Self-Guided or First Nations Guided Nature Trails

Follow the nature trail along the breath-taking Shekak River; like our ancestors have done for thousands of years. Be sure to bring your cameras as wildlife abounds and the wonders of natures are all around.

Orienteering Hiking Trails
Guided hikes along the Shekak River trail.

Nature Hiking Trails
Self-guided hike along the Calypso Trails.

Eagle's Earth Nature Trail Systems are First Nations or Self-Guided

Ducks, geese, partridge, egrets and eagles make the Shekak River their home. Watch and study beavers as they perform their ritualistic lodge housekeeping chores and repair leaky dams in the many ponds that flow into the river. Quiet hikers can often spot moose, muskrat, otters and foxes. Bring your fishing rods as many honey holes are filled with pickerel ( walleye ) and brook trout. The northern pike are everywhere.

The natural beauty of the landscape with leave your refreshed and rejuvenate your spirit that longs to commune within the balance of an unspoiled natural world. Learn the ways of our land, the teachings of the trees, the rocks, the waters. Feel the power of a mighty river as you stroll through various awe-inspiring ecosystems.

Calypso Self-Guided Nature Trail

Lake Kennedy is the centerpiece of this magnificent and interesting trail system. Amidst the forests, groves and bogs, the nature trails weave themselves around the lake offering hikers nine distinctly differing ecosystems. The Calypso trail is completely self-guided but requires the purchase of a trail map identifying the various information stations, bridges and difficult swampy terrain; bring good hiking boots for this one.

The interpretation hiking trail offers nine identification stations that teach the wanderers about the various plants and trees of the particular ecosystem. Guests of this natural path will discover endless things of interest such as how the Aboriginals helped cured Jacques Cartier in 1536 and his crew who were desperately suffering from scurvy and the fragility of the Calypso plant; of which the nature trail system is named after.

Calypso Plant Hiking Trail
Calypso Plant by
Laurent Vaillancourt

What is the Calypso Trail named after

Calypso, 1. In Homer's Odyssey, a sea nymph who did not let Ulysses leave her island for seven years. 2. any of a number of related orchids found in bogs, bearing on each stem a single white flower with purple or yellow markings. 3. the flower (Webster's)

calypso, adj. designating or of songs improvised and sung by natives of Trinidad: they are lively ballads, often on political, sexual, or humorous themes, characterized by wrenched syllabic stress, loose rhyme, and journalistic language. n. a calypso song or calypso music. (Webster's)

Calypso bulbosa, habitat: Calcareous cedar and fir thickets; apparently rare except around Hearst, where it was locally frequent in the drier spruce forest. (Forest Plants of Northeastern Ontario)

More information about the Calypso Nature Trail.