The Mississippi Lake National Wildlife Area is located within the boundary of the Mississippi Lake Migratory Bird Sanctuary (MBS) (300 ha). Mississippi Lake, which appears as a swelling of the Mississippi River, contains at its southwestern end a small bay known as Mud Lake or McEwen Bay. This bay was formed in 1890 after the construction of a dam by a milling company about 20 km downstream at Carleton Place. It is around this bay that the NWA and MBS are centred. A small stream, McIntyre Creek, flows into the southern end of McEwen Bay, which connects to the Mississippi Lake. A peninsula and an island restrict the mouth of the bay.
Prior to flooding, McEwen Bay was low-lying farmland. Now the farmland occurs along its western boundary. The surrounding region consists of gently rolling terrain, with a sedimentary base. Limestone outcroppings occur in the upland areas.
McEwen Bay is relatively shallow, with an average depth of about 1.5 m. The bottom is muddy, with loose vegetative debris and silt covering much of its surface. In spite of its brown colour, the water is fairly clear. A very lush growth of aquatic plants can be found around the shoreline between the open water and wild rice stands. During high water years, wild rice is often the most abundant emergent to be found, forming extensive beds along the shore of the bay and river. Cattail occurs in the bay; however, few dense cattail stands are evident. Flooded scrub, or more specifically willow-dogwood-maple thicket, dominates the land surrounding the bay. In some areas, this community is replaced by silver maple swamp at the aquatic interface. Backing the thicket, in some areas on dry land, is a mature hardwood forest, consisting primarily of maple, elm and ash with some patches of white cedar.
Access is permitted for day use only at the entrance on Drummond Concession 9A. Activities allowed include hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, picnicking and wildlife viewing on the designated trail. Facilities include a public parking lot, hiking trail, public boat launch and washroom.
TRAIL LOCATION: A 3 km hiking trail through the forest in the south end of the NWA can be accessed from Drummond Concession 9A southwest of the parking lot and across from the laneway access to a private residence at 1091 Drummond Concession 9 A. The entrance is a little overgrown.
Mississippi Lake National Wildlife Area has just some of the many nature trails and hiking trails you can find throughout Ontario by using the search features of OntarioNaturetrails.com
Region(s): Lanark County
Nearby towns and cities: Lanark
Trail feature tags: wildlife viewing
Mississippi Lake National Wildlife Area characteristics
Length: 3 km.Difficulty: Moderate (Trail classifications)
Trail surface: Natural
Trail use: Hiking
Accessibility Notes: Not wheelchair accessible.
Fees: None
Flora & Fauna:
During fall migration, up to 10 000 ducks can pass through the site in a day, primarily American Black Ducks, Mallards, Wood Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal and Hooded Mergansers. They gather here as a refuge from hunting pressure outside of the MBS boundary. The site is periodically used as a waterfowl banding site.
Amenities: picnic tables, washrooms
Attractions: wildlife viewing
Contact:
ec.enviroinfo.ec@canada.ca
Environment & Climate Change Canada - Ontario Canadian Wildlife Service 1-800-668-6767
Find it: across from entrance to 1091 Concession Rd 9A, Balderson, ON
GPS Coordinates (main trailhead):
Latitude: 45.0287720
Longitude: -76.2288810
My trail experience No trailhead, no trails. Small boat launch, a couple picnic tables. Biffies present but not maintained. Again, NO TRAILS!!
I have added Trail location info to the trail description. This information provided on the Environment & Climate Change Canada – Ontario Canadian Wildlife Service 1-800-668-6767 site. Doesn’t appear to be direction to the trail information at the parking lot. It would be really helpful is someone could check the veracity of this information. If indeed, no trail exists I will take down this trail information.
I went there yesterday (2021-08-05). As mentioned, there is no directional indication of the trail from the boat launch area, but the boat launch area is where you must park your car. I found the trail located opposite the address “1091 Concession Road 9A” which is a couple of hundred metres back. The path is not easy to find, it is grass not gravel or dirt, and it is not even a metre wide – but the grass has been cut at least. Look for the blue sign. And it’s not very long.
Having said that, there is a sign near the boat launch that states “This National Wildlife Area is open to the public with limited access to trails and visitor services”. That is accurate.
I didn’t find the path all that interesting, and I suggest visiting the area using some kind of boat (the boat launch is public) instead of using the walking path.
Trail access is a joke. Just past the launch, on the left. Overgrown and if you manage to make it over/across the fallen trees, you better be wearing boots cause it’s swamp!