Loring-Restoule/Hwy 522 Corridor ~ Beauty Awaits..

With more than 30 lakes and rivers linked with portages, the Loring-Restoule Vacationland area offers spectacular scenery, excellent fishing, and a wide variety of canoe routes. So, for the fisherman, the boater and canoe enthusiast this region is an outdoor paradise. An abundance of pickerel (walleye), bass, pike, and Muskie await you. Take a one-day canoe adventure or plan a longer journey through several lakes and rivers.

Located on Hwy. 534, Restoule is a small, yet dynamic community situated picturesquely between Commanda Lake and Restoule Lake. It is home to Restoule Provincial Park with its beautiful beaches, towering bluffs of granite and dark, glassy lakes fringed with red pines. This is the pristine landscape that characterizes this lovely park and surrounding region.

Restoule also offers many camps with comfortable housekeeping cottages and awesome trails for ATVing, or hiking or mountain biking. Climb a fire tower where you can see for miles, watch for heron rookeries, birds of prey and white-tailed deer. Embark on a five-day canoe trip tracing Samuel de Champlain's original route.

Restoule has a rich history. Before any settlers arrived Indians used the area as camp grounds. The Free Land Grant of 1868 offered free land to anyone over 18 years of age, who was willing to clear and cultivate fifteen acres of land and build a home within five years. The first settler to arrive was William McKee, an Irish immigrant, who journeyed from Pembroke, Ontario to the mouth of the Restoule River with his five children to claim his 15 acres and build the first home in Restoule.

Eventually to their dismay settlers found the land was not rich enough to provide them with any more than a meager existence; so while the women cared for the children and animals at their homesteads, most of the men would work in the bush camps during winter, cutting pine logs to be sawn into lumber in the mills.

Port Loring, situated five kilometers west of Loring on Highway 522, was once considered part of the Village of Loring. First settled in the late 1870's, Loring became a centre for lumbering from 1880 onwards. North of Loring, a country road from Highway 522 takes you to scenic Lake Memesagamesing. Highway 522 west of Port Loring brings the traveler to the "S" Narrows Bridge, the boundary point between East and West Parry Sound. The bridge also offers a spectacular view of the Pickerel River. Known as the Argyle area, this entire region offers public boat launches with canoe access to the Pickerel and Wolf Rivers.

Navigating along the Pickerel River is a nature lover's delight. Follow the route of the steamer Kawigamog which carried lumber and supplies between the railhead at Lost Channel and Port Loring. At its peak in the 1920's, the population of Lost Channel was more than 1,000. Check out the remnants of an old bridge at Fleming's Landing. The bridge, part of the original Salinas colonization road, was set ablaze by sparks from the passing Kawigamog's smoke stack. The Pickerel River is historically significant because it was used to drive logs to the many mills that once dotted its shores.

Take a driving tour along Highway 522 in early April and see deer herds feeding in the fields along the roadway, preparing for the journey to their summer ranges. From May until Thanksgiving, follow Highways 654, 524 and 522 to visit the artisans and crafts people on the "Country Roads Studio Tour." Plan to visit in September when the trees are in their full autumn splendor. Check out the picturesque communities of Commanda, Bear Valley, Golden Valley or Arnstein.

Whether you cottage in this area, or just camp occasionally you will find woven throughout the region a tapestry of memorable experiences reflecting the lives of the inhabitants, past and present. There are opportunities to visit museums where you can identify with the rich heritage of those who pioneered this rugged land. As you travel, you can connect with artisans and rural enterprises nestled throughout the countryside in their quaint studios and workshops. There is something for everyone, so come visit. You will be glad you did!