Rondeau Provincial Park.html |
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| Rondeau Provincial Park | |
|---|---|
| IUCN Category II (National Park) | |
| Nearest city | Chatham, Ontario |
| Area | 32.54 km² |
| Governing body | Ontario Parks |
Rondeau Provincial Park is a provincial park in southwestern Ontario, Canada, located on an 8 km long crescentic sand spit extending into Lake Erie. There are only two sand spits like this one in all of North America, Rondeau and one in Florida. Rondeau was established in 1894 as a response to demand for cottaging opportunities by residents of nearby Chatham. It is the second-oldest provincial park in Ontario (after Algonquin Provincial Park). It is recognized as the largest tourist destination in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.
Rondeau is one of two provincial parks in Ontario that allows the presence of privately-owned cottages on leased land. Several other provincial parks have privately-owned cottages within their boundaries, however those lots are owned by the cottage owners. There are about 290 family cottages remaining in Rondeau Park, as well as two churches and a Yacht Club / Community Centre. The oldest cottages were built over 100 years ago; most were built in the 1920s. The cottage community occupies only a tiny fraction of the park but provides significant economic input to the provincial government and Chatham-Kent. All private leases currently expire in 2017, at which time all 290 cottages, both churches, and the Yacht Club must be demolished at the owners' expense. This represents the scheduled destruction of over $60 million in real estate at current market values. In the last decade, Ontario Parks has spend over $1 million taxpayer dollars to purchase and demolish at least eight heritage cottages in order to speed-up the process. The Heritage Board of Chatham-Kent has expressed concern over the loss of the cottages, many of which are architecturally significant. The Rondeau Cottagers Association and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent are actively lobbying the provincial government to have all leases extended.
The park is an important stopover for birds during migration and has been identified as a Canadian Important Bird Area. Its Carolinian woods also provide nesting habitat for the Prothonotary Warbler. Limited hunting of White-tailed Deer has been permitted within the park to control deer numbers because these animals no longer have any natural predators, and pose a threat to the park's forested areas. Waterfowl hunting is permitted in the park area in the fall.
The name of the park comes from the French words "ronde eau" or "round water" which describes the shape of the harbour sheltered by the peninsula.
 Rondeau in Winter |
.JPG) Rondeau in Spring |
