Timber Island Provincial Park is a 44 hectare nature reserve established in 1985. Ontario Parks places the limestone island south of Picton in eastern Lake Ontario.
The official page says Timber Island is an important part of the eastern Lake Ontario flyway and a biannual landing site for migratory birds. Meadows, shrub thickets, and oak-hickory forests grow on the island.
Timber Island is a sensitive island reserve for people researching bird migration, southern plant species, and Lake Ontario nature reserves. Ontario Parks says naturalists speculate that the island was part of a plant migration route across the eastern end of Lake Ontario after the glaciers retreated.
Several southern plant species that are rare in eastern Ontario are found here. That makes the island ecologically interesting, but access is not casual.
Ontario Parks says access is by boat only and requires permission from the Superintendent at Sandbanks Provincial Park. The island has a low bluff around the shore and no docking or other visitor facilities.
Plan around bird migration research, naturalist study, rare plant awareness, island photography, boat-access planning, Lake Ontario weather checks, and low-impact observation only if permission and conditions align.
The permission requirement should come before any route or boat plan.
Because permission is required, even experienced boaters should confirm the visit before watching the forecast.
Confirm superintendent permission, boat access, landing feasibility, no-docking limitations, no-facility expectations, sensitive habitat rules, Lake Ontario weather, maps, alerts, and emergency planning through Ontario Parks.
Non-operating park in Ontario Parks locator.
