUSLY, if we had images of these unexplored locales, they wouldn’t be unexplored.
Good luck and don’t forget extra socks!
Lake Superior (17 km from the southwest shore)
Believe it or not, no one in recorded history has visited this spot 32 km northwest of Batchawana. The catch: You need a boat (and more than a 9.9 hp aluminum beater) to get there. Assuming the weather’s calm, just remember to gas-up!
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=47&lon=-85
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
A little farther up the lake
Just a tad more northwest on the shores of Superior, this site should offer a slim view of land about the width of a full moon. Be sure to photograph that sliver and the reading on your GPS as proof of your conquest (it’d be a little hard to plant a flag here, we imagine.)
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=48&lon=-86
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
Stop by a ghost town on your way…
The abandoned town of Jackfish is just 22 km from this unvisited degree confluence. After your find, stop by this former rail port on the western shores of Lake Superior, abandoned since a 1963 fire gutted the last major building there.
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=49&lon=-87
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
Near Allan Water
Fly in or take the train (no car access) to this acclaimed fishing lodge, being sure to plan your trip to the confluence 30 km to the southeast. Staff at the lodge may be able to help you plan the trek well in advance, and they’ll definitely be able to fry up some fish for you afterwards.
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=50&lon=-90
The lodge: http://www.allanwater.com/
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
Near Minataree (Where??)
We don’t recommend you visit many of these locales in winter (this is Northern Ontario, not Toronto after all.) These locales aren’t ideal winter camping destinations and can be an odyssey to get to even in summer.
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=50&lon=-88
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
Stop by and swim with the polar bears
Just a little more than 30 km north of the tiny outpost of Fraserdale, lies this unexplored point waiting for you to be first to set foot. After or before, why not visit the town of Cochrane (about 130 km south), where you can swim with polar bears (separated by a pane of bulletproof glass.)
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=50&lon=-82
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
Aannd just a little farther up the street…
17 km beyond the Fraserdale confluence, lies yet another. In theory, this pairing gives the hardcore seeker the chance to bag two locales in one fell swoop (well, at least give yourself a day or two of rest between the two.)
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=50&lon=-81
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
Six degrees of small towns
Look up the tiny Northern Ontario community of Red Lake…THEN try and find the even-smaller outpost of Madsen, 7 km from the first of many of Ontario’s ultra-remote unvisited meetings of latitude and longitude.
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=51&lon=-94
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
Grab your canoe!
20 km from Jackson Manion (which is 180 km north of Kenora) lies a degree confluence that’s never been visited by anyone in recorded history. Though this confluence is only 1 km offshore, it’s at least several kilometers from any established portage.
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=51&lon=-93
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
Fancy a wood bison?
Be sure to bring some loose tobacco to offer your hosts out of respect at Pikangikum First Nation Ojibway reserve. If the elders there like you, they may even help direct you to the confluence 20 km to the north.
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=52&lon=-94
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
A little farther from Pikangikum
While at Pikangikum, ask about the second confluence a much more distant 70 km from the reserve (and see if any Ojibway have been to the area – recorded orally or in history books – remember to be respectful.)
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=52&lon=-93
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
Favourable Lake: With a name like that…
Before heading out to attempt the finding of this unvisited confluence, give a holler to Ontario Parks for advice on how to get from the southern boundary of nearby Opasquia Provincial Park to the confluence.
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=53&lon=-94
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
Near Sandy Lake
Another opportunity for a one-two punch, this unexplored confluence is the immediate neighbour of the one near Favourable Lake. Ontario Parks should be able to help you out with this one too: www.ontarioparks.com http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=53&lon=-93
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
Round Lake and the GPSing is easy
One more in the “Greater Opasquia Provincial Park Area”, about 160 km east of this far-flung camping destination. Why not make it a family or other group project to find all three of these nearby locales over one or more summers?
http://confluence.org/region.php?id=37
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
Near Big Beaverhouse
Equal distance between Opasquia to the west and Winisk River Provincial Park to the east, this never-before-visited site awaits the GPS markings of adventurous souls with a hunger to experience the wilds of Ontario’s boreal forest.
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=53&lon=-90
How to visit this degree confluence
How to report your visit to this confluence
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 2:17 pm and is filed under Vacation.
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