The Turtle River–White Otter Lake Provincial Park is a wilderness area in Sunset Country, northwestern Ontario, between Ignace and Atikokan. This "non-operating" park is a paddlers' dream, with unique flora, fauna and geology along the canoe routes. This raw wilderness promises exhilarating canoe-tripping for canoeists seeking remote, rugged adventures.

At nearly 49,300 ha, the park offers an authentic wilderness experience with lakes, rivers, boreal forest, and rugged Canadian Shield rock formations. Some rocks have ancient pictographs that are centuries old. The Turtle River excels as a wilderness canoe route with roughly 22 sets of rapids and 30 portages, and its connected lakes.

Rich in History

There is a lot of history along the routes through this park. The most famous is White Otter Castle, built by Scottish Immigrant Jimmy McOuat between 1903 and 1915. It is a story of love and heartbreak, as the bride he built it for never showed up, and Jimmy drowned in a nearby lake a few years after it was completed. As previously noted, many ancient Indigenous pictographs are also painted on the rocks. There is also an abandoned World War II prisoner-of-war camp located along the route. Respect and protection of archaeological and cultural features are integral to the park management plan overseen by Ontario Parks. 

Check out the article by Julia Prinselaar about her adventure on a canoe trip on the Turtle River.