Bicycling Around Sturgeon Falls

On July 20, we moved to a campground in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario.  Sturgeon Falls is the main community in West Nipissing and is about 260 driving miles north of Toronto.

Located on the Sturgeon River where it crosses the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 17), Sturgeon Falls is about 3 miles north of Lake Nipissing and situated toward the eastern end of the lake.  This area is the most bilingual community in Ontario, with 73.4% of its population fluent in both English and French.  Many of the francophone settlers immigrated to the area from Michigan in the late 19th century in order to preserve their language because they were concerned they would lose their language in the predominantly anglophone United States.  The Nipissing First Nation is also located nearby and is closely associated with West Nipissing.  The Nipissing First Nation consists of historic First Nation band governments of Ojibwe and Algonquin descent who, following succeeding cultures of ancestors, have lived in the area of Lake Nipissing in the Canadian province of Ontario for about 9,400 years.  As of February 2009, Nipissing First Nation had a total registered population of 2,201 people, of which 886 lived on their own Reserve.

On our first day here, we decided to bicycle about 4.5 miles into town to do some grocery shopping. While our route was along roads rather than bike trails, the traffic was light, and we were treated to some beautiful scenery.  As we entered town, we crossed a bridge over the Sturgeon River, where we had a view of the river's path between two stone cliffs, where a railroad bridge also crossed, and the river bent to the right below:

Our first stop was at Twiggs Coffee Roasters, where we picked up some locally roasted coffee beans, then looked around the marina where the roastery is located:

After stopping at a local supermarket, we happened to pedal by Sacred Heart Church, which was established here in 1885:

Sturgeon Falls is named, of course, for falls on the Sturgeon River.  Unfortunately, the falls were dammed for hydroelectric power, and now the only remnants of the falls are these views of the rock shelves over which the river tumbled in its native state:

It was possible to walk out across the rock shelves, which reminded us of other similar falls we've visited - most notably Pedernales Falls in the Hill Country of Texas, and 13 Falls, below Galehead Hut and above the Pemigawasset River in the White Mountains of New Hampshire:

The geology was fascinating and invited us further up the river to explore!

These river views only whetted our appetite to see more of the river.  Since our campground rents kayaks, we knew this was to be next on our list!