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Surrounded by lakes and forests, the attractive resort village of TEMAGAMI , 100km beyond North Bay on Hwy 11, started as a rest stop on the long portage from Snake Lake to Lake Temagami. It has been attracting tourists since the turn of the century, when it built the region's first grand hotel and introduced a steamship company and rail line to transport holiday-makers here. Nowadays, it serves as a base for extended forays into the wilderness - mostly hunters and fishermen travelling by float plane and/or canoe, but note that the terrain is much too wild for the novice: you have to be well-equipped with outback experience to be safe. To get a view of this wilderness, climb the 30-metre-high Temagami Tower just before you hit town; you may even spot a peregrine falcon, which was reintroduced in 1997 after previously being polished off by DDT. Both trains and buses pull in at the station on Hwy 11 opposite the Welcome Centre on Lakeshore Boulevard (July & Aug daily 8am-8pm; Sept-June Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; tel 705/569-3344 or 1-800/661-7609, www.twp.temagami.on.ca ). The centre has details on accommodation , most of which is in tourist camps that cater for hunters and fishers. There's also the rather more comfortable Smoothwater Wilderness Lodge (tel 705/569-3539, fax 569-2710, www.smoothwater.com ), 14km north of town on Hwy 11, and camping at Finlayson Point Provincial Park (mid-May to late Sept; tel 705/569-3205), 1km south of town. Of the park's hundred or so sites, a third of them have hook-ups. There are good facilities, and sites cost from $15.75 to $20.75 and need to be booked in advance. For complete canoe outfitting , head for Smoothwater Outfitters (tel 705/569-3539, fax 569-2710, www.smoothwater.com ), who can provide everything from first-aid kits to frying pans. You can fly in and canoe out to the giant Lady Evelyn Smoothwater Provincial Park to the west of Temagami with Lakeland Airways from $200 (tel 705/569-3455); their float planes take off from beside the Welcome Centre.
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