Dare to Explore: Bruce County, Ontario, Part One

One of the great things about having an eleven-year-old is that they love adventure.  As a parent, you can at times find yourself doing things outside of what you would normally do alone.  Last week my daughter and I embarked on an adventure through Bruce County, an area of Ontario, Canada, located about three hours northwest of Toronto.  Summer is the season we look forward to and every year we spend a week in Port Elgin, on the shores of Lake Huron, but this year, my girl was wanting something a little different and adventurous. She wanted to explore some new terrain.We decided to leave Port Elgin, our first stop, after enjoying three days of pretty much living on the beach.  After packing up the car, we visited the beach one last time, to take in Port Elgin's weekly beach flea market.  With a 25 cent entry fee, there are always interesting things to look at.

Next stop was Wiarton for lunch and then on to Lion's Head, to spend the afternoon by the water. After passing through Wiarton, we made a stop at a handicraft store I remember loving to visit as a child.  I was excited to share it with my little girl and she loved it just as I had all those years ago.  We decided we would stop again on our way back to purchase a few things.

Arriving at Lion's Head, I don't remember seeing a freshwater bay as clear as Georgian Bay was that day.  Forgoing the beach, we decided to walk over to the lighthouse on the other side of the marina and lay out our towels on the large rocks below.  A couple of dips in the cold water were refreshing (and brrrrr!).

From Lion's Head, we were on on way again, travelling north on Highway #6 to Miller Lake, where we were stay at Summer House Park, 84 acres of camping, cottaging and a bed and breakfast house. The weather looked promising for the next few days.

We used as a base, and spent the next day at Singing Sands Beach on Lake Huron, a really interesting beach.  Lake Huron has receded so much in this area, I realized as I was taking the long walk from the car to the lake that I was actually walking on what was once the bottom of the lake.  Once we got to the water, it was another ten minute walk or so to get into the water past our waists.  This beach is perfect for families with small children, since such a huge area of the lake is really shallow.  But walking across the sand felt a bit like what I imagine walking through a desert would be like.

In the second part of this blog, we'll look at Tobermory, and then it's back to Port Elgin.