Inside the legal battle brewing over who can access this rock in northern Ontario

It looks like your average rock on the picturesque shoreline of Lake Nipissing, but beneath the surface lies a contentious property dispute that now involves the local township, surveyors, and a nonprofit organization. 

Some locals in Nipissing Township are strongly attached to this area known as 'The Rock,' which has been used for decades to access the water and connect with nature. 

In 2022, however, the property came under new ownership, which upended a prior understanding of who owns what on this particular lot that crosses both privately and publicly owned lands. 

This led to the creation of Save the Rock, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving public access to the site through legal action. 

The group argues it has a right of way over the property that leads to the Rock, and that the new owners of the land have blocked passage through fencing, landscaping and surveillance cameras. 

The group's members claim the township has failed to enforce its own bylaws and plans, and that the survey commissioned by the new owners was inaccurate. 

They've submitted dozens of affidavits to the court. 

These include testimonies from local residents who describe how the Rock has been used by the public over the past 80 years, and from other surveyors who describe how the recent survey used incorrect water levels and artificially inflated the size of the private lot at the expense of public lands. 

The owners of the property used to access the Rock, however, deny any wrongdoing. 

In court documents, their lawyer describes how they "must endure the stress and anguish of legal proceedings and their cost as well as being ostracized in the community as a result of [Save the Rock]'s conduct." 

They say people trespassing on their property have left behind garbage, human and dog excrement, and drug paraphernalia. 

They say the fauna has been damaged and fires have been lit.

For Save the Rock's David Cernanec, this property boundary dispute is about a larger societal question. 

"It's ironic, Nipissing Township probably has the most shoreline out of any municipal authority on the lake here, and we've got almost no access to it," he said.