File:Corduroy Road - Addington Colonization Road (29324535144).jpg

English: this photo was taken at Addington Road #4, north of Camp Gesher at the end of the Township maintained road. At this point the road is an ATV/snowmobile trail over the original colonization roadbed which heads north to the beginning of the Shield Trail within Bon Echo Provincial Park.

The Addington Colonization Road was one of the initial Colonization routes surveyed in 1847. It was formed over a 10 year period from 1855 to 1865 with a total length of 113 km (70 miles). The contract to construct the road was awarded to A. B. Perry, who completed more than half of the length from the Clare River to the Opeongo Line by 1856. In the south it began in the village of Clareview and travelled north to the Opeongo Line, where the village of Brudenell was established. From north of Clareview to the community of Ferguson Corners (southwest of Denbigh), Highway 41 follows the old road, though in many places bypasses have been constructed and the old road named Addington Road followed by a number from one to eight. North of Ferguson Corners, the old road has been consumed by the forest, though short spurs are evident west of Denbigh and north and south of Quadeville.
Logs or ‘corduroy' can be seen in this photograph which were laid perpendicular to the direction of the road over a low or swampy area. The result is an improvement over impassable mud or dirt roads, yet rough in the best of conditions and a hazard to horses due to shifting loose logs.
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