On a Sunday morning, my boy and I packed a picnic lunch and drove 2 hours from Toronto to the Georgian Bay Islands National Park. The park features hiking trails through hardwood forest and granite hills and clear waters and sandy beaches for swimming. The island where the park is located is the largest island and is named Beausoleil. Be sure to admire the beauty of the Canadian Shield.
This park is…you guessed it, on an island! Just getting there is an adventure! We booked a spot on the Daytripper, the boat that takes you to and from the island. The Daytripper makes 3 trips to the island daily and costs $15 per person. Choose from 11am, 12pm or 1pm. The boat will drop you off for 4 hours on the island, and then pick you up from the same spot. The boat ride was a lot of fun! It’s a tiny zippy boat, and it was enjoyable to speed through the waters and take in the pretty cottages.
You can choose to be dropped off at the near the visitors center, or at the more secluded and rocky part of the island. Once you get to there, take your time to relax and explore. You can swim in the clear water, visit the visitor center, go on a guided walk or rent bikes!
We decided to rent mountain bikes and take them out onto a trail. A bike rental costs $10 per hour or $25 for the day. We explored the “easy” Huron trail. We are both beginner bikers, so it was hard for us! The earth was very sandy and we kept sinking into the sand. Once we made it out of that part, it was a fun, but hot, ride. The bikes were brand new and amazing. The shocks were perfect and the brakes were really responsive. The bike just zipped over ginormous rocks and sticks that littered the trail.
After that we were pretty knackered, so we went to visit the Visitor’s Center. We said hello to Pineapple the snake (the best name) and ate our picnic lunch. We also walked some of the trails. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the mainland. Georgian Bay Islands National park offers camping on the island and you can also canoe or kayak in, instead of taking the Daytripper. The park is beautiful and it’s the perfect place to spend a Sunday in the summer or fall. For more information, please visit the park website.
Note: July 21, 2012 is Free Park Day! All National Parks will have free admission, and some will have special activities!
4 Comments
Toronto Massage Therapy
August 8, 2012 at 2:12 PMThanks for the info. We are heading up to the island for the first time on aug 17. Really glad to hear that there are bike and canoe rentals. a definite plus.
amanda
August 8, 2012 at 9:56 PMGlad you liked it! Just wanted to say though, they don’t offer rentals! You can kayak or canoe into the island, but they don’t offer any for renting. On select weekends they do but not all the time.
Kaley @ Books Etc
May 23, 2013 at 2:12 PMSo much fun! I grew up on Georgian Bay (in Midland, which is slightly south of Honey Harbour…a few exits before on the 400 and then a meandering drive into town) but have only been to Beausoleil Island once, for a school camp trip in grade four. It’s gorgeous up there and I miss it every summer that I’m not there!
amanda
May 27, 2013 at 12:01 PMOoh, you grew up in such a nice area!