November 23, 2020
Location and Significant Features: La Cloche Mountains
Willisville Mountain is a 235 acre nature reserve with a breath-taking outlook! The reserve is located a short 15 minute drive south from Espanola, Ontario. It is an eco-treasure which is home 12 rare species including Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcons and an icon in the Group of Seven's work. The mountain was bought by EBC on June 17th, 2019 and is now protected for generations to come. We are now one step closer to closing the gap between Killarney Provincial Park and the La Cloche Ridge Reserve.
Views from the top are spectacular, out over the La Cloche Hills, to Manitoulin and the North Channel. This important area protects 3.5 billion-year-old silica and quartz in the La Cloche Mountains, formerly as high as the Rockies.
The trail to the lookout is a fairly steep 1.5 km hike. If you choose, there is a more gradual loop return of 2.5 km which passes through the woods offering a different perspective of the reserve.
How to get there?
From Sudbury, take the Trans Canada (Hwy 17) west to Espanola, go south on Hwy 6 about 25 minutes south of Espanola to Willisville Road. Turn east, go 100 metres to base of trail and park.
