This eastern Ontario park offers tours of a historic mine

A historic mica mine near Perth is available for tours. CTV’s Peter Szperling donned a hard hat and went back in time to the early 1900s.

An eastern Ontario Provincial Park is home to a historic mine from the early 1900s that enables visitors to explore and learn about its history.

For many, visiting a provincial park means camping, hiking, or even a picnic or a visit to the beach, but those who travel to Murphy’s Point Provincial Park, outside Perth, are able to visit the Silver Queen Mine, put on a hardhat, and travel back in time.

“Our mine here is unique in the Ontario park system. It’s the only one of its kind, across Ontario parks,” says Rachel Needham, Murphy’s Point Provincial Park Acting Chief Park Naturalist.

The mine was operational from 1903 to 1920, primarily mining mica, a type of mineral.

The Silver Queen Mine is only accessible through guided tours or an open house.

“I would say of all the parks that we’ve been to, this one is the most unique experience we’ve had,” said Kyle Jones, visiting with his family from Barrie.

“It’s beautiful. It’s also incredible to see how hard people worked,” said Emily Jones.

How and when to visit

Tours are every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 a.m. until Labour Day. The park says you must pre-register. On Sundays until Labour Day, the park holds an open house.

“We have costume interpreters along the trail between 10 and 12 where you’re welcome to visit the trail at any point within that time frame to see the mine as well,” said Needham.

The tour lasts approximately 1.5 hours.

Needham says after Labour Day, visits continue into the fall but only Sundays and guided tours.

A complete list of dates is available on the Murphy’s Point Provincial Park events page, Murphys Point Provincial Park - Events

There is no cost for the tour, as long as visitors have a registered and valid campsite booking, or day use permit for the park on the day they take the tour.

Visitors can register for mine tours at the parks gatehouse or by calling 613-267-5060 ext 0.

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