Heritage Atlas of Hastings County / Maps from the Heritage Atlas of Hastings County / Prominent Geological Features: 1. Trent River. The Trent drains about 12,000 square kilometres of land and is one of the largest rivers in southern Ontario. 2. Bleasdell Boulder. The Bleasdell Boulder at Glen Miller is an “erratic” rock moved a great distance by the glaciers and deposited here when the ice melted. It is about nine metres high. 3. Batawa Ski Club hill. Skiers slide down the face of a drumlin. This oval-shaped hill was formed by the glaciers and points in a northerly direction. 4. Shannonville inliers. Three kilometres northwest of Shannonville a ridge of the Precambrian Shield projects through the limestone, displaying crystalline limestone (marble), quartzite and gneiss. The ridge runs northeast to southwest. 5. Moira River. The Moira River rises in the rocky hills about 97 kilometres north of the Bay of Quinte, and drains approximately 2,283 square kilometres. 6. Oak Lake island. Rising 229 metres, Oak Lake hill between Belleville and Stirling was an island in post-glacial Lake Iroquois. Its most unusual and picturesque feature today is Oak Lake, which sits near the centre of the top of the hill. 7. Ridge Road. The paved road between Stirling and Highway 62 runs for several kilometres atop a medium-sized glacial esker. On either side the rolling landscape is composed of drumlins, part of a drumlin field that extends west as far as Orangeville. 8. Pancake Hill. Eleven kilometres northeast of Oak Lake and 21 kilometres north of Belleville, another Lake Iroquois beach rises above the surrounding landscape. Called Pancake Hill, its elevation is 223 metres and possibly was the highest point of the Lake Iroquois shoreline. 9. Scuttleholes. The scuttleholes near Latta are found in one of the most outstanding examples of karst found in Ontario. “Karst” is a term used by geologists to describe areas where the bedrock, usually limestone or dolomite, has been dissolved by surface water or groundwater. 10. Tweed esker. Eskers are knobby, crooked ridges made of coarse sand and gravel deposited by meltwater action as the glacier receded. This one is a good source of sand and gravel. 11. Cuesta. On the southern edge of Moira Lake a steep escarpment marks the point at which the flat-lying Palaeozoic limestone terrain to the south overlays the southern edge of the Canadian Shield. This is also known as a cuesta, which is clearly visible where Highway 62 northbound begins its descent toward Moira Lake. 12. Actinolite. This village is named after the mineral actinolite which was mined in the area beginning in the 1880s. Actinolite is a soft ore (much like talc) which was used as a fireproof insulation or mixed with coal tar to form a roofing compound. Production ceased here in 1927. 13. Marmoraton mine. A large magnetite orebody was discovered east of Marmora after an airborne magnetometer survey of the area revealed a magnetic anomaly. 14. Deloro gold field. The Deloro gold mine operated at the early part of the 20th century, but has left behind legacy of arsenic-laced mine tailings which leach into the Moira River system. 15. Mount Moriah. This large syenite intrusion, forming a large hill northeast of Madoc, is the most dramatic landscape feature in south central Hastings County, Mount Moriah is also an intact natural ecosystem. Although it is now a protected feature, it was once proposed as a site for disposal of nuclear waste. 16. Tudor Township drumlins. The three drumlins in Tudor Township are slender and taper at both ends. They rise to a maximum of 30 metres above the surrounding countryside. 17. The Gut. The Gut is located on the Crowe River where it takes a sharp bend and the waters tumble into a steep, narrow canyon. This site is about 14 kilometres south of Coe Hill. 18. Eagle’s Nest. This high rock outcropping just north of Bancroft provides a panoramic view of the York River as it meanders through its valley on the way to joining the Madawaska. 19. York River. Now a recreational river for kayaking and canoeing, the York was once a water highway for lumbermen moving their logs to the Madawaska and then the Ottawa rivers. 20. Baptiste Lake. This large recreational lake northwest of Bancroft was formed when lumber companies drowned a chain of lakes by constructing a dam at High Falls. 21. High Falls. The dam at High Falls regulates the water level on Baptiste Lake and helps prevent flooding downstream. 22. Egan Chute. The Egan Chute area on Highway 28 east of Bancroft has recently been designated as a provincial park although it remains undeveloped in a completely natural state. The York River crashes through its steep rock sides with a thundering roar. Corundum can be found in occurrences along both sides of the trail leading north to the chute. 23. Elzevir peatlands. At 2,468 hectares, this is one of the largest mostly continuous peatlands in southern Ontario. This area has a collection of low ridges that poke through a flat wetland system. There are bog-rimmed ponds and lakeshores, open grassy bog mats, kettle bogs and shrubby heathlands. (Source: www.ontarioslivinglegacy.com)

