Length of stay: 1 day
Visited: June 2021
Rock Point Provincial Park is located along the north shore of Lake Erie near the mouth of the Grand River. It features a one-kilometre sand and pebble beach with fossils embedded in a limestone shelf along a portion of it. It has 178 campsites and a single hiking trail that winds through the different habitats in the park, including the forest, sand dunes and wetlands.
Toronto is currently under a heat warning, so we figured the only way to beat the heat is to spend time by the water. We packed our cooler, lots of sunscreen, our towels and bathing suits and hit the road. We planned to visit a few parks along Lake Erie, starting first with Rock Point. We rolled into the park shortly after 10:30a.m. Lucky for us, the stay-at-home order in Ontario was lifted a few days ago, which meant that we could purchase a park crest from the Park Office.
We parked at the day-use area and walked down to the beach. The shore features a mix of sand and pebbles. The waves were rockin’ and a rollin’ and there was a nice cool breeze coming off from the lake. Despite the fact that it was early June, there were several people in the water.
From the beach we could access the Woodlot Trail (2km). The trail follows along the shore of Lake Erie, through a forest and wetland, and leads to a viewing platform built on top of the sand dunes overlooking the lake.
The trail itself is not signed and could easily be missed. We knew the trail runs parallel to the beach, so we headed in that general direction until we found a wide path that leads through the forest. From here it was quite clear where to proceed. The sun was shining and it was getting hot. Thankfully much of the path was shaded and it was breezy.
As the trail reaches a bend towards the park’s southeast corner, the shore transforms into a limestone shelf of exposed fossils. Some 350 million years ago, this area was part of a tropical coral reef. The exposed fossils were formed in the cavities left by decomposed moss animals, sea lilies and other reef organisms.
The path then reaches the viewing platform which consists of a few wooden steps and platforms that lead to the scenic overlook.
At the viewing platform, the trail branches off to form a short loop. We followed the trail through a small portion of the campground before heading back into the forest to connect back with the main trail. We followed this back to the beach and parking area.
We wrapped up our hike around lunch o’clock and headed to the next park to eat some lunch.
L
My progress on the Ontario Parks Challenge can be found here
How wonderful! Do many visitors dig for fossils?
It’s always nice to spend a hot and humid day down by the water. We didn’t see anyone on this part of the beach digging for fossils. Granted we arrived pretty early in the morning before the parking lot filled up and left around lunch time. But it seems like it would be a fun activity to do by the water.
Sounds great!! 🙂
For sure. Next time we’re in the area we’ll make sure to spend more time down by the beach searching for fossils and perhaps going for a swim.
🙂
Nice park! I just looked at your list and you have done so much this summer! I don’t know how you managed with moving and all 🙂
I’ve never been to Rock Point before so this was a pleasant surprise. And yes, it does seem like we’ve managed to explore a lot of parks so far. Most of these we visited prior to when we moved as our weekends now are pretty much spent unpacking, doing yardwork, and cleaning. I had no idea how much work was involved with owning a house! We did take the week of Canada Day off to go on a road trip though and hit up a surprising number of parks.
Haha, yes, owning a house comes with a lot of work. We just sold our farm and hoping that our next house will be a bit less maintenance!
For sure. And we’re quickly realizing that neither of us is particularly very handy. I’m hoping it’ll come with experience! Congrats on selling your farm! That definitley sounds like it requires a lot of upkeep!! I guess this means that your house search continues?
…and we just bought a house! The search is over! Good luck with acquiring your handyman skills 🙂
That’s AMAZING!! Congratulations! You must feel so relieved that the search is finally over! May I ask where you’re moving to?
Oh yeah! Very very relieved. We ended up changing our search area and we found a cute house near the beach and a fantastic park in Sarnia. We are very excited!
That’s awesome!! It’ll be so nice to be near the beach and more green space. Best of luck with the move!
Thank you!
Nice views. Did you find any fossils?
We typically don’t spend much time around Lake Erie so it was nice to finally explore some of the parks along this stretch. We mostly clung to the shade and didn’t spend too much time exploring around the rocky shore.
Looks like a nice park! Great views!!!
Thanks for kind words and for commenting. It was a lovely way to spend the day and to beat the heat. I find watching the waves hit the shore so mesmerizing. This was a nice park to visit for a couple of hours and just enjoy the scenery.
A wonderful idea and way to beat the heat. The beach looks lovely as do the hiking trails.
While they can be hard on the feet, especially if you’re barefooted, pebble beaches are soothing to the eye, especially when they’re the large rocky kind. 🙂
May it be another beach weekend soon!
For sure. It’s always nice to hit the trails first and then go for a swim to cool down. The beach was a bit too rocky for my liking, but apparently once you get in the water it’s mostly all sand. The other nice thing about pebble beaches is that your stuff isn’t covered in sand afterwards! We’re hoping to have another beach day this weekend, so fingers crossed for no rain!
Looks like a good place to get away from the city. Trails by the water add so much interest. Hooray for the park badge. Thanks for sharing. Allan
You bet, especially during a heat wave! It’s always such a real treat to hike by a lake in the summer as there’s usually a cool breeze coming off from the water and the bugs aren’t as aggressive. I was thrilled to add another park badge to my collection!! Thanks for reading. Take care.
Good place to escape the heat. Wonderful shots of the beach!
