The Opeongo Line
In the 1850s as sawmills and settlements opened up the interior of the Ottawa Valley, the Canadian Government developed a series of colonization roads throughout Eastern Ontario. The most significant of these was the Ottawa and Opeongo Road, better known as the Opeongo Line. European settlers were lured by land grants, but the challenge proved too difficult, the land was unforgiving. The giant virgin pine stands were harvested, the everhopeful pioneers moved on, and forests eventually reclaimed many of the primitive homesteads. And while many of the once-bustling communities are now relative ghost towns, the spirit of adventure that attracted the pioneers remain.
