Rene Brunelle Provincial Park – Summer 2021

After we left Fushimi Provincial park we had to drive through the town of Mattice, as well as some other small towns, to get to our next destination. In Mattice we stopped at the statue of a voyageur and his canoe, wonderfully done, this is the Heart of the Missinaibi Waterway.  Outside of Mattice, we stopped at Reesor Siding Memorial.  No place to park but we stopped on the side of the highway and walked up to the statue.  Pretty impressive and one of Stompin’ Tom Connors songs is based on this story. Song link. Stompin’ Tom is a Canadian country and folk singer-songwriter. His songs are all focused on his native Canada and he has written more than 300 songs, released on four dozen albums.

But finally we are at Rene Brunelle Provincial Park, about 900 kms from our home.

And the temperature went up to 27 Celsius! but still really windy. We drove through the town of Kapuskasing to get here and there was a lot of construction going on in the town. When we reached the Park, we had a nice site, #39, on the water but we can’t get to the water because it is so steep. Someone actually tied a rope to a tree to lower yourself down and then climb back up. I’m not 20 anymore so that was a no go for me!

But they have a couple of other beaches so we checked them out instead. They have a Campers Beach and then at the Day Use area there is a really nice long beach. Remi Lake is the lake in this Park and it’s a really big lake with lots of whitecaps. Well the whole time we were here there were lots! We did not canoe but we did spend an afternoon on the beach and I used my Floatie to float around the water. That day it reached a high of 33 Celsius, crazy weather. Funny story, my husband has been friends with his friend Jim for over 40 years. They occasionally call and/or text back and forth, so one day just prior to us arriving at this park, Jim texted Clint to see where we were. He knew we were traveling and Clint told him we would be at Rene Brunelle on Sunday, well guess what? Jim was also traveling and he also arrived at Rene Brunelle Park the same day! We were able to spend a fair bit of time with him at both our sites, campfires, the beach, pretty awesome visit we had!

We also did the Vigilance Trail which was approximately 1 km but took 45 minutes.  It was short trail but very nice and we dawdled along the trail.  We saw a Bald Eagle, turkey Vulture and a juvenile Eagle.  There was a nice bench at the point to sit on and I got some shots of Terns flying around and one Loon on the lake.

We went for a drive to the small town of Moonbeam and on the way we spotted some grouse on the side of the road, I just love those little “chickens” as we refer to them as. Moonbeam has a Visitor Centre which was closed but they also have a spaceship on display. So random……

We drove to Kapuskasing and wanted to go the Train Museum but it was not open, at all, ever, even though their website says it is open. But we did go to Fromagerie Kauskoise, lovely place and some really good cheese.

This is also a nice Park but also does not make my Top Ten. It’s not really our kind of Park. We prefer smaller lakes, rivers etc to paddle and more trails to hike but still a great spot if you like fishing or sitting on the beach.

Off to Kettle Lakes Provincial Park tomorrow, now this park IS one of my Top Ten.