For many years the Mersey river was the highway of the time. It was used by aboriginal peoples and later sportsment to access the bounty of the Northern portion of the county. Just down river from this site was a once thriving community at Lowe's Landing. There were gold mines in the area and many outfitters and guides to take sportsmen hunting and fishing.
Much of this changed when Paper became the comodity of the day. Logs needed to go to the mill in Brooklyn and the river was damed to produce power for the mill. Damming created Lake Rossignol and changed much of the area and access to the traditional spots. Roads were used instead of rivers for access.
The Bridge at the top of Lake Rossignol granted access to the area for loggers. Bowater had a number of logging camps for staff to stay during the logging season and later had a hunting lodge to entertain customers and sales staff. This is also an access to the Tobiatic Game Sanctuary that is a large section of land set aside for nature and with very little access. This area is home to one of the rare Lowland Moose populations.
In recent years with the closure of the paper mill, the land was purchased by the province. While this are is not part of the nature preserve, it is maintained as a protected area with limited access to give a larger tract of land for nature.