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		Hikes
		Hikes

Wasaga Beach

Just the Facts about hiking Wasaga Beach:

		30 KM	127 KM / 2 Hours

Sun + surf + sand + hard bodies + tiny bikinis + cruisin’ the strip+ cool cars
+ long weekends + summer romance= the popular essence of Wasaga Beach .

Now consider this…

Awesome shipwreck + hiking trails + fresh pine scent + provincial park = Wasaga Beach .

I know, I know, it just doesn’t seem to fit the Wasaga Beach reputation. Yet, as Rob and I vowed to explore all that is NOT part of the weekender lifestyle of Wasaga, we came to find that there is a lot to this area that people have neglected to explore.

We decided to begin our visit with a tour of the Nancy Island Historic Site. I found this to be particularly exciting since the park is named after me or rather another famous Nancy —a battleship that was sunk during the war of 1812. The wreckage (or what’s left of it) is preserved in a temperature-controlled glass-walled room so that visitors can appreciate the size and construction of the ship while preserving it at the same time. There's also a time capsule that was enclosed in the room that contains various artifacts and information about the Nancy . The time capsule is not set to be opened for quite a few decades!

The two Nancys, plus the Nancy center

The historic site is comprised of three buildings and an array of artifacts that have been stuck in the grounds for people to admire. The first stop on the self-guided tour is the theatre where visitors are invited to watch at ten minute historical recount of Nancy ’s past and some interesting regional adventures from wartime. Next, you can walk through a museum-like building that houses the Nancy (see above) on one side and a variety of historical information and artifacts on the other. Inside the museum, you can also admire a replica of Nancy ’s masthead and play a number of interactive history games. Last, climb the steep staircases of the lighthouse for some great views of Nancy Island and surrounding cottage country. This site doesn’t charge a fee but it does run on donations, so if you’ve decided to check out the Nancy, be sure to leave a toonie (or two) to ensure her conservation for future generations!

Wasaga Provincial Park is so large that is spans a great portion of Wasaga itself. The 14-km of sandy beach that is so popular with weekenders and cottagers is part of the provincial park! Since Rob had just visited the beach with his friend Sean last weekend (see pics of their more “traditional” Wasaga activities at the bottom of the page) , we decided to check out the Nordic Centre (cross-country ski centre) which doubles as a network of great hiking trails in the summertime. There’s a big map to help you pick your chosen path (and level of difficulty). Since it’s a ski centre, the map also lets you know the elevations so you can easily prepare for a more challenging hike. We picked a relatively easy (we wanted to save our energy for our trip to Awenda) trail—the Blueberry Path—that took us through dense forest. The air was incredibly fragrant and filled with hints of pine and sweetness. Mosquitoes weren’t too much of a nuisance but there was a pleasant abundance of butterflies (and they weren’t camera shy either!) Also, we came across a centipede and a salamander along our route.

In the end, we were very happy to have given the other side of Wasaga a chance!

Want a chance to take some great pictures of butterflies? Check out the Butterfly conservatory

This was pretty standard on most of the Wasage Beach hike. Wide nice paths, lots of room, lots of shade.

The entire area had really sand soil. We never did get to see the sandbanks here though...

These were a little weird... looked like horse hitching posts to me... but they were all around the Wasaga Beach hike. (Maybe for skiing?)

For more information about hiking at Wasaga Beach:

Wasaga Beach Provincial Park

http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/wasa.html

Friends of Nancy Island and Wasaga Beach Park

http://www.wasagabeachpark.com/

Wasaga Beach Official Site

http://www.wasagabeach.com/

OK, here is the portion on the beach... (you didn't thing we were going to leave it out did you?)

No matter what you are into, the main strip at the beach is the place to see and be seen. The road loops one way around the beach with some parking in front of the shops. People spend hours cruising around, or just parked in front of the small strip of stores. Old cars, new cars, Muscle cars, babes in bikinis, it's all here.

Wasaga Beach - Buffed guys and cool cars

Me and my buddy Sean decided to head on up to Wasaga Beach for Canada day. What a great experience! Babes in Bikinis everywhere (although on Nancy's advice, we have removed all pictures of them... If you have a picture of yourself at Wasaga Beach, forward it to us!). Drinking on the beach doesn't seem to be a huge faux pas. We saw many people drinking... they were just subtle about it. (Unlike Sean here)

Wasaga Beach - Sean feeling a little friskey!

What a huge range of people at the beach! These guys were sings and playing instruments, having a great old time.

Wasaga Beach - Woman building Sand Sculpture

This woman was building some cool sand sculptures when we walked by. We got talking with her husband (I think...), and he mentioned they have a Sand sculpture festival in Sauble beach (Sandfest - August 11th 2007)

I must admit, I don't know why I found this so utterly fascinating, but I couldn't believe they actually had these machines.

On the way back from Wasaga Beach we saw this strange contraption, and just had to pull over. The guy to the right cut down a tractor trailor and a small bus, and welded them together!

A quick hint... don't take the 400 home from Wasaga at the end of a long weekend! Take Airport road and you will be home much faster, plus you might get a chance to meet some interesting characters!

Hikes

Wasaga Beach