page_title: Neys Provincial Park
section_title: The inhospitable shore of Lake Superior
hierarchical_section_title: Neys Provincial Park / Natural features / The inhospitable shore of Lake Superior
caption_attribution_description: English: Late afternoon view of rocks on the north shore of Lake Superior at Neys Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada in June 2004
context_page_description: Neys Provincial Park is a Natural Environment Class provincial park on the north shore of Lake Superior, just west of Marathon, Ontario, Canada. This 5,383-hectare park includes the historic Coldwell Peninsula and the surrounding island system consisting of Pic Island, Detention Island, and the Sullivan Islands.
  The ghost village of Coldwell, which lies just outside the east boundary of the park, was home to an old railway and fishing community until the 1960s. All that remains of the village now are a few foundations, shipwrecks in the harbour and a cemetery. Within park boundaries is also the muse for Group of Seven member Lawren Harris, who in 1924 painted the now famous image of Pic Island. Only the hardy survive here, including subarctic plants and a rare herd of woodland caribou. Enjoy one of the finest beaches on Lake Superior’s north shore or view a model of a former German Prisoner of War Camp at the Neys Visitor Centre.
context_section_description: Lake Superior has been the reason for part of the early cultural heritage of Northern Ontario. It is also the cause of one of the most interesting parts of the natural heritage of the region as well. 7,500 years ago, the large Glaciers of the Laurentide Ice Sheet had finally melted away, filling in large bodies of water that covered 246,050 km². These bodies of water are the Great Lakes. The extremely cold and rough waters of Lake Superior have caused its rocky shores to be home to subarctic plant species. The following is a description of the region from the Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources:
  The rocky shore vegetation is an association of lichens, mosses and herbs that can tolerate the severe growing conditions of this site. These plants are able to survive in a microclimate that is cooler, windier and moister than those of nearby areas which are not as strongly influenced by Lake Superior. Lichens cover the bare, wave-washed rocks while the herbs are restricted to cracks and crevices in the rocks where soil has been able to accumulate. Many of these plants such as the butterwort, the three toothed cinquefoil, crowberry and bird’s eye primrose are not found elsewhere in the park and are part of a vegetation association known as an Arctic disjunct community, that is, the discrete association isolated from its main geographical location.
  Source: NHIC (OMNR)
caption: The shore of Lake Superior in Neys Provincial Park
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