Red Lake, Ontario

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Red Lake is a municipality and census subdivision 535 km north-west of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The municipality consists of six small communities — Balmertown, Cochenour, Madsen, McKenzie Island, Red Lake and Starratt-Olsen — and has a local population of 4,526 people in the Canada 2006 Census. The three primary sources of employment in Red Lake include: support services for the numerous mines surrounding the town, small scale logging and a tourism sector specializing in hunting and fishing. It is known as the "Norseman Capital of the World", referring to the Noorduyn Norseman aircraft which played a significant role in the development of the area.

1 History
2 Attractions
3 Climate
- 3.1 Transportation
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

The town experienced a sudden surge of economic, industrial, and population growth with the discovery of gold in 1926. In fact, by 1936, Red Lake's Howey Bay was the busiest airport in the world with more flights landing and taking off per hour than any other. In 1995 Goldcorp, owners of the Red Lake Mine discovered that it contains the world's richest grade gold ore (2 troy ounces of gold per metric ton). Shortly thereafter, the mine suffered through a four-year long miners' strike. Since then the mine has become one of the richest gold mines in the world.

[edit] Attractions

This little bush town has a museum and is close to Woodland Caribou Provincial Park and Pakwash Provincial Park. Some local restaurants are Spud&Dog, the Lakeview, and The Howey. Red Lake is a prime location for summer sports fishing, as the lake contains several types of fish including walleye, northern pike, lake trout, whitefish and sauger. Other popular recreational summer activities include golfing at the Red Lake Golf and Country Club, swimming at Rahill beach, and even exploring the many bays and arms of Red Lake by boat.

Hunting is another activity in the region that attracts tourism, especially during the fall season. Outdoorsmen know of the abundance of game in the Red Lake District, including moose, ruffed grouse, spruce hen, duck, and bear. Some citizens even participate in the fur industry with established trapping lines interspersed throughout the local forests. The gray wolf, white-tailed deer, red fox, beaver, and many bird species also inhabit the area.

Gold in Ontario is a book by Michael Barnes which features the mines of Red Lake.

[edit] Climate

The climate of the area is subarctic. In this township, snow usually starts falling around late October / early November, and starts melting around March but doesn't fully melt until late April (and snow in May and even June is not uncommon). This long winter is ideal for the local snowmachiners and for ice fishing though during this period, the wind is often very cold and temperatures may drop to below -35 degrees Celsius. During winter, residents and visitors participate in snow-mobiling, ice fishing, skiing, ice hockey, and downhill sliding.

During the short summer, the area experiences a moderate climate with little humidity, which is ideal for camping, boating, canoeing, and hiking.

[edit] Transportation

Red Lake is an end of the road community that acts as a cargo, passenger and tourism hub for North-western Ontario. With Pickle Lake, Red Lake services over twenty northern fly-in communities. Today, the airport is a "Mini-Hub" facilitating travel to and from all northern communities in North-western Ontario. Four airway companies take advantage of Red Lakes close proximity to the northern communities. Bearskin Airlines, Superior Airways, and Wasaya Airways all operate out of "YRL".