Belvedere Heights Lookout

The Belvedere Heights Lookout provides an unobstructed 180 degree view of the surrounding landscape including Parry Sound and the North Channel to Georgian Bay. The lookout has been a significant viewscape for hundreds if not thousands of years. Overlooking a natural canoe route west to Georgian Bay that featured prominently in the fur trade, it was frequented by Canada's earliest inhabitants likely before and assuredly since the time of first contact with Europeans.

The Belvedere Heights Lookout is also associated with the development of wilderness tourism in Ontario brought about by the expansion of railways and shipping on the great lakes, which influenced the early development of Parry Sound. The view was remarked upon by visitors and surveyors throughout the nineteenth century and was the reason the site was selected as the site for the 'Belvidere Hotel' in the early 1880s. The hotel brought wealthy American and Canadian visitors by steamship and later by train to enjoy the unspoiled wilderness of Georgian Bay. Guests could sit on the wrap-around verandahs enjoying the view or stroll the stone bordered flower gardens on the terrace and seating area. Those who enjoyed fishing could hire a native guide to take them to rich fishing grounds on Georgian Bay. Flagstone steps decending to the former terrace, a stone wall and railing, and steps down to the shoreline reflect the lookout's association with the hotel which was destroyed by fire in 1961. Perhaps the lookout's most significant visitor was Queen Elizabeth who in 1959, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and then Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, enjoyed a view of Parry Sound that included Her Majesty's Royal Yacht Britannia.

The Belvedere Heights Lookout continues to provide a natural setting for the quiet comfort of local residents and visitors, and is often used for wedding and family photographs.