Provincial parks in eastern Ontario damaged by high water, winds
Homes and businesses aren't the only places that have suffered damage due to this year's high waters and heavy rains. Provincial parks not far from Ottawa are also dealing with the aftermath.
Sandbanks
Sandbanks Provincial Park, which sits on Lake Ontario south of Belleville, Ont., normally boasts three beaches, but Lakeshore Beach is currently closed, while half of the park's most popular beach, Outlet, is underwater.
The neighbouring North Beach Provincial Park is also closed due to high water levels and is not expected to open until June 28.
The last time the parks experienced flooding this bad was in 2017, when high waters caused problems throughout the region.
Afterward, the park bought tens of thousands of dollars worth of gravel to raise trails, campsites and roads, and this year they're under water again, though not as badly. But the big problem has been high winds and waves, and the detritus they leave behind.
"You get logs and debris and rock and things being thrown up on trails, beaches and roads. And generally the sand itself gets washed away and pulled back into the lake. Now, it doesn't disappear — it sits out in the lake and later on in the year it sort of moves back in — but for the moment a lot of the beaches are either submerged or they're half gone and you have steep sand embankments where the waves have been eroding away the front of the sand," said park superintendent Robin Reilly.
"Oh, it takes ages to clean up, and particularly with plastics ... you get lots and lots of small bits of plastic thrown up on the beach. They don't come from the park, they come from somewhere else on Lake Ontario, but it takes a long, long time to clean out and sift out all those kind of small bits of plastic."
The park's opening was not delayed this year, but some areas are closed. Water levels on Lake Ontario are forecast to remain high for the next few weeks.
Closures:
Lakeshore Beach, and the trail leading from Lakeshore Lodge to the beach.
Dunes Trail (could reopen soon).
Cedar Sands Trail.
About 12 campsites in the Cedars campground and the Outlet campground.
Fitzroy
Fitzroy Provincial Park, about 60 kilometres west of downtown Ottawa, was damaged by high water levels on the Ottawa River and heavy rainfalls. Nearby homes and communities were flooded as well.
Its opening was delayed, and some areas remain closed.
Closures:
Boat launch area.
Carp Trail.
Lower half of Two Rivers Campground and the Campers Beach Area.
Bonnechere
Bonnechere Provincial Park just northwest of Killaloe, Ont., experienced flooding along the Bonnechere River and Round Lake.
Its opening was also delayed.
There are currently no closures or other impacts listed on its website.
Ontario Parks keeps an updated list of alerts and advisories at each of its parks. You can find it here.
