One of Canada's Great Natural Wonders, Collingwood Scenic Caves Nature Preserve is located at the highest part of the Niagara Escarpment, in a spectacular setting above Georgian Bay at Blue Mountain.
There mysterious caves and caverns, once under water, were formed over the course of millions of years by ice movement in the Glacial Age. Geologists have noted traces of a great inland sea on the sides of the mountain and fossils in the rocks. Botantists have identified rare ferns and plants growing in the caverns, including the exotic Maidenhair Fern.
The earliest written records of this area were by the Jesuit missionaries, who, in the first half of the 17th century, lived with the Huron Indians. The Hurons were the largest Indian Nation in North America at one time. Over 30,000 Natives lived, farmed the land and hunted here. The area around the Scenic Caves was the home of the Petun tribe or "Tobacco Nation".
The Huron Indians used these rock formations as a fortress for protection from their enemies around the time of 1650. Later the Huron Indians made their way south-west where today a remnant of the tribe known as the Wyandottes is found near Sandwick.
Excavations from 1975 to 1978 confirm the historical writings, that this area was once visited by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain and is the historic site of the Huron Indians village of Ekarenniondi and its famous worshipping rock -"EKARENNIONDI"- which means the rock that stands out.
Collingwood Scenic Caves Nature Preserve has been a popular visitor and tourist attraction over the past 50 years
To learn about Niagara Falls, please continue onto the next page.
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