An aerial view of some of Thousand Islands National Park/Parks Canada

Almost 15 million Canadians and more than 3.5 million Americans live within a three-hour drive of Thousand Islands National Park and more than 35,000 vehicles pass by it daily on Hwy. 401, but the Ontario park only sees about 80,000 visitors a year.

There’s “potential for considerable growth,” the park notes in its new management plan, stressing that “it will be important to proactively plan for the capacity of infrastructure and to consider the sensitivity of ecosystem features to cumulative effects, as new visitor experiences are developed at the park.”

Mainland visitation has doubled since 2013, while visitation to the islands has remained constant over the past decade. The island geography of the park presents inherent difficulties for connecting visitors to the park.

Historically, the park has been a boater’s destination. Most island visitors access the park with private vessels, although a growing number are paddling.

“However, an iconic immersive island experience is difficult for most,” notes the management plan, which has been recently tabled in Parliament. “Expanding experiences on the islands themselves, and finding ways to connect mainland visitors to the actual islands within this park, will be a focus for this plan.”

Grey ratsnakes can be found at the park/Parks Canada

This plan was created with input from the Mohawk First Nation community of Akwesasne, regional residents, partners and stakeholders, as well as visitors past and present.

It sets four key objectives:
• Creating positive conservation outcomes for the park and region through collaborative relationships with a range of partners.
• Developing new experiences that immerse both island and mainland visitors in the unique ecology of the area and the rich cultures of Indigenous peoples.
• Building modern and resilient facilities with unified design elements that support the park’s conservation and visitor experience objectives.
• Improving Parks Canada's regional brand awareness and highlighting its role in managing Thousand Islands.

Extending across 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) of traditional Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe territory, Thousand Islands consists of several mainland properties, 26 islands and 89 islets and shoals.

Home to 39 species at risk, it’s one of Canada’s most biologically diverse parks. Parks Canada calls it “an exceptionally important north-south corridor for wildlife movement and gene flow.” The park is the only ecologically intact connection between the Canadian Shield and the Adirondack Mountains, and a key artery through the continentally significant Algonquin-to-Adirondack corridor.

Initially established in 1904 as St. Lawrence Islands National Park, and officially renamed in 2013, Thousand Islands was the first Canadian national park east of the Rocky Mountains.

Reviewed every 10 years, management plans are a requirement of the Canada National Parks Act and guide the management of national historic sites, national parks and national marine conservation areas.