Prominent Geological Features: 1. Trent River. The Trent drains about 12,000 square kilometres of land and is one of the largest rivers in southern Ontario. 2. Bleasdell Boulder. The Bleasdell Boulder at Glen Miller is an “erratic” rock moved a great distance by the glaciers and deposited here when the ice melted. It is about nine metres high. 3. Batawa Ski Club hill. Skiers slide down the face of a drumlin. This oval-shaped hill was formed by the glaciers and points in a northerly direction. 4. Shannonville inliers. Three kilometres northwest of Shannonville a ridge of the Precambrian Shield projects through the limestone, displaying crystalline limestone (marble), quartzite and gneiss. The ridge runs northeast to southwest. 5. Moira River. The Moira River rises in the rocky hills about 97 kilometres north of the Bay of Quinte, and drains approximately 2,283 square kilometres. 6. Oak Lake island. Rising 229 metres, Oak Lake hill between Belleville and Stirling was an island in post-glacial Lake Iroquois. Its most unusual and picturesque feature today is Oak Lake, which sits near the centre of the top of the hill. 7. Ridge Road. The paved road between Stirling and Highway 62 runs for several kilometres atop a medium-sized glacial esker. On either side the rolling landscape is composed of drumlins, part of a drumlin field that extends west as far as Orangeville. 8. Pancake Hill. Eleven kilometres northeast of Oak Lake and 21 kilometres north of Belleville, another Lake Iroquois beach rises above the surrounding landscape. Called Pancake Hill, its elevation is 223 metres and possibly was the highest point of the Lake Iroquois shoreline. 9. Scuttleholes. The scuttleholes near Latta are found in one of the most outstanding examples of karst found in Ontario. “Karst” is a term used by geologists to describe areas where the bedrock, usually limestone or dolomite, has been dissolved by surface water or groundwater. 10. Tweed esker. Eskers are knobby, crooked ridges made of coarse sand and gravel deposited by meltwater action as the glacier receded. This one is a good source of sand and gravel. 11. Cuesta. On the southern edge of Moira Lake a steep escarpment marks the point at which the flat-lying Palaeozoic limestone terrain to the south overlays the southern edge of the Canadian Shield. This is also known as a cuesta, which is clearly visible where Highway 62 northbound begins its descent toward Moira Lake. 12. Actinolite. This village is named after the mineral actinolite which was mined in the area beginning in the 1880s. Actinolite is a soft ore (much like talc) which was used as a fireproof insulation or mixed with coal tar to form a roofing compound. Production ceased here in 1927. 13. Marmoraton mine. A large magnetite orebody was discovered east of Marmora after an airborne magnetometer survey of the area revealed a magnetic anomaly. 14. Deloro gold field. The Deloro gold mine operated at the early part of the 20th century, but has left behind legacy of arsenic-laced mine tailings which leach into the Moira River system. 15. Mount Moriah. This large syenite intrusion, forming a large hill northeast of Madoc, is the most dramatic landscape feature in south central Hastings County, Mount Moriah is also an intact natural ecosystem. Although it is now a protected feature, it was once proposed as a site for disposal of nuclear waste. 16. Tudor Township drumlins. The three drumlins in Tudor Township are slender and taper at both ends. They rise to a maximum of 30 metres above the surrounding countryside. 17. The Gut. The Gut is located on the Crowe River where it takes a sharp bend and the waters tumble into a steep, narrow canyon. This site is about 14 kilometres south of Coe Hill. 18. Eagle’s Nest. This high rock outcropping just north of Bancroft provides a panoramic view of the York River as it meanders through its valley on the way to joining the Madawaska. 19. York River. Now a recreational river for kayaking and canoeing, the York was once a water highway for lumbermen moving their logs to the Madawaska and then the Ottawa rivers. 20. Baptiste Lake. This large recreational lake northwest of Bancroft was formed when lumber companies drowned a chain of lakes by constructing a dam at High Falls. 21. High Falls. The dam at High Falls regulates the water level on Baptiste Lake and helps prevent flooding downstream. 22. Egan Chute. The Egan Chute area on Highway 28 east of Bancroft has recently been designated as a provincial park although it remains undeveloped in a completely natural state. The York River crashes through its steep rock sides with a thundering roar. Corundum can be found in occurrences along both sides of the trail leading north to the chute. 23. Elzevir peatlands. At 2,468 hectares, this is one of the largest mostly continuous peatlands in southern Ontario. This area has a collection of low ridges that poke through a flat wetland system. There are bog-rimmed ponds and lakeshores, open grassy bog mats, kettle bogs and shrubby heathlands. (Source: www.ontarioslivinglegacy.com)