Brightsand Provincial Park lies about 140km northwest of Thunder Bay. The Brightsand River flows from south to north and is about 125km in length. It joins the Allanwater River close to the southwest corner of Wabakimi.
It's a scenic route, consisting of mixed forest and frequent granite outcrops on an early precambrian landscape. Evidence of the last ice age can be seen in the form of eskers, an outwash plain, moraines and other land forms. An esker being a narrow winding ridge of gravel or sand deposited by the melting waters under a glacier.
HOW TO GET THERE
Most visitors to Brightsand enter from the Graham Road which runs north from The Transcanada Highway 17 west of Upsala and reaches the river at Aylsworth Lake (Access Point km52). The Graham Road continues north and provides further access to Brightsand at the outflow of the Kashishibog River (Access Point km92). This junction is also a connection to the Kopka River and Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Parks. Access can also be gained at the northern, downstream end of the River at Allanwater Bridge which is on the Via Rail line.
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) on-line Road Map 13 and Road Map 16 provide an overview of the roads in Northwestern Ontario that lead to the Albany, Brightsand, Kashishibog, Kopka and Wabakimi area from Canada and the US border crossing points at Fort Frances/International Falls, Pigeon River/Grand Portage and Rainy River/Baudette. Road Map 12 covers routes further east.
THE MAP SET
The map set for the Brightsand River has been updated to include changes to portages and campsites that have taken place since the official Park Map was produced for Ontario Parks. Our map set is large-scale, waterproof and consists of eight pages laminated back-to-back and held together with a plastic tie.
Supplemental Pages have also been included for two loops/detours that were not shown on the original park map:
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at the downstream end of the Brightsand a route through Kawaweogama, Sunray and Seseganaga Lakes before rejoining the Brightsand River at Wapikaimaski Lake.
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further south, a detour or loop through Hilltop and Mountairy Lakes.
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