At one point near the end of the last ice age, the Champlain Sea flooded the Ottawa valley as far inland as what is now the town of Perth.

An old shoreline of the Champlain Sea crosses Highway 7 near Ramsay Concession 2 before winding south into Drummond/North Elmsley.

[3] The hard rock and thin soil produced distinctive deciduous forests dominated by maple, oak, beech, ash and pine.

The stone piles along the edge of the field illustrate the labour involved in creating agricultural land here.

The less flooded areas tend to have silver maple swamp, while lower on the shoreline are marshes and aquatic plants.

Other familiar wetlands include the Tay Marsh [1] (south of Perth) and The Swale (near Smiths Falls).

Beaver ponds are an important as they provide habitat for a great many kinds of species, including frogs, turtles, otters, muskrats and migratory waterfowl.