Point Pelee National Park is best known for being located at the Southern-most point of mainland Canada. There are plenty of fun things to do at the park including lots of good hiking trails, birding, kayaking/canoeing, enjoying the beach, or visiting at night to enjoy a dark sky night.

Hiking at Point Pelee

I wasn’t too sure what to expect when it came to hiking in the park but I was pleasantly surprised. The park breaks up their trails into footpaths, walking paths, and cycling/walking paths. Footpaths are more narrow, have some uneven terrain including sand in parts and can be seasonal (not open during the winter). Walking and cycling paths are wider (1.5m wide) are graded to be flatter and are generally pretty accessible.

Throughout the three days I spent at the park I ended up hiking most of the trails so I can talk about each personally!

West Beach Footpath – most scenic

~3 km – out and back – Easy (some uneven terrain)

This trail leads from across the road from the visitor center down to the tip. It is a narrow path that is covered in sand for I’d estimate 30% of the trail. It follows along the west shore of the park just up off the beach. While walking the trail you will cross through some of the parks Savannah habitat which is an at risk habitat in the park. You will see Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus!

Since the path follows close to the shore there are a couple of spots to access the beach. For the whole walk you will enjoy the sound of waves crashing on the shore and birds chirping in the trees. It was one of my favourite trails in the park and I ended up walking it twice.

The Tip – most popular

1 km – out and back – easy

The walk to the tip is the most popular place to visit in the park. I mean you can’t go to the park with Canada’s southern-most point without walking to the end! You can get to the start of the tip trail by walking down one of the footpaths, by biking down the road (closed to cars in the summer), or by taking the free tram from the visitor center!

Marsh Boardwalk – Best for wildlife

1 km – loop – Easy

The boardwalk is one of the most famous spots in the park and for good reason. Walking along the boardwalk takes you on a beautiful stroll through the marsh with good opportunities for spotting wildlife. We saw a family of swans with 7 babies, 15 turtles, 3 frogs, plenty of songbirds, and a water snake! There is also an observation tower that you can climb up to get a good overview of the marsh (the tower is not accessible). There are also kayak and canoe rentals if you prefer to explore by paddling.

The boardwalk does get very busy during the summer on weekends so arriving early is a good idea. Or visit on a slightly cloudy day in May like we did!

DeLaurier Homestead Trail – least busy

1.2 km – loop – Easy

The homestead trail loop has a good mix of things to look at. There are a few smaller boardwalks throughout the trail so you can look for turtles and frogs. This is also where the red parks canada chairs are located!

You can also learn a bit about the parks history and see what remains of one of the homesteads that used to be part of the areas agricultural history.

Importantly you can learn about the Caldwell First Nations who lived at Point Pelee until the 1920’s when they were evicted from the area by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who burned their root cellars to ensure they would not return. The Caldwell First Nations had lived in the area from before 1763. In 1790 the land in the area was surrendered to the crown but the Caldwell First Nation neither signed nor benefitted from the treaty. They remain the only federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario without a reserve land of their own.

Read more at: https://www.first-nations.info/caldwell-nation.html

https://www.caldwellfirstnation.ca/historical-resource-links.html

Woodland Nature Trail – good for birding

2.75 km – Loop – Easy

The trail begins behind the visitor center and takes you through the oldest forest in the park. It is a great spot for birding in the park and wasn’t too busy when I walked it despite it being very busy elsewhere in the park that day. Although parking at the visitor center may be limited when it’s very busy. I walked from the DeLaurier homestead parking lot which was not busy (see below). The trail crosses through some nesting sites of the prothonotary warbler and time spent in those areas is limited to five minutes so as not to disturb their nesting sites. During my five minutes I was lucky enough to spot a couple of these relatively rare birds.

Anders Trail – Cactus Field Footpath – Chinquapin Oak Trail

6 km (round trip) – out and back – Easy (but longer)

These trails run from the Homestead to the Visitor Center. I linked the three of them together and it was approximately 3 km in one direction. The main trail is wide but there are a few points where the trail branches off into narrower footpaths. The cactus footpath takes you through some Savannah habitat so you will see some cacti. While on this trail I saw one very charismatic wild turkey!

Sparrow Field Footpath – Redbud Footpath

~3 km – out and back – Easy

These two footpaths can be linked with some of the other trails to take you from the visitor center to the tip. I hiked them while hiking from the tip back to the visitor center. They take you through some forested areas of the park. Portions of the footpath are covered in sand. Sparrow fields is aptly named as it is a good area for viewing sparrows.

Birding at Point Pelee

Point Pelee is a birding hotspot! In the spring and fall it is a stopping point for migratory birds and a great spot for bird watching. All sorts of birds can be seen in the park including shorebirds and songbirds. There have been 390 species recorded in the park!

I happened to visit during the last weekend of the Festival of the Birds which occurs during the peak of spring migration. During the festival there are plenty of educational events and guided hikes, you can find more information here. https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/on/pelee/activ/festival

Upon arriving to the park the sound of all the birds singing was so incredible. It was impossible not to crane your neck to try and spot who was singing and from where. With my camera out for creating the video of this trip I got mistaken for an avid birder a couple of times (although my camera looks like a toy compared to some of the telephoto lenses I saw). Regardless I did end up photographing and videoing a good number of birds and got my brothers help with identifying some of them when I got home. Here is a list of birds that I saw and was able to identify!

Point Pelee Birding List

• Mute Swans
• Canadian Geese
• Wild Turkey
• Downy Woodpecker
• Baltimore Oriole
• American Robin
• Redwing Blackbird
• Barn Swallows
• Blue Jay
• Northern Cardinal
• Gray Catbird
• Common Grackle
• Turkey Vulture
• Red Headed Woodpecker
• Loon
• Cormorants
• Gulls
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Blue Heron
• Rose breasted grosbeak
• Prothonotary Warbler
• Black Bellied Plover
• Green Heron

Camping Near Point Pelee

Camping in Point Pelee National Park is limited to staying at Camp Henry in one of the oTENTiks. oTENTiks as described by Parks Canada are “a cross between an A-frame cabin and a prospector tent, on a raised wooden floor”. They sleep 6 people and while I’ve never stayed in one they look super fun and I hope to some day! They do book up super quickly especially for summer weekends.

The alternative is staying outside the park. Most people do this since the oTENTiks are limited. We camped at Wheatley Provincial Park which is located about a 25 minute drive away. Wheatley has campsites for both tent and RV campers. We stayed in the Highland Campground and our site was pretty large and private. Most of the sites in the campground had pretty good privacy. Wheatley has a couple of walking trails as well as a beach where I watched the sunrise one morning.

Dark Sky Nights

Point Pelee National Park is a dark sky preserve. Throughout the year the park hosts dark sky nights where the park remains open late (until midnight) so you can stargaze. On these nights they also host talks on various topics related to astronomy.

While we were there we heard a talk from Steven Pellerin who is a National Outreach Astronomy Coordinator for the International Astronomical Union. He talked about light pollution in todays world and tips for still observing the night sky despite it. It was a really good talk and really made you notice how many things emit excess light at night. One of the problems they are having in the Pelee area is with greenhouses which emit excessive amounts of light which brighten the night sky. There are many reasons why we should all care about light pollution including negative impacts on our health and sleep, wildlife including birds, and wasting energy!

Watch the Vlog!

Land Acknowledgment

I would like to acknowledge that Point Pelee National Park is on the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, comprised of the Ojibwa, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi. Specifically, this is the home of Caldwell First Nation, and part of the house of Walpole Island First Nation. I travel with respect in the National Park knowing that these lands were stolen from those to whom they first belonged.