#39 of 101
Petroglyphs Provincial Park Review
Central Ontario
🗓️ Summer and early Fall (May to October)
Petroglyphs Provincial Park is home to the largest known concentration of Indigenous rock carvings (petroglyphs) in Canada, depicting turtles, snakes, birds, humans and more; this sacred site is known as “The Teaching Rocks”. The park also features the unique bright blue/green McGinnis Lake, one of only a handful of meromictic lakes in Canada, and offers great opportunities for wildlife viewing. It's a cultural heritage park established in 1976.
The Teaching Rocks (petroglyphs), McGinnis Lake, Marsh Trail
Peterborough (45 min), Canadian Canoe Museum, Riverview Park & Zoo, Silent Lake Provincial Park
"This Provincial Park should be on your bucket list of things to see in Ontario if you are interested in cultural heritage. We spent around two hours exploring the grounds, petroglyphs, and Learning Place. The weird thing is no one knows exactly what the rocks are trying to teach, but it is still very interesting especially when you make up your own teaching stories to go along with the carvings."
"Petroglyphs themselves were amazing, and the on site guides did a great job of sharing the history and cultural insights. Overall you can choose this park if you endure the bugs. It shows a good history but we don't recommend it."
"Went last year and loved it. That lake is amazing to look at. Absolutely unreal. The petroglyphs are amazing to ponder. They've built a modern building over the petroglyphs to protect them."