Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative

WHAT IS A2A?

The Algonquin to Adirondacks (A2A) region is a unique diverse bioregion that connects Algonquin Park to Adirondack Park through the Frontenac Arch and surrounding lands. Home to a vast array of plants and animals, it is one of the last large-scale, intact forest and wetland linkages left in Eastern North America. It provides the best remaining potential for wildlife movement across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system.

The A2A Collaborative is a U.S., Canadian, and First Nations partner organization that works with scientists, policy-makers and a variety of conservation groups to protect and enhance the unique ecological features and functions of the A2A region.
Our dream is a resilient, ecologically connected A2A region that sustains a full range of native wildlife and enhances people’s quality of life for generations to come.

We invite you to explore this site to learn about the A2A Trail— a Pilgrimage for Nature, Eco-passageways across highways, and conservation resources such as connectivity mapping.

Learn about Our Vision

for updates on the 2023 pilgrimage for nature trek please click here

The A2A challenge: my upcoming walk of the Algonquin to Adirondacks (A2A) Trail – A Pilgrimage for Nature

By Jamieson Findlay
Storyteller and Grant Writer, Nature Canada

I’m ready for slow travel—moving at the pace of a flowing river or drifting tumbleweed and experiencing the land up close. That’s why, starting on August 12th of this year, I’ll be walking the Algonquin to Adirondacks (A2A) Ecological Corridor on the A2A “Pilgrimage for Nature” Trail.

The Trail runs for roughly 640 kilometres from upper New York State to Ontario’s Algonquin Park. I’ll be joined by my friend Bill Barkley, another aficionado of slow travel, and we’ll be walking to raise funds and awareness for the work of Nature Canada and our partner, the A2A Collaborative, whose mission is to connect lands and people across the A2A region.

Connecting landscapes is vital to halting and reversing nature loss. In many parts of North America, roaming animals face deadly obstacles: cities, roads, railways, dams and agricultural development.

Ecological corridors such as A2A allow animals relatively safe passage. This helps wildlife populations mix, strengthening genetic diversity. Corridors also allow species to expand their ranges, a need that will only intensify with climate change.

And corridors allow humans to expand their horizons! So far, nobody has walked the A2A “Pilgrimage for Nature” Trail from end to end, and we’re a bit daunted… but mainly excited. It’s the kind of walk that combines the call of the wild with the call of the open road—along with the call to get in halfway decent shape before setting out!

A MOOSE SHALL LEAD THE WAY

The “animal inspiration” for the A2A Corridor was Alice the Moose who, decades ago, was radio-collared and tracked as she journeyed north from Adirondack Park into Canada. She swam the St. Lawrence River and walked across one of Canada’s busiest highways, the 401. Her final destination was Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park, where she lived out the rest of her days.

Alice’s journey came to symbolize the need for wildlife to move—and so began the work to establish the A2A Collaborative to protect and restore this essential corridor.

MAGICAL LANDSCAPES

The A2A region is home to some of the last large-scale, intact forest and wetland linkages left in eastern North America and also shelters an impressive number of rare species. Protecting it and enhancing its features is the mission of the A2A Collaborative, a U.S., Canadian, and First Nations partner organization.

This work of the A2A Collaborative includes everything from providing tools and resources for private landowners, to assessing the ecological health of various sections of the corridor (such as the Gananoque watershed), to determining where wildlife passageways should be built across Highway 401.

One of the Collaborative’s biggest projects has been to create a 640-kilometre route for human travellers, inspired by Alice the Moose. This is the A2A “Pilgrimage for Nature” Trail, which Bill and I will be walking. We will be starting in the Adirondack High Peaks region and going north, crossing the American–Canadian border at the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River and then continuing on to Algonquin Park.
On the way, we’ll be putting up signage, documenting our discoveries and adventures, and generally doing all we can to add to the store of knowledge about the Trail.

Stay tuned for updates on this A2A Challenge Walk, and if you’d like to support the walk, please click on the link below. Your contributions will be split between the two registered charities (A2A and Nature Canada) and will help support our joint efforts to protect nature, link landscapes and expand horizons!

Support the A2A Challenge Walk