Welcome to Rock Point Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. 350 million years ago Rock Point Provincial Park was located beneath a warm, tropical sea. During this Devonian period the earth was concentrated into a single land mass. This tropical environment provided an excellent habitat for corals, crinoids (sea lilies) and ozoans (moss animals).Eventually the earth underwent a process known as continental Drift, when this landmass divided into several continents and separated. North America moved gradually into a more temperate climate and many of these existing life forms perished. When these organisms died they sank into the lime rich mud. The cavities left by the decomposed skeletons of these animals were eventually filled in with minerals forming a fossil. The best area to view these fossils is from the Southeast corner of the park. Around 12,000 years ago the last of these enormous glacial fields of ice melted and formed a glacial lake where Lake Erie is now. The lines you see along the shoreline in the rock were carved some 12,000 years ago by the retreating glaciers and are called Glacial Striations.
Rock Point Provincial Park is also rich in animal life. A Canadian Migrating Monitoring Station is located within the park where small birds are caught, measured and banded before they are released to resume their migration. It is also home to several of Canada’s Threatened species. The Eastern Hognose Snake gets its name from its unique up-turned nose. The snake is entirely harmless. The Hognose is a very rare snake and is one of the species listed as a “Species at Risk” in Ontario. The Fowler Toad is so rare in Ontario that it is found in only several location within the province, of which Rock Point Provincial Park is one of them. The Fowler Toad tends to be smaller then his American cousin and lighter in colour, with a white belly. Rock Point Provincial Park is set amidst a wonderful Carolinian forest with over 600 metres of beautiful sandy beach on the shores of Lake Erie. A trail system leads along the top of a lakeside bluff, through fields and into a Carolinian Woodlot. Viewing platforms overlook Lake Erie and nearby Mohawk Island and lighthouse. The closest town is Dunnville, on the Grand River with a population of 12,000.
