The Long Sault Parkway is a group of eleven islands west of Cornwall in the Canadian province of Ontario, as well as the name of the scenic parkway connecting them. The islands, which include two public beaches and three campgrounds, were created by the flooding of the Long Sault rapids during construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The parkway, the islands, and their amenities are maintained by the St. Lawrence Parks Commission.
The parkway is located between the towns of Ingleside and Long Sault in the municipality of South Stormont, and connects with County Road2 (former Highway 2) at both ends. Ingleside and Long Sault were created concurrently with the parkway to rehouse the residents of farms and communities that now lie below the surface of the St. Lawrence River as the result of the construction of the Moses-Saunders Power Dam. Beginning on July1, 1958, and proceeding for nearly a week, of land between Iroquois and Cornwall were flooded; forming an island chain from the hilltops of the inundated land. Several sites along the parkway pay homage to these lost villages.
Route description
The Long Sault Parkway is a route that interconnects eleven islands that lie in Lake St. Lawrence, the forebay of the Moses-Saunders Power Dam on the St. Lawrence River. These islands—the former hilltops of inundated farmland—comprise, from west to east, McLaren Island, Woodlands Island, Fraser Island, Hoople Island, Dickinson Island, Heriot Island, Vankoughnet Island, Phillpotts Island, Macdonnell Island, and Mille Roches Island, which itself connects to Snetsinger Island by footbridge. While the parkway, the islands, and their amenities are maintained by the St. Lawrence Parks Commission, Moulinette Island, which connects to Mille Roches Island by road, is not part of the Long Sault Parkway.
Beginning immediately east of Ingleside, the Long Sault Parkway branches south from Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SDG) County Road2 and passes a parkway information booth, with the Ingleside Sewage Treatment Plant located on the southeast corner. A causeway and a short bridge cross over to McLaren Island, named after Rev. Narcisse McLaren, founder of the local Camp Kagama. The parkway curves east and provides access to the McLaren Campground before crossing a small swamp to Woodlands Island, which is named after the displaced community of Woodlands and is host to both a beach and a campground. Causeways carry the parkway east to Fraser Island, named after explorer Simon Fraser, and Hoople Island, named for one of the original settlers of the area. The latter contains a nature trail as well as a boat launch. Another causeway connects Hoople and Dickinson Islands.
Dickinson Island, named after the inundated village of Dickinson's Landing, is connected to Heriot Island, named for British army officer Frederick Heriot, by the only other bridge along the parkway aside from the two which connect the island chain to the mainland. The remaining islands are interconnected by causeways. Vankoughnet Island is named after Philip VanKoughnet, who was instrumental in the building of the Cornwall Canal. At Phillpotts Island, honouring canal engineer Lieutenant R.E. Phillpotts, the old alignment of Highway2 surfaces above the St. Lawrence River. The parkway briefly follows the old highway alignment as it crosses to Macdonnell Island north of the submerged Lock 21. On Macdonnell Island, named for Bishop of Upper Canada Alexander Macdonell, the parkway gradually curves northward as it passes an information booth for The Lost Villages and Save Ontario Shipwrecks, as well as the Lock 21 and Camp Carp campsites.
The final island on the Long Sault Parkway itself is Mille Roches Island, named for the inundated village of Mille Roches. In addition to a beach and campground, two islands are connected to Mille Roches Island: Snetsigner Island, honouring local merchant and politician John Goodall Snetsinger, which is connected by footbridge; and Moulinette Island, in remembrance of the inundated village of Moulinette. The latter is connected to Mille Roches Island by road; it features private residences and is not part of the Long Sault Parkway. The parkway continues north, crossing a causeway and bridge to the mainland, where it passes a parkway information booth before ending at SDG County Road2 at Long Sault; SDG County Road35 (Moulinette Road) continues north into the town.