Killbear Provincial Park

Killbear Provincial Park is environmentally significant due to its diverse shorelines that combine the typical sandy beaches of the Great Lakes with the rocky ridges of the Canadian Shield. A walk through this park on its designated trails will take you through many different wetlands, meadows, and vegetation types. In the forests, you’ll wind past hemlock groves, and hardwoods which are ideal for nature watching. Since the park is located on the peninsula of Georgian Bay, you will get a chance to view the distinctive windswept pines on the rocky islands that dot the bay. The name for the park most likely originates from local Anishinabek (Ojibway) people, who called the peninsula Mukwa Nayoshing (which translates into 'Bear Point'). This is likely because bears swim back and forth from the tip of the point to Parry Island, where the Wasauksing First Nation is located. The reasons for calling the park Killbear remains somewhat of a mystery, but might be due to a mistranslation.