I remember in my early twenties waiting for the first long weekend to come. Anticipating the first camping trip of the year, it could never come quick enough. When we couldn’t get a camp site anywhere, we usually just went for a drive. A road trip was a great way to spend time with family and friends. It was spontaneous and you were able to explore trails, tracks and towns.
This weekends’ exploration focused on checking out the Pinery Provincial Park and slowly wending our way along Highway 21 north. Highway 21 runs from Highway 402 in the south running up the east shore of Lake Huron ending in Owen Sound in the north. Along the way, going through towns such as Forest, Grand Bend, Goderich, Point Clark, Kincardine, Tiverton (Bruce Nuclear Generating Station), Port Elgin, and Southampton, Ontario. The highway is often referred to as the Bluewater Highway. The highway is an easy drive, mostly flat and straight, running past farms, cottages and larger homes.
Some of my favorite places to camp were the Pinery, Port Burwell, Sauble Beach or Sandbanks. I think some of the best camping sites in Ontario are at Provincial Parks. These sites allow the car camper to reserve a camping site or even group camping sites in spectacular locations all across the province of Ontario.
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| Pinery Provincial Park Dunes |
Pinery’s is one of the jewels in the Ontario Provincial Park crown. In the 2011 Pinery Information Guide it describes the park as, “a place of breathtaking beauty, rarity, and extreme fragility”. I would have to agree with every word of that statement. What makes the Pinery such a rare place is the oak savanna and freshwater coastal dune ecosystem with equally rare or endangered plants, animals and insects. Pinery's natural features are truly amazing - 2,532 ha (6,330 acres) in size; over 757 plant, 325 bird and 60 butterfly species to name just a few groups; habitat for endangered species; and the largest protected forest in southwestern Ontario. The recreational opportunities in Pinery include - 10 km beach; 10 nature trails; 38 km of ski trails; canoeing, kayaking and hydro-biking; fishing; cycling; and year-round interpretive programs.
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| Pinery Provincial Park Dunes |
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| Ontario White Pine Forest from the Dunes |
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| Outdoor Adventurer with Lake Huron behind |
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| Trail up the Dunes |
A great resource for keeping up on the latest news and information for Ontario Parks is the park blog. You can find it at http://www.parkreports.com/parksblog/.
If you are interested in finding out more about the dunes at the Pinery, check out some fantastic photography from http://www.suburbantourist.ca/.
In my next post I will be heading north on highway 21 to Goderich, Ontario. Stay tuned for more interesting exploration from the Outdoor Adventurers.
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| Great photographic opportunities |
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| Yellow Puccoon |
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| The natural dune is covered in natural grasses and flowers |
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| Yellow Puccoon grows everywhere |
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| The beach looking out on to Lake Huron |
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