Within the boundaries of this provincial forest reserve are four and one half million acres of crystal clear lakes and unspoiled rivers, and over three thousand kilometers of maintained portage trails. It is a canoeist’s paradise containing the tallest mountains in Ontario, one of the biggest stands of old growth pine left in eastern Canada, and the largest interconnected canoe route system in North America.

The rich cultural and historical heritage of the area and its people have attracted canoeists for decades. The Ojibway were the first to paddle the waters of Temagami and the local First Nations trace their ancestry back over five thousand years of continuous living on the lake. Later came the French Voyageurs of the Hudson Bay Company who established a fur trading-post on nearby Bear Island. Carved by glaciers at the dawn of time, these waters remain unchanged to this day. The rivers and lakes teem with fish, and wildlife such as moose, otter, lynx and eagles abound. Leaf-bearing trees meet towering pines in this land where the evening skies are often lit by the majestic Northern Lights.