Friends of the Medway Lakes Wilderness Area

About the Medway Lakes Wilderness Area

 

The Medway Lakes Wilderness Area is a large tract (19,382 ha) of forest, wetland and interconnected lakes and rivers in the upper Medway and Mersey watersheds. Because earlier, lot-clearing settlers looked passed much of the area, it remains relatively unaffected from permanent development. Instead, this area was frequently used for camping, hunting, trapping, and fishing by means of traditional, non-motorized transportation (on foot, in a canoe, on an ox cart, etc). 

 

About half of the area is home to undulating drumlin terrain which supports sugar maple – yellow birch forests, and hemlock – red spruce – white pine forests. The other half is more rugged, with poor soils supporting white pine – black spruce – red pine forests, and patches of hemlock forests. An unusually extensive network of old growth forest patches – both hardwood and softwood – makes this wilderness area unique among all protected areas in western Nova Scotia. 

 

The Mersey river and two branches of the Medway River, as well as the approximately 35 interconnecting lakes, are home to many beaches, exciting rips and rapids, and an abundance of wildlife. These waterways also make up about 80km of wilderness canoe routes that can be reached via many access points. 

 

The wilderness area is relatively large, allowing wide-ranging and disturbance-sensitive species to prosper. Endangered Blanding’s Turtles, and increasingly rare populations of speckled trout, make their home here as they try to recover. The moose once roamed these lands and, as the second largest wilderness area in western Nova Scotia and being so close to existing populations, it has the potential for hosting this species if the area is kept pristine. 

 

Several lodges and outfitters border this stretch of wild land, providing a gateway to those who seek to explore the vast wilderness, and also providing tangible economic benefits to local communities.