Click here for detailed program descriptions

Students will explore the relationship between plant communities and the soils they grow in. We will sample and compare soils from different areas on the Shaw Woods property and discuss how the variations in the soils determine what plants can grow in them. Students will get to try their hand at making their own soil samples and explore the role of soils in filtering and storing groundwater.

Grades: K, 1, 2, 3
Availability: Sept-Nov, Apr-June

Grades: K, 1, 2, 3
Availability: All year

Begin a life-long hobby in the great outdoors! Birding is a great way to connect children to nature and leads to numerous opportunities for inquiry. In this program students will investigate the physical characteristics of birds and their adaptations through games, activities and a short birding hike.

Grades: K, 1, 2, 3
Availability: All year

Students will learn how to identify the various parts of a plant and their functions, and what a plant needs in order to grow. Through games and inquiry, students will be introduced to some of the plant species that call Shaw Woods home. We will explore the Old Growth forest and discuss the variety of plant life that makes it such a special environment. Students will also have the opportunity to do a little bit of planting and take home their very own mini wildflower garden!

Grades: K, 1, 2, 3
Availability: Fall, Spring

Shaw Woods Outdoor Education programs are available to classes in the following school boards:

Renfrew County District School Board,  Renfrew County Catholic School Board,  CEPEO

Visit our registration page to book your class trip today!

We have some ability to offer facilitated weekend programming to organized youth groups such as Girl Guides, Scouts, 4H, etc.! Booking fees apply. Please connect with our office administrator, MK, for more information.

We welcome community groups and organizations to come use our beautiful site and facililties for special events. All groups using our site need to book through MK to avoid site use conflicts. 

Our wonderful Office Administrator, MK, can be reached at shawwoods.edu@gmail.com. 

Click here for detailed program descriptions 

Daily student maximum is 60 students.

Please submit a separate registration form for each day's visit.

Teachers choose either TWO half day programs or ONE full-day program. Programs shown in CAPITALS are full day programs.

We have some ability to offer weekend programming to organized youth groups such as Girl Guides, Scouts, 4H, etc.! Booking fees apply. Please connect with our office administrator, MK Jones at shawwoods.edu@gmail.com for more information.

Click here for detailed program descriptions

Primary Junior Intermediate Secondary

Click here for detailed program descriptions 

Volunteers conduct minor (hand tool) work and identify any chainsaw requirements to be done by certified professionals.

For further information please contact the Chair of our Trails Committee, John Collins.

Email: johnalicollins@gmail.com

If you are interested in conducting research at the Shaw Woods contact Fred Blackstein, Co-Chair. fblackstein@live.com

To donate by cheque:

Make cheque payable to "Shaw Woods Outdoor Education Centre".

Mail to:
Sandy Lesco
515 Gardner Cres.
Petawawa, ON
K8H 0C4 

Include your return address for tax receipt.

Our volunteers have contributed thousands of hours developing this unique centre.
Your financial donation supports this important project.

Click here for detailed program descriptions 

Our programs are based on a graduated system, whereby students will build on their previous knowledge set in subsequent visits to the site throughout their elementary and secondary years. 

Program History

The Shaw Woods OEC programs began running when we received funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) for $50,000. Since then we have received funding an additional $155,000 from the OTF,  from the Renfrew County District School Board (RCDSB), the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board (RCCDSB) and the French-public School Board (CEPEO), Community Foundations and TD Friends of the Environment. 

Our activities, services and programs include: protecting and conserving the native landscape; educating and providing awareness training of environmental issues; delivering outdoor experiential curriculum-based programs to school groups; creating and sustaining partnerships with various community groups and organizations to promote the positive health of our environment and communities; creating awareness and advocacy projects with like-minded groups and individuals (for example, working with PAN State University to conduct a survey of the Red-backed Salamander population in relationship to the increase of the invasive earth worm population); providing recreational and tourists opportunities through the promotion of healthy active lifestyles; maintaining trail networks that are open to the public 365 days a year; hosting community events to promote the strengths of other not-for profit organizations in the local and provincial communities; providing unique opportunities for the scientific and research community in Canada and abroad.

Over the last two and a half years we have had 6,500 students from the Renfrew County District School Board and the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board attend the programs at our centre. We have received hundreds of thank you letters that demonstrate how much the students enjoyed their activities and the importance of what they learned. We have had teachers continue to return to the centre and continue to support our initiatives inside the classroom as well. We now receive funding to support one full-time staff to direct, develop, deliver, and coordinate programs and one part-time assitant until 2020. 

