It is summer in Ontario and while some people are using their summer vacation to travel the world I always stay right at home. Lets face it the weather is great in the summer and we have so much to do right here especially in South Western Ontario. We head up to cottage country on Lake Huron regularly enjoying beach days and small town life as a break from summer in the city. After our Prague Vienna Budapest tour last fall I realized how lucky we are here in Ontario to have the Great Lakes. Our tour guide pointed out what constituted a large lake in the area. I could see the other side of the lake, heck you could probably have cycled around the lake in one day! The Great Lakes are large, more like inland seas. These are my top 5 reasons to visit the Great Lakes.
5 Reasons to Visit the Great Lakes
- White Sand Beaches – most people think of the Caribbean (or somewhere else equally exotic) when they want to visit the most beautiful beaches in the world. But did you know we have white sand beaches in Ontario too? There is 3800 km of Great Lakes Coastline and that doesn’t even include the portion in the USA! There is an additional 4530 miles of Great Lakes coastline in the USA. Of course not all the the coastline is beautiful white sand beaches. But cottage towns like Saugeen Shores, Sauble Beach, Port Dover and Wasaga Beach are known for their white sand beaches. Even Toronto has pretty beaches my favourite being at Scarborough Bluffs.
- Clear Fresh Water – I am a total wuss when it comes to swimming somewhere I can’t see the bottom. The beautiful thing about the Great Lakes is that there are so many places with clear fresh water for swimming. Depending on your preference you can find family friendly swimming with shallow water or places where the lake drops right off into deep water. Of course I can’t always guarantee that the waters will always be clear, but generally as long as there isn’t too much wave action or undertow you will be safe to swim in clear fresh waters.
- Lighthouses – more thank 130 Lighthouses remain in Ontario but at the peak there were more like 250. Not all of the lighthouses are still active but have been preserved as part of our Marine heritage. Southampton, the oldest port on the Bruce coast, has no fewer than 4 lighthouses in this small area. In fact you could follow the Lake Huron Coast and just go from Lighthouse to Lighthouse. It’s not just Lake Huron, however the drive along this lake avoids having to deal with big city traffic which you would find along Lake Ontario or Lake Erie.
- Natural Wonders – The Great Lakes are simply beautiful. Picturesque views with islands, beaches and the Escarpment. One of the most popular and famous Canadian tourist attractions is found in the Great Lakes Area. Niagara Falls is found on the Niagara River where Lake Erie drains into Lake Ontario. The Bruce Penninsula which separates Lake Huron and Georgian Bay has some of my personal favorite views featuring limestone cliffs.
- Sunsets – Sunsets in the Great Lakes are simply gorgeous. Up at our cottage the sun sets out on the lake providing the most gorgeous backdrop for the sunset. In fact many people come to the Lake to watch the sunsets, sitting at one of the benches along the coastline or waiting for the bagpipes to pipe down the sun (at the Big Flag in Southampton). Sunrise can be just as gorgeous especially if you are out in Eastern Ontario on Lake Ontario.
I could go on and on about my reasons to visit the Great Lakes but I will leave it there. The slower pace of life and beaches do it for me but you could be looking to explore shipwrecks or go hiking or even sailing. The Great Lakes is the main reason we stay at home in Ontario for the summers.
Have you explored the Great Lakes? What is your favourite reason to visit the Great Lakes?