Temagami is a town of about 1,000 people, that began as an outpost of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1834. The town itself was founded, according to Wikipedia, by Daniel O’Connor in 1903, who “formed a steamship company on the lake and established its first store on the future town-site.” The railway came through in 1905, and by 1906 Mr. O’Connor had built three hotels on the lake. The mining rush in nearby Cobalt at around the same time brought further development to the area.
My little mini-adventure to Temagami was something of an accident, beginning to end. I had originally intended to go to 
Cobalt, but when mapquest informed me that it was a two-hour drive each way I went off the idea. With only one day off a week, four hours of driving was a little much. But I did want to go for a drive, so I decided to just hop in the car and head North and drive until I got bored, then turn around and come home. So I got on the highway and drove for twenty minutes until the repeated signs for Sudbury finally sank in and I realised I had ended up heading West by mistake. I could have just kept going, I suppose, but I got stubborn. I was determined to head North. So I turned around and came back, managed not to give up entirely as I got back to the city limits, wove myself onto the right highway and finally settled in for my drive.
It was a two-lane highway for the most part, deep among the trees, which was exactly what I was looking for. Birch and pine, one species of which sticks up above the others, twisted and misshapen by the wind. And every so often, the trees would thin by the road, allowing glimpses of little blue lakes, with trees crowding right down to the rocks at the shore. I passed the occasional motel or convenience store or restaurant, almost all of them also selling live bait and ‘authentic Canadian crafts’, but no real towns. CBC radio dissolved into static about half an hour outside of North Bay, and a scan of the FM dial revealed no radio reception at all, so the rest of my drive was accompanied by comfortable silence and the sound of the wind.
About 40 minutes out I was about ready to head home, but by that time I had started seeing signs for Temagami, not too many kilometres away, so I decided to head there, and at least feel like I had been somewhere specific rather than just finding a place to turn around on the highway. The first reward for my perseverance, was the sight of Lake Angus. It’s long and skinny and starts at the edge of the highway. I drove along with the warm pink-and-grey granite outcrops to one side, and the tree-lined lake stretching away on the other.
My second reward was the Temagami train station, which was the first thing I noticed as I drove into town. It’s a beautiful stone building on the outside, and it certainly looks like it’s the same one that was built in 1905, although the Temagami website says it’s currently being restored. Inside, it’s all warm, glossy wood, with a flight of stairs up to a gallery level. It reminds me of a much smaller version of the Tuesday Market in St. Jacob’s. It has been converted to a gift shop, and sells, of course, ‘authentic Canadian crafts’, but also a variety of toys and books for kids. I checked with the clerk, and it is still a functioning railway station, with trains coming through daily, every day except Saturday, running between Toronto and Cochrane. I don’t know anything about Cochrane, but I’ve decided I’d like to go there by train some day, mostly because I like the name.
Since I ended up in Temagami by accident, I didn’t really have a plan of sights to visit, so I just had a wander through the town. It’s just a little place, not so much a tourist destination in and of itself, the way that St. Jacob’s was.
It feels very much like exactly what it is: a hub for all the cottages and campgrounds in the area. There’s a general store that sells ice cream and rents videos, there’s a Chinese food restaurant, and a chip shop that also sells burgers and fresh pickerel from the lake, a grocery store, and a Home Hardware (which I’m noticing much more now, since having been to St. Jacob’s). There is also a store that sells ‘authentic Canadian crafts’, as well as t-shirts and sweatshirts (with a variety of Temagami, Ontario and Canada logos on them) for overly optimistic campers who came North with insufficient cold-weather gear. 
There’s a little pocket, just off the main drag, where three little churches are clustered together, each one unique. A catholic church made of logs, an Anglican church surrounded by flowers, and a United church, I think. There is also, to my delight, a public library. I’m not sure why that surprised me. It looked quite big, too, although I didn’t go inside.The real joy of Temagami, however, is revealed on their website, and includes a huge variety of things that I, with my measly one afternoon, didn’t have time to enjoy.
From Temagami, you can, depending on the time of year, go fishing, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, camping, dog-sledding, hiking, snowmobiling, swimming… you name it. There are 1,500 miles of canoe routes through interconnected lakes and rivers. There’s a 100km day trip by train that takes you out to see the fall colours. There are pontoon boat tours and Caribou Mountain and something called the Dream Keepers Experience. (There is also the Jumping Caribou Lake, which may just be the best name ever.) Nearby, there is also the last patches of Old Growth Forest left in Ontario, accessible by a few trails for hikers.
As I said, I didn’t get a chance to try any of this myself. But, the one thing I really regret not visiting is the Fire Tower. I saw a sign for it as I was driving in, so I knew it existed, but I couldn’t find it. The Temagami website has this to say about it:
The 100′ high Temagami Fire Tower stands on the summit of Caribou Mountain, 400′ above the town and 1300′ above sea level. … The cupola at the top of the tower commands a view in excess of 40 kilometers, overlooking Finlayson Provincial Park, the White Bear Forest with its stands of old growth pine and the town’s Portage Bay with its floatplane base and water traffic.
The views must be stunning. And the cost for a visit to the top is just $3 per person (children under 6 go free). This fee also gives you access to the Interpretive Centre, hiking trails and viewing platforms. I’m still planning to go up to Cobalt at some point. I’ve hired a cottage near Callander for the weekend after my job finishes up here, just to hang out and relax with a friend of mine, out in the country, by the lake, with no job stress, no worries about being on call. I think we’ll drive up to Cobalt that weekend, and I’ll stop and visit the Fire Tower on the way.
On the way home, I stopped to take some photos of Lake Angus in the late afternoon sun, and then meandered back down the little highway. All in all, a wonderful little accidental adventure.
kithika