We have been approached by the French-public school board to invest in our organization, hire a French speaking teacher to learn our programs, and deliver them to their students.

We have students from Algonquin College developing programs to be offered at our site and to participate ecological projects that promote the protection of our ground source water.

We reach people through social media and have over 7000 visitors to our Facebook page each week. They learn about the local flora and fauna of the site and provide opportunities to share their own initiatives with others.

We are developing community events whereby various organizations come to our site to promote their own initiatives and participate in engaging and motivating activities that promote the environment and healthy active lifestyles.

Check out our partner and funders websites below: 

Renfrew County District School Board

Renfrew County Catholic District School Board

Conseil des Écoles Publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario

Ontario Trillium Foundation

TD Friends of the Environment Foundation

Community Futures Development Corporation

Algonquin College - Pembroke Campus

The Motus Wildlife Tracking System (Motus) is an international collaborative research network that uses coordinated automated radio telemetry to facilitate research and education on the ecology and conservation of migratory animals. Motus is a program of Birds Canada in partnership with collaborating researchers and organizations.

Shaw Woods is proud to host a Motus tracking station - it's located at the edge of the Pine Pavilion! Visit the Motus website to learn more about this long-term study, and to find the current list of species that have been detected at the Shaw Woods station.

Shaw

Mission Statement:
To foster an ethic of responsible environmental stewardship, by providing educational programming and self-directed learning to educational groups, community organizations and the public at large. In conjunction with the foregoing, to teach sustainable forestry practices which manage the social, economic and ecological values provided by forests.

We support the concept of maintaining undisturbed forest areas as living examples of old growth forest available for the study and appreciation of their unique cultural and scientific values.

• The Shaw Woods OEC is a registered charitable, not for profit organization managed by a board of directors.

• The Shaw Woods OEC was incorporated in 2010.

• The property has been in the Shaw family since 1847.

• For over a century, the site included a working farm with a water powered saw mill and grist mill.

• The site includes 50 hectares of old-growth forest and 160 hectares of wetlands and mixed forest.

• The 14 km network of trails is maintained by a team of volunteers.

• Trail Guides and Maps are available online for everyone to enjoy.

• The site is open year around, dawn to dusk.

• Some trails are occasionally closed for special events.

• There is no charge for parking or access to the site.

• Cell reception is available over much of the site.

• We offer Outdoor Education programs to visiting school groups from throughout Renfrew County.

Our Mission: To foster an ethic of responsible environmental stewardship, by providing educational programming and self-directed learning to educational groups, community organizations and the public at large. In conjunction with the foregoing, to teach sustainable forestry practices which manage the social, economic and ecological values provided by forests.

Welcome to Shaw Woods! We hope you enjoy your visit. Please remember:

• Maps and Trail Guides can be downloaded from our website to help you learn more about our beautiful property.
• Dogs must be kept on a leash at all times. Please pick up after your pet.
• Garbage and container recycling bins are located near the Shanty. Help us keep our forest tidy!
• The washrooms near the Shanty are only open when we have school groups on site.

If you are planning an event at Shaw Woods you must contact our office administrator, MK Jones (shawwoods.edu@gmail.com) to confirm details and check availability.

Online registration is limited to schools from the following boards: RCDSB, RCCDSB, CEPEO

Daily student maximum is 60 students.

One registration form (per group/class) for one programme.

Programmes listed in CAPITALS are full day programmes.

For larger groups or multiple grades please contact our office administrator, MK Jones at shawwoods.edu@gmail.com

However, as you will soon learn, there are numerous connections linking the natural, geological, and human histories of the land along both sides of the waterway. We hope you enjoy your journey back in time!
 

• High-branched, large diameter trees
• Multilayered canopy
• Pit and mound topography
• Nurse logs and cavity trees
• Lack of pioneer tree species
• Absence of sawn stumps
   

Shaw Woods is an outdoor education centre and our programmes run four seasons a year in all weather conditions. Please refer to the appropriate clothing guide and general information that is attached to your registration form.

Once your booking request has been submitted and confirmed by our staff, your date, programmes chosen and student numbers will be reserved for your group(s) or class. Our booking calendar will now state “booked”.

Due to staffing requirements and interest by other schools, we require a MINIMUM of two weeks notice to accommodate any change in date or student numbers.

