MacGregor Point Provincial Park

With our northern expeditions completed for this season, we decided to explore closer to home.  The next few shorter trips will take us to the shores of Lake Huron and Lake Erie.  First, we visit MacGregor  Point Provincial Park and the Saugeen Shores area of Lake Huron.

As we are now unretired, we need to fulfill the “un” part of our unretirement by going on a site visit in Port Elgin for a future project.  As part of our unretirement deal, we promised ourselves to mix business with pleasure as much as possible, so this site visit was a great opportunity to take the van for a couple of days of camping, sightseeing, and hiking in the Port Elgin area.

MacGregor Point Provincial Park has several hiking trails ranging from 0.8 to 6 km in an ecologically diverse habitat including coast, coastal wetlands, forests, and dunes.

We headed out to Sunset Point.  A spit of land that is perfectly situated for watching sunsets.

See how high the water level is, creating tree islands where there was land before.

The spit was much larger before the water levels started going up.

Some golden hues are creeping up.

and we are set

for a sunset

on sunset point.  Naturally.

The next morning we alternated between hikes along the beach

and exploring the boardwalks that crisscross the park.

We came across a first of many of Butterfly Gardens of Saugeen Shores, a wonderful local initiative.

The park is part of the Monarch Waystation Initiative

And in the spring it is home to the Huron Fringe Birding Festival. 

BUT NOW WE GO tO A Short business Break

Later, we drove to Port Elgin for our site visit.  Business part of the trip is out of the way and now back to pleasure.

And back to the boardwalk and the beach

The flora in the park is very rich.  From berries in the hinterlands,

to a variety o flower species, some are common, some not.

Knapweed

Many of the plants in this area are far from their natural habitat

Grass-of-Parnassus Parnassia glauca

and some are normally found in the arctic, the rockies, or the atlantic coast.

Fringed gentian (Gentianopsis crinita)

There are many speculations as to how they arrived here.

Purple Cornflower and Yellow Marsh Marigold

We also discovered that marl is a soft, light-coloured mud-like sediment, seen in shallow waters of some small water bodies.  You can sort of see it in the photo below.  Read more about marl in this area here if you are interested.

Another day was coming to an end and what better way to end it than exploring the trail along the beach.

This is not a crocodile.

And this was not a…dog? Llama?

But this is definitely another sunset.   We love sunsets.

Is there anything more soothing than the sound of waves crashing on the beach?  Take a listen.

Ending the day by the fire is always relaxing after a day of hiking.

There is a lot more to explore in this park and surely we’ll be back.

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26 thoughts on “MacGregor Point Provincial Park”

  1. Linda Hocher says:
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    Looks like a beautiful park. I love sitting in front of a bonfire with water lapping at the shore. It’s just so soothing. Thank you.

  3. kagould17 says:
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    Happiness is a day on the shore. We always tried to mix business with leisure when I did my road trips. I had the business and my family had the leisure. Still, I enjoyed having my family along. Stay well.

  4. peggyjoan42 says:
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    An absolutely beautiful post. Thanks for sharing all of the photos and the sound of the waves coming ashore. Such a gorgeous area of the world. Hope the business does not get in the way of the pleasure.

  5. petespringerauthor says:
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    I’m curious about the business part of your trips. Is that something you can share? Maybe you work for the CIA.😂

    One thing I like the most about your posts is that I know you will go someplace interesting and teach us something along the way. I had never heard of marl until today.

  9. Rebecca says:
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    Those logs and barks that resemble crocodiles and llamas look so eerie; I had to do a double-take to make sure they weren’t such animals! Your trip to MacGregor Point looks very rewarding in views, and they really go to show the natural wonders of our planet. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

  10. WanderingCanadians says:
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    It’s always good when you can mix business with pleasure. I visited MacGregor Point years ago and would love to return. It’s been awhile since I’ve been up near Lake Huron. I’ll have to add this to my list for 2021.

  11. rkrontheroad says:
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    The boardwalk and shore look so inviting. I believe I was there years ago at that lovely spot – my brother was with CAW and taught classes at the education center at Port Elgin. Now I live by a lake but it’s totally frozen now!

    • backroadsandotherstories says:
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      I ti is a beautiful park! We are in Port Elgin now and I am fascinated by the ice covered rocks and the icicles that form on the trees that close to the shoreline. Frozen lakes are great if you have friends living on the other side and you don’t have to walk around it 🙂

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