Food For Thought: The Thousand Islands actually number 1865 in a 50 mile span between Kingston and Brockville. Some of the islands are not much more than rocky shoals, while others like Wolfe Island (27 miles long X 9 miles wide) and Howe Island (9 miles long bX 3 miles wide) are very large.
Wolfe and Howe islands have year round residents and are serviced by ferry boats from the mainland. Even some of the smaller islands have year round residents who gain access to their islands in winter by snowmobile and air boats.
The islands were formed at the end of the last ice age although the three previous ice ages also contributed to the formation of the islands. They actually form a bridge between the Canadian Shield to the north and the Adirondack mountains to the south in New York State.
The Canadian and American governments have designated some of the islands as national parks. Today, they are very popular destinations for both boaters and campers. Beau Rivage and Burnt Islands, in the Admiralty Group of islands just west of Gananoque and Gordon and Mulcaster Islands, in the Lake Fleet Group, east of Gananoque, are typical of these parks. |