Point Farms Provincial Park

Picture this:

- 20 m high bluffs looking down onto beautiful beaches below
- picture-perfect Lake Huron sunsets
- ravine trails that wander through traces of earlier settlements and remaining rows of trees that were once orchards

PFPP takes its name from the 1800’s hotel, Point Farm Resort, which once stood on this land. For you beer lovers, John Labatt and Thomas Carling were among many notable guests who strolled the lawns and took refreshing dips in Lake Huron. US Army General William Sherman also enjoyed staying at the hotel.

The park has 200 campsites (131 with electrical service) in two campgrounds, the Colborne and the Huron. The Colborne has beach access via well-planned stairs descending the bluffs. For those lugging chairs, coolers & beach toys, there is road access to the beach as well. The Huron campground is a short drive to the beach.

We stayed on site #132 in the Colborne campground. It was perfectly private, close enough to bathrooms for the dreaded midnight run and just a short walk to the beach access. The park has been careful to keep as many trees as possible to screen campsites but a word of caution if you absolutely crave privacy - stay away from the corner sites as they tend to be very open.

The park has two playgrounds, a dog beach, laundry facilities and games & sporting equipment for borrowing at your leisure.

PFPP is well located, just 7 km north of Goderich. It is about half-way along the Lake Huron shoreline between The Pinery and Inverhuron Provincial Parks.

We are already planning a return visit, maybe as soon as Thanksgiving (think pumpkin carving and site decorating contests and trick or treating!).

Turkey Point Provincial park

Located on the north shore of Lake Erie, Turkey Point Provincial Park will always hold a special place in my heart. Back in 2002, it was the first park that we experienced as a family, with a small tent and 3 kids, all under the age of 4.

Many things have changed; the kids are all bigger, we camp in a trailer for the most part, and our dog Rosie accompanies us now. One thing that hasn’t changed is our family’s love of camping and the outdoors.

We decided to start the 2010 camping season with a return trip to Turkey Point and found that it hadn’t changed at all and is still a beautiful destination with lots to offer.

Booking a little late this year, we camped at site 208, which is in the middle of the Whippoorwill campground. The site was a great size but a little more open to the neighbours than I like. The best sites in the park are around the outer perimeter; particularly 107 and 109 (get these 2 if you want 2 amazing sites together!) Other great sites are 108, 117, 118, 121, 122, 123, 128, 153– 158, 159 and 161. These sites are large, private and have the added benefit of having nothing but woods behind them. They are a mixture of electrical and non-electrical sites, so check out the details when you are booking.

Turkey Point Park is not right on the water but is less than a 5 minute drive away. The park maintains a parking lot right on the beach and your park parking pass gives you parking privileges there. In my opinion, the beach is just average and if you are looking for a good beach day, my recommendation is to do the 20 minute drive to Long Point Provincial Park. Your parking pass grants you there as well and the beach is spectacular. (article to follow.)

All in all, Turkey Point is a great choice, particularly for families with kids as the park features 2 playgrounds, an interactive kids program and is in close proximity to Long Point and Port Dover.

Hamilton Brantford Rail Trail

As we prepare for what promises to be another great hiking, camping and mountain biking season, it’s great to be getting back outside to begin conditioning for the new year. As a lot of the trails are still soft and not quite ready for hiking, I like to start getting out on the rail trails. Rail trails are a great place for walking and cycling. As railroads have been abandoning their unused lines, progressive communities have turned them into multi-use trails for bicycling, hiking, and horseback riding. The one closest to me is the Hamilton Brantford Rail Trail.
This is actually two connecting trails, the West Hamilton - Jerseyville Trail maintained by the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority, and the Jerseyville - Brantford Trail of the Grand River Conservation Authority. They are both excellent and together make for a continuous ride of about 40 km.
The West Hamilton - Jerseyville trail was the first to be constructed, in 1993. It begins on the west side of Hamilton, near McMaster University, following the Dundas Valley for 18 km to the community of Jerseyville. The surface is an excellent fine granular. Past Jerseyville the trail is newer, having been constructed in 1996. The surface is of similar construction.
The trail weaves through an ever changing landscape. As you pass through and ascend out of the Dundas valley, the trail is enveloped with trees, opening periodically to afford spectacular views of meadows and forest. There are a number of side trails including the famous Bruce Trail that cross the rail trail offering plenty of opportunity to explore. The wildlife is plentiful with birds and deer and the trail centre located at the 6 km marker provides interpretive information as well as a snack bar. A large scale map is posted there detailing the rail trail as well as the network of hiking trails in the area.
Once out of the valley the trail is flat and the scenery is mostly farmland interspersed with small stands of forest. The trail here is lightly travelled and very peaceful as you pass through the historic village of Jerseyville. As you get closer to Branford, the trail again passes through forest and crosses an old trestle bridge. It takes you back in time as you imagine steam locomotives travelling through the area, hauling their wares.
The trail is well maintained with markers posted each kilometre from the Hamilton end, and some benches are provided. Attractive plantings and signs have been installed at road crossings, and a few parking lots have been constructed. Water, toilets and a snack bar are available at The Trail Centre in the Dundas Valley Conservation Area, about 6 km from the Hamilton end. The snack bar has limited hours, and the indoor washrooms may also be closed at times. The water is available at an outside faucet near the trail.
How to Find
At the Hamilton end the trail starts near the Fortinos grocery store at Ewen Road and Main Street. There are places to park at numerous spots along the trail wherever the trail passes a road. There is also parking and access from The Trail Centre in the Dundas Valley Conservation Area.

