The Torrance Barrens
The Preserve Itself
Conservation Reserves are areas of crown land established by regulation and managed under the Public Lands Act by the Ministry of Natural Resources to protect natural features.
The Torrance Barrens was designated a Conservation Reserve in 1997, culminating a grassroots community effort to have it legally protected. Rugged rocky barrens scenery, nationally and provincially rare plants and wildlife and a contiguous peaceful wilderness in the heart of Muskoka were all worth preserving. Here is a fully preserved oasis in central Ontario, Canada, just a two-hour drive from Toronto.
Geology and Vegetation
The Torrance Barrens is 1,905 hectares (4,707 acres). The geology of the landscape is characterized by low ridges of Precambrian Shield, which formed approximately 2.5 billion years ago. The most recent major event to visit these original ridges was the scouring and washing away of soils by the glaciation of the last ice age, 12,000 to 20,000 years ago.
Some of the remnants of these soils have accumulated on the lower slopes, producing a mosaic of vegetation that can survive in hot, dry conditions. Typically, red and white oak, white pine, aspen, white birch and red maple may grow as scattered individuals or in clumps. Where the soil has been stripped entirely, myriad lichen and moss species carpet the bedrock.
The troughs between the rock ridges are filled with wetlands and small ponds and lakes. The wetlands are diverse, with dense open-water marshes, peatlands, grassy bog mats, floating shrub mats and swamps dominated by mature conifer trees or shrub thickets. Beavers are active in many wetlands.
Here is just another cache in this beautiful natural reserve. Enjoy your walk and take in nature at its best!