©GaryMcGuffin
©GaryMcGuffin
Francis Hilb Preserve
Est. 2011
Size
Length
Visitation Time
Season
8.93 Acres
300 M
30 Minutes
Open Year Round
About the Preserve
The Francis Hilb Preserve offers an enjoyable walk in the woods that opens out onto a beautiful walk across the wetland via a boardwalk ending on Goulais Bay. It is packed with plenty to see and comfortable places to sit quietly and observe nature. It's an inspirational place to come photograph, paint, read, or write! A great spot for botany and bird watching. And a magical place for children, and people of all ages, to learn about the wonder of wetlands. a relatively uncommon feature along the Lake Superior shoreline.
Amenities
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Parking Lot on Mission Road marked with LSWC sign
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Woodchip Marked Forest Trail
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Boardwalk connecting forest to Goulais Bay across wetland
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Seating at viewing platforms
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Interpretive Panel sign (coming soon)
Trail Highlights
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Woodland Trail
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Boardwalk across Wetland
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Raised Viewing Platform
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Goulais Bay beach
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Variety of wetland plants inc. cranberries, Pitcher Plants and orchids.
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Songbirds and sandhill cranes
Habitat
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Wetland Fen
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Mixed forest features inc conifers and hardwoods
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Mosses, fungi and ferns
Species in the Area
Sue Meades, the botanist who created Northern Ontario Plant Survey website, inventoried the Preserve including:
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Trees
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Shrubs
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Flowers
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Forbs
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Graminoids
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Pteridophytes
Click on the PDF icon above to learn more about the inventory, see photos and review the list of flora with their scientific names.
Recommended Activities
Other Information
This trail provides an easy walk and there are benches at both ends of the boardwalk.
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Birdwatching particularly spring and fall migration
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Bring binoculars and hand lenses to enjoy distant and close-up views
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Botany particularly June and July
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Sunsets over Goulais Bay
New Boardwalk built in the Summer of 2021
Bog Laurel (Kalmia polifolia)
Children exploring the Francis Hilb Preserve
Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy Preserves
