A.Y. Jackson’s timeless painting Lake Clear, 1962. Artwork courtesy of the A.Y. Jackson Trail.
Did you know that Group of Seven painter A.Y. Jackson moved to Ottawa in his 70s and spent part of his later years capturing Ottawa Valley landscapes on canvas? Me, neither, until I spent a very pleasant day exploring part of the A.Y. Jackson Trail west of Ottawa.
Kathy Haycock and John Almstedt, two artists from Lake Clear, launched the self-driving route in 2012. They had a lot of research material at hand, as Haycock’s father and one of Almstedt’s friends often painted with Jackson and kept notes on the places they stopped.
Almstedt and Haycock loved the local landscape of forested hills, rocky outcrops and small lakes, but they suspected visitors passing through rarely ventured off Highway 60 and other main roads. “Part of the idea of the [trail] is to encourage people to explore,” Haycock says.
How big is the route?
The extensive trail—which meanders from Springtown (near Calabogie) to a spot on the Opeongo River on the east side of Algonquin Park—features 11 locations in the Ottawa, Bonnechere and Madawaska valleys that Jackson painted or sketched in the 1950s and 1960s. On the website, you can see Jackson’s images of several sites, juxtaposed with photos of those places today. Sometimes, the differences are surprising.
A.Y. Jackson’s painting Country Road, Killaloe captures a rural scene in the 1960s. Photo courtesy of the A.Y. Jackson Trail.
Over the course of half a century, “the trees have grown up and the pastures have grown in,” Haycock explains. In some spots, buildings have been added or torn down. A few roads have even been rerouted. As a result (at least, this is my excuse), some of the locations can be tricky to find, no matter how closely you consult the map or fiddle with your GPS. I spent a good half hour driving along Lisk Road and Mountain View Road on an ultimately fruitless quest to find the exact spot where Jackson painted Country Road, Killaloe in 1961.
This is how the same road (the one I couldn’t find) looks today. Photo by Kathy Haycock, A.Y. Jackson Trail.
Getting there is half the fun
But you know what? Finding the precise place didn’t really matter. The drive was scenic and a lot of fun. On the way home, heading northeast along County Road 512, I crested a hill and saw a postcard-worthy view in the valley below: a church steeple in the village of Cormac, tinted gold by the setting sun.
Early on a summer evening in Cormac, Ontario. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
I did this as a day trip, covering the section of the trail between Barry’s Bay and Eganville. However, you could easily make it a weekend trip, if you wanted to see all 11 sites, which include spots near Mount St. Patrick, Combermere, Dacre, Rockingham and Palmer Rapids. A weekend would also leave you lots of time to make a few detours, take some photos, do some sketches and eat. (I can highly recommend the rib-sticking Polish food at the Wilno Tavern, which also has a busy live music schedule.)
Why go now?
Spring and late fall are two of the best times to drive the route, says Haycock, because it is easier to see the bones of the landscape when the leaves are off the trees.
See some modern local art
Finally, if you’d like to see works by current valley artists, check out the South of 60 Arts Centre in Barry’s Bay or the Wilno Craft Gallery in Wilno.
The Wilno Craft Gallery. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
If you go
Distance of starting point (Springtown) from Ottawa: 94km
More information: A.Y. Jackson Trail