Bruce Peninsula National Park is one place you don’t want to miss during your visit to the Bruce (term referred to by Bruce County locals).   The park is known for its unusual habitats.  You can visit an alvar, where uncommon plants grow on natural limestone pavements.  You can hike  through dense cedar forests along the Lake Huron shore, listening to the songs of warblers and glimpsing rare plants like the calypso orchid.

The Bruce Trail runs through the park.  Hiking here, it’s hard to believe you’re in southern Ontario.  The scenery is spectacular, with the massive cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment meeting the crystal clear, aquamarine waters of Georgian Bay.  Request a trail book through The Bruce Trail Conservancy for more information on the park’s hiking opportunities.

The Grotto is one of the park’s most popular spots.  It’s a lake cave, an unusual geological formation created by the erosive action of water and ice on the limestone.   On hot summer days, hundreds of visitors sunbathe on the nearby limestone ledges and swim around and into this mysterious cave.  

Flowerpot Island is also part of the park.  Take a short ride on the Blue Heron II boat tour and spend an afternoon exploring the island’s wave-cut caves, flowerpots, and historic lighthouse.  At the annual orchid festival in June, park staff will introduce you to some of Ontario’s most rare and beautiful wild flowers.  

Bruce Peninsula National Park is the largest remaining piece of natural habitat in southern Ontario.  The park preserves some of the best scenery and nature along the Niagara Escarpment, a world biosphere reserve.