Specialized programme options (GPS Green check, Forestry Management) that include outside, or specialized Human Resources and/or course material, require a MINIMUM of FOUR WEEKS notice for change of date or student numbers. CHANGES made after this period will result in your Board’s allotted student days to be debited accordingly.

The only exceptions to this policy are: last minute bus cancellations or extreme weather conditions as mutually agreed upon between the school principal and Shaw Woods.

If changes are requested in a timely manner, or are the result of either bus cancellations or extreme weather conditions, our Office Administrator (MK Jones at shawwoods.edu@gmail.com) will gladly rebook your day.

We will be comparing old-growth with managed and unmanaged tolerant hardwood stands and discussing methods one can do to accelerate the development of old-growth features in managed stands using a technique called structural complexity enhancement (SCE).  SCE has been shown to accelerate the development of old-growth features, increase biodiversity, and increase the storage of carbon in comparison to traditional hardwood management.

I will be presenting the results along with my colleague Ken Elliot as the keynote speaker at the Trenton Woodlot Conference in November.

John Shaw, originally from Inverness, Scotland, his wife, the former Barbara Thompson and their two-year-old son John II arrived here by canoe from Bytown (Ottawa) in 1847. Barbara was a niece of Ann Crichton, wife of the Hon. Thomas McKay, who built many locks along the Rideau Canal and his home Rideau Hall, now home to Canada’s Governors General. John Shaw was McKay’s miller and he and Barbara were married at Rideau Hall.

Upper Canada was quite a remote destination in those days with only a few families living in the united townships of Wilberforce, Grattan and Frazer (sic). Drawn by the potential water power of the Snake River, a sawmill and three-story gristmill were quickly established. By 1851 seven people were employed and the young enterprise had begun a long history, making it now the longest established family-owned lumber business in Canada. Fifth generation John 5th and Dana Shaw carry on the business today.

The Shaw’s first house was a simple 1 ½-story log structure. A mixed farm produced a variety of products to be sold or traded for help running the mills across the road. Several of the Shaws served as postmaster for the Lake Dore hamlet. John Shaw ll, known as “Honest John”, was at one time reeve and treasurer of Wilberforce Township and served on County Council in 1880. Local farmers from miles around would draw logs to be sawn and grain to be milled. In 19th century Renfrew County it was not uncommon to carry 35 kg. bags of grain for many miles and return home later that day with the ground flour. You can see two of the original grist stones, shipped from Scotland and used in the mill, at the Shaws Pond dam-site.

Several ‘day books’ from this time period tabulate the business’s local commerce, and every year (or two) the accounts would be settled. Trading of goods and services such as with the “Desjardin Steam Carriage, Sleigh and Waggon Factory” was established. The Shaws provided sawn basswood lumber, a lightweight and easily worked component for sleighs and carriages, and the Pembroke company supplied manufactured items for the Lake Dore company’s operations. At year’s end the party with accounts receivable had the dollar amount listed with the antiquated accounting term ‘favor’.

In 1942 the company, now operated by Herb and Len Shaw, sons of John ll, relocated to Pembroke to be closer to business interests. Their stately frame home, with its impressive stone fences and gardens was removed when the Bulger Road was widened. In the early 1950’s the farm fields were reforested with pine by Herb’s sons, John and Donald Shaw.

In the 1970’s the National Museum of Natural Sciences and the Nature Conservancy of Canada became interested in the property’s natural heritage value, and in partnership with the Shaw family established the Shaw Woods Nature Preserve. With uncommon plant species, centuries-old trees and animals as diverse as lynx and bald eagle, the woods have welcomed visitors from far and wide for decades. Over the years many scientific journals have contained reference to research conducted here, taking special advantage of the virtually untouched living laboratory. Currently, Algonquin College, the University of Guelph and the Great Lakes Forestry Centre all have field research projects.

Recently, a local not-for-profit charitable organization (SWOEC) was formed to provide for enhanced interpretive and educational opportunities. Their mandate is to foster an ethic of responsible environmental stewardship and highlight sound forest management practice, (a legacy of the Shaw owners down through the years) while at the same time respecting and protecting reserves such as this one for generations to come.......We hope you enjoy your visit.

by Grant Dobson and Mernie James, with Lana Shaw, Lisa Shaw-Verhoek and Lisbeth Shaw-Cullen