Pinery Provincial Park

Length of Stay: 3 nights

Visited: 17 - 20 July 2023

Pinery Provincial Park is located approximately 10km south of Grand Bend, ON on beautiful Lake Huron. The park boosts 10km of sandy beach with breathtaking evening sunsets. The park is 21 square kilometres and is open year round for camping, day-use, and winter activities just to mention a few. There are over 1000 campsites divided into 3 campgrounds, Riverside, Burley, and Dunes. There are a variety of amenities from dry camping to sites with power. Two dump stations and water fill stations are provided, one in Riverside area the other near the entrance of the park. Amenities such as water taps, comfort stations with showers, and laundry facilities throughout the park. Free wifi is provided at the visitors center.

I booked our nicely shaded Riverside campsite #609 a couple weeks before the trip with no issues of getting an electric site. This is a new adventure since purchasing June Bug our A-Frame camper. It doesn't have all the space our 5th wheel has but it is great for a quick getaway.

In addition to 10 nature trails ranging from easy to moderate in difficulty, the Pinery has a 14km bike trail and during the winter months 38kms of groomed ski trails. There was never a question about bringing my bike. It was the decision to either be a walking trail day, biking trail day, or both.  

Day 1

We arrived and all set up by 2pm so I went for a bike ride around the entire park using the roads. This park is by far the largest we have camped in. The hills are crazy, roads full of holes, and the enormity of people is crazier. Anyway 3 hours later I arrive back at the campsite exhausted. No pictures this time around.

Day2

The next morning I departed on my bike to see some sights. First stop the nature centre which opened in 1993 and has several exhibits on the park's natural history. Along with an outdoor theater the nature centre has an indoor theater.

Nature Center

Outdoor Theater

Leaving the nature center I headed to the park store which is where the 14-km Savanna Bike trail started. The trail follows a wooded path along the Old Ausable River Channel to the traffic circle where it then connects with a one-way road. The entire left hand side of the road is for bikes. Eventually the trail turns into the forest again going over the bridge and ending at the park store. A very popular spot to rent a canoe, bike or eat ice cream. 

The Old Ausable River Channel

After a quick lunch I headed back to the Visitors Centre to check out the Cedar Trail, a 2.3km loop rated easy and wheelchair accessible. This trail weaves itself through one of North America's rarest habitats, the Oak Savanna. This term describes a plant community of widely spaced trees where sunlight is allowed to reach the ground. Hence, the light supports a ground cover of grasses, shrubs, and flowers. Therefore, Oak Savanna is neither a forest or prairie, but a combination of both.

Walking the trail was very easy, however one concern was the amount of pine trees that were uprooted. Not understanding then but after exploring the nature centre I understand now. During the 1960's the native Oak Savanna was not fully recognized. It was believed the result of logging and wildfires had degraded the Pinery. To rehabilitate the park 3 million pine trees were planted and all controlled fires were extinguished. The planted pines soon became overgrown and eventually shaded the sunloving oak trees and savanna plants. The hardy prairie grasses disappeared. Today, as part of the restoration program park staff with volunteers are hand removing stands of pine trees in an effort to restore the Oak Savanna.

Young pines removed

Day 3

To change things up for the dogs and us we decided an early morning hike on the Nipissing Trail. This 2km loop trail winds through mature Oak Savanna covered sand dunes before returning to the start. I should have read the sign as this is one of the more challenging trails with hills and stairs to climb. Oh well we came, we conquered, and we returned back to camp with way too many mosquito bites.

To finish off a wonderful day of hiking and biking we sat down to home made chicken wings and a campfire.

All in all it was a great 3 day getaway. We had never been to the Pinery even though it's a hour away from home. We are learning more about our new A-frame which we plan on taking to Florida this winter. The big question would we return to the Pinery PP, probably not in the summer months. We found it was way to big for us and way tooooo many people.