Bonnechere Museum | Eganville Ontario

Museum Hours 2022

Reopen May 23rd 2022

We ask that visitors to the Museum follow proper COVID guidelines, which include wearing a face mask when entering the facility and maintaining a physical distance of at least 6ft between visitors. 

Summer Season: Open Victoria Day weekend to Labour Day: Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat  (10:00 am to 4:00 pm); Sunday (1:00 pm to 4:00 pm)
 

Off Season: Closed Labour Day to Victoria Day:
Open only for special events and group tours of 10 or more by appointment.

Call 613 628 1000.

There is an access ramp and a washroom.

Admissions 2022:

A tour of the museum:
Admission per person: adults $5.00; children 4 to 11 $2:50; 3 and under free.

Discount for families or groups of 10 or more touring the museum:
adults $4.00;  children 4 to 11, $2.00;  3 and under free.

A guided tour of the geotrail at 128 John Street:
Admission per person: adults $5.00; children 4 to 11$2.50; 3 and under free.. Explore the trail on your own: no charge. A map is available from the museum in open hours or here: http://www.bonnechere.ca/fossils-geological-history/geoheritage-trail-map/

Discount for scheduled fossil hunts and groups of 10 or more touring the geotrail:
adults $4.00; children 4 to 11 $2.00; 3 and under free.

For Special Weekend Program Events such as Talks, Presentations/Performances:
Admission is by donation. CANCELLED this summer

Guided Fossil Hunts 2022
Two guided fossil hunts
starting at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 20; and Sunday, August 21.

Admission: adults $5.00; children 4 to 11 $3.00; 3 and under free.

Caution when walking the geoheritage trail: Wear closed walking shoes and leg protection; consider protection from rain showers or intense sun, and wild plants to which you might be allergic.

Welcome to the Bonnechere Museum in Eganville Ontario!

Bonnechere Museum, also known as the Ordovician Fossil Capital of Canada, presents both the natural and cultural history of life as it developed along the Bonnechere River.

A live museum aspires to encompass a whole community, not just a building or a single artifact theme.

In its efforts to promote heritage tourism, cultural tourism, and cultural landscapes, Bonnechere Museum recognizes that the Bonnechere Valley has three primary natural symbols or totems: rocks, trees, and waters.

Our history is truly Written in stone - Carved in wood - Silvered in water.

Written In Stone

Carved In Wood

Silvered In Water

Written In Stone Carved In Wood Silvered In Water

Ordovician fossils are found within the outliers of limestone along the Bonnechere River. Bonnechere Museum sponsors fossil education and fossil hunting. Visitors of all ages participate in demonstrations, walkabouts and site explorations.

Since the great pineries of the Bonnechere Valley supplied wood to England and to United States, the following words express a short history of the area: square timber, lumber, pulp. Transporting timber by water gradually was replaced by rail and then truck. Much of the economy of the region is still dependent on wood products from second and third growth forests.

Algonquin Park's dome is the source of seven rivers which feed streams, lakes, wetlands and aquifers, creating a recreational, accessible, natural wild. The Bonnechere Valley is close to Algonquin Park, the Ottawa River, and the city of Ottawa, Canada's Capital - all well-known international tourist destinations. The lakes and waterways have become destinations for recreation including fishing, boating, and cottage life, along with an increasing interest in the production of electrical energy.


Cycle of life: From the three regional symbols, flow the 5 R's, which represent the cycle of life as it developed along the Bonnechere River:

  • River
  • Route
  • Railway
  • Road
  • Recreation

Preston O'Grady, Bonnechere Museum

Bonnechere Museum also has a Resource Centre which follows an organizational pattern typical of an archive:

The way in which records are arranged and catalogued in an archive should be dictated by their origin and the administrative processes that created them.

This arrangement or grouping is often referred to as respect des fonds.

  • BOOKS ON OUR LOCAL AREA
  • CENSUS
  • CHURCHES
  • EGANVILLE INFORMATION
  • ENTERTAINMENT AND SPECIAL EVENTS
  • FAMILY HISTORIES
  • FORMER VILLAGES & HAMLETS BEFORE BONNECHERE VALLEY
  • GENERAL INFO FOR ONTARIO & CANADA
  • INTERVIEWS
  • LUMBERING
  • NEWSPAPERS
  • SCHOOL YEAR BOOKS
  • SCRAPBOOKS


The museum is located at 85 Bonnechere Street, in Eganville, at the junction of Highways 41 and 60.