Last year (2020) was a complete write-off and I didn't even try to do any camping. And, looking back at 2019, it was honestly pretty jam-packed! We were at Rondeau for the Shoreline clean-up in September. In August we camped at Bronte Creek, Grundy Lake, Killbear, and Bass Lake. July didn't involve any camping because the Kidlet and I went on a trip to Bermuda with Grammie instead. June featured a trip to Rouge. And, in May, we managed to snag a yurt in Algonquin! And further back than that I was sticking to more fair-weather camping and the summers were spent either hosting friends or finding my camping groove. So, I guess it's not totally unreasonable that we didn't make it to the Pinery until now.
The Park
The Pinery is kind of incredible. We only explored a tiny portion of it and it was still pretty amazing. The diversity is pretty astounding!We hiked the Bittersweet Trail and found ourselves walking through oak savannah, full of oak, pine, hickory, and all sorts of smaller shrubs and bits of vegetation. Later, we went down to the shore to watch the waves and explore the delicate dune ecosystem with its juniper and sedges and evergreens covering loose sand that doesn't seem like it should be able to support nearly so much life. Then, a short walk along the Sassafrass Trail took us through a completely different type of forest! It looked more Carolinian and was completely different from either of the other two areas we'd already visited. I still find it kind of amazing that there can be so many different habitats and types of environment packed into such a small area!
The weather wasn't the best for our trip, but we still had a lovely time. There wasn't much wildlife out and about due to the cold temperatures and high winds, but we still saw lots of fascinating fungus and vegetation. And we learned a lot too!
Bittersweet Trail has a really great interpretive guide available for sale in the gift shop. It talks about some of the creatures you can find in the Pinery, many of which I either knew very little about or didn't even realize we got in Canada!
I learned a tonne about the star-nosed mole (which apparently swims and can retract its little nose tentacles when not in use). And I even discovered new things about the coyote and white-tailed deer that I hadn't known before. Also, did you know that there are flying squirrels in the Pinery?! Because I sure didn't! I didn't even know they were native to Canada. Go figure!
Aside from the trails (only two of which we managed to hike during our brief stay), there's also a small, but very interesting visitor centre which features a tiny gift shop. (This gift shop is completely separate from the Park Store which is in a different location.) Sadly the visitor centre and gift shop are only open on the weekends during the off-season. Luckily we arrived early enough on Sunday that we were able to visit both before they closed for the day.
If you would like detailed trail maps, they are available for sale in the gift shop. As is a seasonal bird list that is specific to the park. There are also many park-specific buttons and badges for sale as well as more generic decor and clothing items, plus a selection of books and nature guides.
The Park Store was closed for the season, so I can't comment on exact what they sell. It looks like bike and boat rentals happen through the Park Store. They also sell ice cream and official Ontario Parks merchandise (like the park stickers and crests, park passports, etc.). I would expect to find a small selection of basic camping supplies there as well.
Bikes are a very popular and useful way to get around the Pinery. It's a fairly large park and if you don't want to be piling into the car and driving to all the trail heads, beach, etc., then a bike is going to be your best friend. There is a dedicated bike lane on the main park road (much of it wide enough to ride two or three abreast). And Savannah trail is also bike-friendly and offers a convenient connection between many points in the park. We didn't have our bikes with us this time, but I would absolutely bring (or rent) a bike next time. Especially if we end up there in warmer weather!
The Campground
We were in Riverside campground this time. It's the furthest inland. Burley and Dunes are both quite close to the beach and sit between Lake Huron and the Old Ausable Channel. Riverside is on the far side of the channel. I've been told that Burley features the best campsites. Unfortunately, as far as I know, Burley isn't bookable in the off-season. I believe that Riverside is the only campground that stays open year-round. It's optimized for trailers. It's also where all the yurts and cabins are!I really don't have any complaints about Riverside. Sure, it might be nice to be closer to the beach in the summer, but I'm not too pushed about that in November. The sites might be a little more private in Burley, but I still felt like Riverside had enough (if not copious) trees.
The comfort station was heated (which was very welcome in the cold, blustery weather we were having) and features multi-stall gendered bathrooms as well as an accessible gender-neutral "family" bathroom/wet room, showers, and a laundry room. There's also a drinking water spigot accessible from outside the comfort station that stays on year-round.
The gendered bathrooms seemed to be pretty standard public bathroom fare: a few sinks and soap dispensers, hand dryers, a few small stalls, and one larger accessible stall. I did appreciate that they provided a step-stool by the sinks so that younger children would be able to reach to wash their hands.
I didn't peek at the showers, but I expect they were pretty standard too. Probably a shower head, a soap tray, some hooks, and maybe some sort of seat.
The family bathroom was quite nice. The whole room was tiled with relatively small tiles with a drain in the centre. (Lots of grout for grip so the floor shouldn't be too slippery when wet.) Toilet in one corner. Sink and soap dispenser in the other. The other side of the room features several grab bars and a seat/bench that can be folded down to sit on while showering. The showerhead itself is a wand style so that it can be moved around to more easily shower while seated. The only thing it's missing is a way to dry off your hands. For some reason there's neither air hand dryer or a paper towel dispenser in this washroom. Everything else is great though!
The laundry room features coin-operated washers and dryers as well as a laundry tub (with hot and cold water) and countertops that you can use for sorting, folding, whathaveyou. The machines only appear to take loonies and quarters, so be sure to come prepared.
The Campsite
We were in yurt 477. This is one of the newer style yurts. Rather than being constructed from an octagonal, aluminum frame, it's a round, wooden lattice frame. It has a front and a back door with glass windows and vinyl curtains. There's also a small, full-height window beside the front door. The peak of the roof features a domed skylight that can be opened in warmer weather.Outside there's a large wooden deck (which connects to both the front and back doors). The deck can be accessed by either stairs or a ramp.
There are two picnic tables. One down by the fire pit and another up on the deck near the propane barbecue. (The propane is provided. The cookware and utensils are not.)
Inside the yurt, there are two bunk beds with mattresses. The beds are all double sized (including the top bunks). There's a nice wooden table and four wooden chairs, plus two more folding chairs. There are hooks by both doors for hanging your hats and coats. There's also a boot tray and a small bench near the front door. Over to one side is a small work top/kitchen island with a wash basin and drying rack. You also get a broom, mop, bucket, and fire extinguisher. And the whole thing is heated by a lovely, thermostatically controlled, propane fireplace.
There are two duplex electrical recepticles in the yurt. Although one of the outlets is used by the fireplace. That still gives you three outlets for charging your devices or plugging in nightlights or whatever else you might need!
I found it VERY challenging to get the door unlocked upon arrival. The whole handle was wobbling out of place, but the lock just wouldn't disengage. Once we finally got it unlocked, I had trouble getting to door to relinquish the key and I was somewhat reluctant to lock the door again after that. The doors on the older style aluminum-framed yurts seem much easier to operate.
The fireplace could be a bit loud when the circulation fan was going, but it wasn't too bad. If you're very sensitive to noise, you might want to bring some ear plugs though.
Overall I was really happy with our site. It was cozy and comfy. It stayed nice and warm despite the howling wind and sub-zero overnight temperatures. The mattresses, while certainly not deluxe, were pretty comfortable. Everything was neat and clean. The table was big enough for eating and playing board games on. It allowed for a very easy camping trip in what would have otherwise been very unforgiving conditions. I really like it as a way to extend the camping season into the cooler weather.
