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NATURAL RETREAT

Sauble Beach - A Part of your Natural Retreat

Sauble Beach is now a Blue Flag Beach! To qualify for the Blue Flag, all ninebeaches had to meet 27 strict standards based on water quality, environmental management, environmental education and safety and services.

Bruce County is full of nature - visit their website for more information

Sauble Beach is located on the edge of one of the most beautiful & natural areas in Ontario. The Bruce Peninsula is home to 2 National Parks, 8 Ontario Parks and 4 Federation of Ontario Naturalists Parks located approximately 1 hour from Sauble Beach.

The Niagara Escarpment offers many opportunities to discover some pretty cool nature... the rock formations known as the "flowerpots" are located in various located - Devil's Monument in Dyer's Bay or on Flowerpot Island off Tobermory - for example. There are also some fantastic photo opportunities up and down the peninsula as the escarpment towers over Georgian Bay - in places over 100 meters high!

Click here for a driving tour map that takes you to some of these spots

 

 

Parks in and around Sauble Beach

Sauble Falls Provincial Park

Every spring and fall, rainbow trout and chinook salmon struggle over each ledge of this cascading waterfall to spawn upstream. Flanked by immature forest, the falls used to power a timber mill and generating station. Now they are the terminus of the Rankin River canoe route, ideal for novice canoeists.

MacGregor Point Provincial Park

A complex ecosystem unfolds at this all-season park on a seven-kilometer stretch of coast on Lake Huron. Guided walks by the shore and through silver maple swamps, cattail marshes, ponds, fens and bogs reveal unusual inhabitants. Carnivorous (meat-eating) plants make this their home. Rare dwarf lake iris and the elusive spotted turtle appear in the spring. Migrating birds, including the black-crowned night heron and the American egret, stop here to snack. Winter visitors can camp in yurts and cross-country

Cabot Head Provincial Park

Situated near the top of the Bruce Peninsula, Cabot Head is a geologically significant area, featuring many interesting landforms.

Smoky Head White Bluff

The rugged shoreline rises some 50 meters above the crashing waves, exposing various gradations of the Silurian-age dolomite, roughly 400 to 425 million years old.

Lion's Head Provincial Park

This area of the Niagara Escarpment is well-known for its rock formation that from a distance resembles the profile of a lion.

Hope Bay Forest Provincial Park

Found on the Niagara Escarpment, this nature reserve contains outcroppings of exposed bedrock that are 500 million to 435 million years old, making it of keen interest to geologists.

Bruce Peninsula National Park

The Bruce Peninsula National Park is situated on the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula, between Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. The beautiful park, with a size of 155 square kilometers at the tip of the Niagara Escarpment, consists out of limestone cliffs, caves and underground streams, and ancient forests with some of the oldest trees in Canada. The Bruce Peninsula National Park is comprised of an incredible array of habitats from rare alvars to dense forests and clean lakes. Together these form a greater ecosystem - the largest remaining chunk of natural habitat in southern Ontario.

Fathom Five National Marine Park & Flowerpot Island

The Fathom Five National Marine Park has a size of 112 square kilometers and is the oldest national marine parks in Canada. There are 20 islands in the park, where rare ferns and orchids can be found, as well as some of the oldest forests in eastern Canada. There are 22 historic shipwrecks protected in the area, which makes it a world famous scuba-diving site.

 

Wildflowers and Plants

Sauble Beach is located close to many wonderful places to view spectacular wildflowers and other native plants. The Bruce Peninsula is home to 44 species of orchids giving the area the distinction of having one of the greatest varieties of natural orchids in North America - especially for such a small area.

Colourful wildflowers like fringed gentian, prairie loosestrife, lady’s slippers and insect eating plants grow in the Oliphant Fen. A 470 metre boardwalk that provides access to the delicate wetland is located at Oliphant. Remember to leave no foot prints!

In spring - numerous varieties of plants are welcoming the sun, beginning with Indian Paintbrush, Marsh Marigolds, Trilliums, Marsh Iris and many more.
A walk on the famous Bruce Trail in spring is a feast for your eyes – white and red Trilliums, different coloured Violas and an enormous number of other flowers in all colours are covering the forest grounds!

Animals of the Area

Sauble Beach is home to many species of birds, from the Eastern Bluebird to the red-tailed hawk. Residents and tourists alike enjoy the flutter of the 100's of hummingbirds that live in the area. Bears, racoons, coyotes, porcupines, jac rabbits andmany other creatures make their homes close by - making this a truly natural area to view wildlife and birds alike.

Wildlife of the Bruce Peninsula

Birds of the Bruce Peninsula