Bronte Creek Provincial Park

Although winter has settled in, and camping, at least for us, is on hold until spring returns, the planning continues. Reservations have already been made for the first trips of 2010 and we are anxiously waiting to return to some of our favorite, and hopefully a few new parks.
Driving down the highway the other day, I drove past the sign for Bronte Creek Provincial Park in Burlington Ontario, and I was reminded how fortunate we are to have this unique park so close by.
Although we have never camped there, we have made many day visits there over the years to enjoy its many attractions.
The park consists of over 10km of multi-purpose trails, 11 picnic shelters, a turn-of-the-century living history museum (Spruce Lane Farmhouse), nature centre, 144 electric service campsites, children's play barn, 1.8 acre pool, Olympic size skating rink and a farm.
The park itself is 684 hectares (1690 acres) in size, which makes it as large as Central Park in New York City. The park is divided by Bronte Creek as it rushes towards Lake Ontario.
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources established Bronte Creek Provincial Park in 1972. However, it did not open its gates to the public until 1975. The Park is classified as a recreational park and offers a day-use area and a campground, which opened in July 2001. Bronte Creek receives over 250,000 visitors each year and with the opening of the campground, the park has become even more popular.
Today, the Spruce Lane Farmhouse offers educational programs to school groups, as well as a taste of history to visitors, with special events. Spruce Lane Farm house is the focus of the Maple Syrup Festival offered each year in March.
The Nature Centre and Children's Farm are open to the public for fun and education. The Nature Centre is full of aquariums, terrariums and information on local reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish and insects. Included in the Nature Centre is a live observational beehive. Next to the Nature Centre is the most popular year round attraction, the Children's Farm. A 150-year-old barn has been transformed into a huge children's play loft for climbing, jumping and having fun. Below the play loft are stalls that are home to a variety of barnyard animals. Other animals for people to see at Bronte Creek Provincial Park can include; rabbits, pigs, cows, chickens, roosters, and peacocks

Spruce Lane Farm house is the focus of the Maple Syrup Festival offered each year in March.
The Recreation Complex is the home of one of the largest outdoor pools in Canada. The pool is 1.8 acres (.72 ha) in size and holds nearly 2 million gallons (5.8 million litres) of water. The pool is operational July 1 - Labour Day each year, weather permitting. The Recreation Complex also has an Olympic size outdoor skating rink that is naturally as well as artificially cooled. The rink generally operates from mid-December - end of February each year. The Recreation complex also offers basketball courts, a rollerblading nature trail, volleyball court and tennis courts.
Bronte Creek Provincial Park consists of one of the largest Carolinian forests in Canada, as well as a vast diversity of other deciduous and coniferous trees. Wildflowers grow rampant in the park, especially the Provincial flower, the trillium. During the spring, mainly early May, trilliums grow thick like carpet on the forest floor, especially on the Trillium trail. Small Ontario mammals as well as large mammals including: white tailed deer, red foxes, coyotes, and raccoons call Bronte Creek Provincial Park home. As many as 20 species of amphibians and reptiles make their homes in Bronte Creek Provincial Park. In excess of 70 species of moths and butterflies and 125 insects have been identified at Bronte Creek, including the rare katydid.
Not only is Bronte Creek Provincial Park natural and educational, it is literally the oasis to more than five million people in the Greater Toronto area. With all of the recent development in Halton and surrounding area, urbanization is making the Park more valuable each day.

A great place to visit, Bronte Creek Provincial Park is definitely worth checking out if you are in that part of Southern Ontario.

Bayfield, Ontario

Hi All,

Happy New Year! Please accept my best wishes to you for a wonderful year, full of adventure and great outdoor experiences.

As we are settling in to our Canadian winter, I find myself doing a lot of day hiking and planning for the camping season ahead.

Over our New Years Eve vacation this year, our family ventured out to the small town of Bayfield, just south of Goderich, Ontario. Although we stayed at a small inn, we did take the time to venture out and enjoy the beautiful scenery along the shores of Lake Huron.

The town of Bayfield is perched atop a bluff overlooking a point where the Bayfield River empties into Lake Huron, giving it a front row seat to some of the most breathtaking sunsets in Canada. Lake Huron has always played a vital role in the history of Bayfield. In 1832 Carel Lodewijk, Baron van Tuyll van Serooskerken, a Dutch nobleman, purchased large holdings in the Huron Tract including 388 acres here which he set aside for a settlement. The settlement, named Bayfield after the nautical surveyor Henry Wolsey Bayfield, developed as a centre for the surrounding agricultural community. In the 1840's Bayfield was a busy shipping port for the export of grain. As the community prospered, hotels, stores and many fine residences were built. Fortunately many of these examples of early Ontario architecture survived relatively intact, and continue to enhance village streets today.

With the coming of the railway which bypassed Bayfield, its shipping ports were no longer needed. It was at this time that the residents turned to fishing as a way of life. Historically always a busy port, now local fishing boats operate daily, and the picturesque harbour has become the largest pleasure craft marina on the Canadian side of Lake Huron.

Today visitors can take a leisurely self guided tour through the village which features many late 19 th century homes with ornate carved doors and decorative woodwork, surrounded by majestic oak trees. Browse through shops where local artisans sell their wares or spend an hour enjoying lunch at one of the many restaurants that line the main street.

The area is also blessed with many hiking trails and small campgrounds. We took the time to check out a few of them and are definitely looking forward to a return trip during the warm summer months!!