Manitou Islands Provincial Park is a 1,925.8 hectare nature reserve made up of four islands in Lake Nipissing, 10 kilometres southwest of North Bay. Ontario Parks lists the park as established in 1989 and says the islands represent Lake Nipissing island ecology with warmer than normal regional temperatures.
The island vegetation includes basswood, three species of ash, silver maple, birch, cedar, bur oak, and sugar maple. Ontario Parks also notes common thickets of poison ivy, striped maple, chokecherry, and ground hemlock.
Manitou Islands is a useful long-tail page for visitors researching Lake Nipissing day-use islands, island ecology, bird nesting, and low-facility boating trips. The islands are important to more than 50 breeding bird species and include Great Blue Heron colonies and osprey nesting sites.
Great Manitou Island has a sand beach, and Ontario Parks says the beach is available for day use only. The official page lists swimming, boating, and nature viewing as visitor activities, while also warning visitors not to disturb nesting birds.
The park has human-history traces too. Little Manitou Island has a small limestone kiln tied to construction of the North Bay portion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and Newman Island had uranium exploration between 1953 and 1960.
Plan around boating, sand beach day use, swimming where conditions allow, nesting bird awareness, island nature viewing, Lake Nipissing photography, and respectful history research.
Confirm access, maps, boating conditions, day-use rules, nesting bird guidance, poison ivy precautions, no-facility expectations, weather, lake conditions, alerts, and park rules through the official Ontario Parks source before travelling.
Non-operating park in Ontario Parks locator.
