Cup & Saucer Trail | Solo Hiking on Manitoulin Island | Most Dangerous Hikes

In this video I hike the famous Cup and Saucer trail on Manitoulin Island. I'll take you along the 2.5 km trail to a height of 70m or 230 feet. Along the way I'll explain how the escarpment was formed and share some amazing views from the air.

The name "Cup and Saucer" was derived from a peculiar rock formation found along the trail. As you hike the trail, you'll come across a section where the rocks resemble a cup balanced on top of a saucer. This distinctive formation gave the trail its unique name. The cliffs are over 200 feet high in places.

The cup and saucer rock formation are Silurian deposits, about 400 million years old. The Dolomitic limestone caprock is harder than the sedimentary shale that lays below, so the differential erosion that occurred resulted in the creation of the escarpment we see today.

With an area of about 1,000 square miles it is the largest lake island in the world, large enough that it has over 100 lakes itself, including the largest lake contained within an islands. . In addition to the historic Anishinaabe and European settlement of the island, archaeological discoveries at Sheguiandah have demonstrated Paleo-Indian and Archaic cultures dating from 10,000 BC.

Cedar trees are known for their longevity, and their slow growth rate contributes to their impressive lifespan. Cedar trees on the Niagara escarpment are among the oldest in the region, estimated to be between 500 and 1000 years old.

Originally 300 acres in size when purchased in 1999, an additional 45 acres was purchased by the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy in 2001. The network features 8km of trails.

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Satellite images used in this video were obtained from ESRI ArcGIS. The images depict the province of Ontario as of March 1, 2023. For more information and to access similar imagery, please visit the ESRI ArcGIS website at www.esri.com.