Many farmers in eastern Ontario still curse the last ice age. Each spring, they must clear their land of the rocks that infest their fields through freezing and thawing, which squeeze the rocks to the surface of the land.
Most of these rocks were deposited here during the last ice age when what is now Ontario was buried under almost a mile of ice. As the ice melted over 20,000 years ago, water hurled huge rocks and gravel into the crevasses of the area.
The ice age deposited the largest rock in the area of Trenton, Ontario. The boulder is as large as a house and is called simply, “The Big Boulder,” by local residents.
Though the boulder is located on private property, tourists and locals come here to stand beneath it and gape in awe at its magnificent size. Just standing there makes you realize just how small you are in the scheme of things concerning the Earth.
The Big Boulder is located on Highway 33 approximately 3 miles north of Highway 401. Take Exit 525 at Trenton; follow Highway 33 to DeJong’s gas station. The boulder is located right behind the service station.
The Little Round Forts of Kingston
Kingston, Ontario is a great town to visit for history buffs. Old Fort Henry, which played a great part in the war of 1812, is located here along with beautiful stone houses, institutional buildings and two houses where Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald slept while he was in office. But the structures that create the most interest for those visiting the area are the little round forts that played a role in stopping the attack on Corsica in 1796.
The forts are called Martello towers and are found all around the area. The small size of the towers allowed them to be placed in the most strategic locations which would have been too small to build a regular sized fort. They are circular in shape to deflect cannon balls and the high, small windows made them impossible to capture.
Of the dozen Martello towers built by the British in Canada, during the 1840’s, almost half of them are in the Kingston area. They were built during the Oregon Crisis between Canada and the United States, which brought back resentment that occurred during the war of 1812.
The Martello towers at Kingston are easily visible with their red roofs and circular structure. The Murney Tower near Macdonald Park and Fort Frederick has both been converted into museums. Two others, the Shoal Tower and Cedar Island Tower are accessible by boat. The remaining two are connected to Old Fort Henry, which is located in downtown Kingston.