Georgian Bay Forever

Unique Enough for UNESCO

Georgian Bay, often called the Sixth Great Lake, is the impressive eastern arm of Lake Huron. Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Georgian Bay form one hydrological unit as far as water levels are concerned.

  • Its west coast is famed for limestone cliffs and turquoise water that plunges to great depths offshore
  • Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands rise up from the Precambrian Shield, forming the largest freshwater archipelago in the world
  • Its sandy south shores are the ancient remnants of glacial sedimentary deposits tens of thousands of years old
  • The Bay's complex water chemistry - limestone from the west balanced by acidity from the east - supports a diverse aquatic ecosystem and provides habitat for an array of native fish species and rare birds (Good news! The Osprey and Bald Eagles are returning)
  • The east and north coasts shelter the most vulnerable reptile and amphibian species found anywhere in the Great Lakes - including the Massasauga Rattlesnake, Eastern Fox snake, Hognose snake, Musk turtle and Spotted turtle
  • With few access roads, the east and north coasts have the richest and most extensive wetlands found anywhere in the Great Lakes
  • Summer cottages abound, some dating back five generations, and US citizens own between 30% and 40% of them
  • After more than seven years of research and lobbying by Georgian Bay Forever under the leadership of Patrick Northey, UNESCO designated the Bay's east coast and most of the Thirty Thousand Islands the Georgian Bay Littoral Biosphere Reserve, in 2004

 

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