Thanks for your kind words and for commenting. It’s always a few degrees cooler by the water, so it is definitely a great way to escape the heat! While I’m usually not a fan of pebbly beaches, it was nice to not get sand in our shoes when we walked along the shore.
Nice to cool off next to (or in) the water – we are doing the same! As Allan noted, trails near the water always add so much interest; the fossils do, too.
For sure! It’s the only way to tolerate spending time outdoors during the middle of a heat wave. And agreed, the trails near the water are also such a treat. There’s usually nice overlooks of the water, a cool breeze, and not nearly as many bugs. In this case, fossils too.
This is a terrific place to enjoy the great outdoors and get a little exercise as well. Spring and summer are looking beautiful in your neck of the woods.
I find being by the water so peaceful and soothing. It’s also a great way to stay cool during the middle of a heat wave! Ontario is definitely scenic in the spring and summer, but just wait until the fall when all the leaves start changing colour. That’s always my favourite time of the year.
And who doesn’t like a trail close to the water (especially on hot days)! I like this trail – how it’s winding up to a lovely view … and the bonus, a park crest 😉.
Agreed! It’s always nice to have a great view of the lake while going for a hike, especially on a hot day. It provides great motivation to finish up so we can go for a swim afterwards. And yes, I’ve become obsessed with collecting all the various park crests. I’m glad restrictions have eased and we’re finally able to purchase them again.
Yet another beautiful southern Ontario park I’ve never heard of. Hard to believe that it was once part of a tropical coral reef.
I haven’t spent too much time around Lake Erie, so it was nice to check out some of the parks along that stretch. While I typically prefer a nice sandy beach, the rock pebbles were easier to walk on and this way we didn’t get sand all in our shoes. Agreed, it’s really hard to imagine that this was once part of a coral reef. It’s incredible to think how different our world must have looked millions of years ago.
Oh, to be walking along water’s edge right about now. Such a lovely path and park you’ve shown us.
No kidding. It’s been hot, humid and hazy here and it would be quite lovely to be down by the water right about now. This was my first time visiting Rock Point and we were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. It’s a relatively small park, but it has a beach and hiking trail, which is good enough for me!
You seem to have sooooo many great hiking places. Envious!
We sure do. It’s been nice being able to explore more of the parks in Ontario during the pandemic. It’s made me appreciate how much green space we have and makes me more mindful that we need to do a better job to protect it.
Unmarked trails are super annoying! Glad you found it though 🙂
I am terrible with directions so I’m not a fan of unmarked trails either. In this case it wasn’t too hard to find as we knew the path followed along the shoreline. And once we found it, it was quite obvious where to proceed.
Those views to the sea are incredible, and yey for some sunshine! 🙂
I love trails along the waterfront as the views are beautiful. On a hot summer’s day, it’s also a few degrees cooler by the water. It’s incredible how much a difference the sun can make when going for a hike or just spending time outdoors in general.
So many wonderful parks to explore! May you never run out. Love walking along the shore with you.
Thanks for your lovely comment. There are no shortage of provincial parks in Ontario for us to explore, that’s for sure. The issue is that we’ve visited most of the ones close to home, so now it’s become a bit of a drive if we want to go somewhere new. It’s a good excuse to plan a road trip though and to take some time off of work!
Rock Point Provincial Park looks like a fantastic place to connect with nature and go for a walk. The soft-bluish colour of the water is so beautiful. I am glad to see you had a lovely time 🙂 Aiva xx
It was also the perfect place to visit during the middle of a heat wave! Despite the heat, I’m glad the sun was out as it always make the water look so vibrant and sparkly. Take care.
Yeah – a crest!!!
We are just out of our heat wave, so I feel your pain. However, I hear the humidity makes an Ontario heat wave that much more intense. Glad you found some water!
Were you able to find any fossils in the limestone? I was at the summit of Shunga-la-she on Thursday when I found a shell fossil in the rock.
Last week was brutal with the humidity. It also didn’t help that the skies were hazy because of all the wildfires. We took some time off to go camping and you better believe we went swimming every single day.
We actually didn’t spend too much time by the shore at Rock Point as it was easier to just walk along the path than the pebble beach. That’s so neat that you found a shell fossil in the rock!! It’s incredible to think how different our world must have looked millions of years ago.
Yes! So much water in Ontario, it must be fantastic for swimming. I have to make a real hard effort to find swimmable water. Lucky you!
There are no shortage of lakes in Ontario that are great for swimming. And yes, I imagine it’s a bit of a challenge to find something that’s swimmable in Alberta, especially up in the mountains!! Your glacial-fed lakes sure look gorgeous though.
Very peaceful place to hike. Can you swim in the lake ? Looks like a great spot to swim.
Rock Point is a lovely park to spend a few hours. You can usually go swimming here, but sometimes the water in Lake Erie can be unsafe due to algae. The water was still a bit too cold for my liking when we visited, so we didn’t end up going in.
Beach and fossils got me excited and wish it’s my day off for some hiking and outdoors. Beautiful place. Went hiking with friends and son yesterday along Cupertino’s mountains . Though I will not make it, but I did. It was invigorating. Happy Weekend 🙏
For sure, especially when the weather is nice. It’s always refreshing to spend time outdoors on the weekend and it helps get me ready for the week ahead. Glad you were able to go for a hike yesterday. Hope you had a great weekend. Cheers.