Black Creek

Black Creek Provincial Park is a 335-hectare natural-environment-class provincial park on the Lake Huron shore of the Bruce Peninsula, about 55 km northwest of Owen Sound. ^[1] Established in 1989, it protects a tract of shoreland, part of it dominated by a beaver swamp, with a good beach for swimming. ^[1] The park lies in the former Township of Eastnor in Bruce County, now part of the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula. ^{[2] [3]} It is a small, undeveloped park: a parking lot and toilets are the only visitor facilities, and its mailing address is in care of MacGregor Point Provincial Park. ^[1] The World Database on Protected Areas lists it at 3.35 km². ^[4] Its rare plants, winter deer areas and sand dunes are the natural features its management statement sets out to protect. ^[2]

A beaver pond complex near the centre of the property is the park's defining wildlife habitat. ^[1] Trapping in the park is managed to prevent flooding of adjacent private land while maintaining the beaver population. ^[1] Winter deer areas have been found in the park, and the 1986 management statement does not permit activities that would harm them. ^[1] The Bruce Peninsula as a whole supports black bears, massasauga rattlesnakes and barred owls. ^[2] Fishing is among the recreational uses recorded at the park, and hunting is a permitted activity. ^{[1] [3]} The mix of Lake Huron shoreline, wetland and forest gives the park a range of habitats in a small area. ^{[3] [1]}

The park's forests are a mix of white cedar, white birch, balsam fir and poplar. ^[1] Nine provincially rare plant species are recorded, including dwarf lake iris and Ohio goldenrod. ^[1] Dwarf lake iris grows on the northern shores and islands of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, on calcareous sand or thin soils over limestone gravel, including old beach ridges and the ground behind open dunes. ^[2] A sand dune complex directly behind the beach is sensitive to any use or development. ^[1] The Bruce Peninsula is known for orchids: 44 of Ontario's 61 orchid varieties grow there. ^[3] The management statement does not allow activities that would damage the park's rare plants or dunes. ^[1]

The Bruce Peninsula is formed by the Niagara Escarpment, which runs 725 km from Queenston on the Niagara River to Tobermory. ^[1] The escarpment dates from the Silurian and is built of dolomite, a magnesium-rich form of limestone, along with shales and sandstones. ^[1] Within the park, the earth science features recorded are glacial striations and roches moutonnées, sand dunes and a simple beach. ^[2] Glacial striations are scratches left on bedrock by rock and sediment carried in moving ice, and they can show the direction the glacier flowed. ^[3] A roche moutonnée is an elongated, asymmetrical bedrock knob shaped by glacial erosion, with a gentle slope on its up-glacier side and a steep face on its down-glacier side. ^[4] The park's sand dune complex, directly behind the beach, is its most sensitive landform. ^[2] Ontario's protected areas planning places the park in Site Region 6E, Site District 14. ^[2]

The nearest long-term climate station is at Wiarton Airport, where the climate is classed as warm-summer humid continental (Köppen Dfb). ^[1] Under the 1991–2020 normals, July has a daily mean of 18.9°C, with highs of 24.3°C and lows of 13.6°C, while January has a daily mean of −6.1°C, with highs of −2.2°C and lows of −9.9°C. ^[1] Precipitation averages 1,073.9 mm a year, and snowfall is heavy, about 385.1 cm annually at Wiarton. ^[1] The peninsula gets heavy lake-effect snow from Lake Huron, and the lake moderates temperatures. ^[2] Summer beach use and swimming are the main activities, and winter uses recorded at the park include snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. ^{[3] [4]}

The Bruce Peninsula is the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibwe nations, the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and Saugeen First Nation. ^[1] In 1854 the Saugeen Ojibwe signed a treaty for the peninsula itself, and a land claim filed in 1994 seeks the return of Crown-held lands and compensation. ^[1] Two archaeological sites have been found in the park, and its management statement lists post-contact tribes and bands among its cultural themes. ^[2] A townsite called Hardwick was surveyed within the park area but never developed. ^[2] The park sits in the former Township of Eastnor, which was amalgamated with St. Edmunds, Lindsay and the Village of Lion's Head on January 1, 1999 to form the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula. ^[3]

Black Creek began as a park reserve. Its interim management statement, written in February 1986 before the park was regulated, covered 285 hectares of Crown land with a proposed Natural Environment classification, along with a 20 m shore road allowance leased from the Township of Eastnor. ^[1] The statement kept recreation at its existing level, ruled out new facilities, and deferred decisions on a Ducks Unlimited water control proposal and on interpretive programs until the park was formally designated. ^[1] It also noted that the reserve did not fully represent its site district. ^[1] The park was established in 1989 and Ontario Parks now lists it at 335 hectares, with its mailing address in care of MacGregor Point Provincial Park in Port Elgin. ^[2]

The beach is the main attraction: Ontario Parks describes a good beach for swimming, and swimming and beach use are the main activities. ^[1] The 1986 management statement recorded 9.4 km of trails, a footbridge and a dock. ^[2] Ontario Parks lists hiking, hunting, snowshoeing and swimming as activities at the park. ^[1] Earlier recorded uses also included skin diving, fishing, cross-country skiing, boating, picnicking and snowmobiling. ^[2] The beaver swamp and the dunes behind the beach are the natural features most visitors see. ^{[1] [2]} The management statement treats the dunes and rare plants as sensitive and does not permit activities that would damage them. ^[2]

Black Creek is about 55 km northwest of Owen Sound on the Lake Huron side of the Bruce Peninsula. ^[1] It is a day-use park with no camping or roofed accommodation, and a parking lot and toilets are its only visitor facilities. ^[1] The 1986 management statement listed a 30-car parking lot, two vault toilets, two change houses, six picnic tables and a dock. ^[2] Ontario Parks gives no physical street address for the park, and its mailing address is in care of MacGregor Point Provincial Park near Port Elgin. ^[1] The nearest communities in the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula include Lion's Head, Tobermory, Stokes Bay and Pike Bay. ^[3]

The 1986 management statement does not permit activities that would harm the park's main natural features: its provincially rare plants, winter deer areas and sand dunes. ^[1] The dune complex directly behind the beach is singled out as sensitive to any use or development. ^[1] Beaver are managed so that flooding of neighbouring private land is prevented while the beaver population is maintained. ^[1] The rare plants include dwarf lake iris, a Great Lakes shoreline species of which 37 percent of the Canadian population grows in protected areas. ^{[1] [2]} The statement chose not to add facilities, keeping recreation at its existing level. ^[1] The park is recorded in the World Database on Protected Areas. ^[3]