Day trip to Point Pelee National Park in Ontario, Canada: A short day trip from Detroit, Michigan

 

Marsh Boardwalk Trail, Point Pelee National Park 

Canada has always been one of our (my wife and myself) favorite places to explore.  With driving times ranging between 7 hours (Montreal) to 13 hours (Quebec City), Eastern Canada destinations are close from New York City (where we grew up), but felt worlds away.

We visited the great cities of Montreal (3 times), Quebec City (twice), Ottawa, and also smaller towns like La Malbaie (way up north) in our previous trips up north.  Each time we traveled there, we came away feeling as if we had traveled to distant places, especially in places like Quebec Canada, where the primary language is French, and even the customs and cuisine are French.

We have fond memories of eating delicious tuna salad sandwiches on freshly baked baguettes in Montreal, and we absolutely loved sampling savory French cuisine at Restaurant Louis-Hebert in downtown Quebec City.  Each trip was memorable, and we’re always looking for opportunities to revisit the country every chance we get.

That chance came again in March, on our trip to the city of Detroit.  We were spending 4 nights/5 days at the MGM Grand Detroit, and we were literally a stone’s throw away from from Canada.  We again headed up north (well, in this particular case, it’s actually driving east from where we were in Detroit) to visit one of Canada’s great national parks: Point Pelee National Park in Leamington, Ontario Canada.

We picked one of the nicest day for the month of March to visit this park.  It was sunny with temperatures in the high sixties, which is practically balmy for this part of the country, practically unheard of for the usually cold months of March.  

Well, we didn’t complain.  We would rather not run into cold, frigid, snowy weather on our trip to east Ontario, and we certainly got our wish.

We took off, taking the famous Ambassador Bridge towards Canada.  We crossed the midway point of the bridge when we saw the sign that we’ve crossed into Canada.  That, is always a cool feeling to visit another country.

We picked one of the security booths and were interviewed by a friendly officer about our reasons for traveling to Canada.  I told him we were going to visit the Point Pelee National Park.  When he asked if we were carrying any firearms, drugs, and/or animals into the country, I jokingly added we had two animals in the car, pointing to the two of us.

The young officer didn’t laugh at that deadpan, American-style joke, so I kept my mouth shut at that point, only answering his other questions with matter-of-fact answers.  Luckily, we were able to enter into the country without issues.  *I personally love these border crossing interviews with customs/border agents.  Maybe I’m just a bit weird…

We drove past the city of Windsor, seeing if anything was different than what we’re used to in the United States.  Most things were very similar, like supermarkets, restaurants, shops, but what caught our eyes was the ubiquitous red colored maple leaves and the Canadian national flags displayed proudly along the main boulevard.   That, was different, and it was good to see.

Before arriving at the national park, we wanted to pick up some lunch, so we headed towards a small town called Leamington.  We again wanted some Middle Eastern food, so we stopped by Shawarma Corner, a highly recommended restaurant by the locals.

As we got near Leamington, we saw gigantic greenhouses housing lots and lots of tomatoes!  In fact, we found out later that Leamington is known as the “tomato capital of Canada”, and it is recognized as having the largest concentration of greenhouses in North America.  Wow, cool.

We arrived at Shawarma Corner in no time, and ordered our usual: chicken shawarma wrap and falafel platter to go.  With food ready, we headed out southeast, towards Point Pelee National Park.

Shawarma Corner, Leamington, Ontario 

We passed cute houses and cottages along Lake Erie, on our right, starting to smell and feel like we were indeed near a large body of water.  Lake Erie is definitely large, hence it being included in the list of the “Great Lakes”: these are Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, and the aforementioned Lake Erie.

We arrived at the entrance of the park, then paid a very reasonable $13.50 (Canadian dollars) for the two of us, then got a park map from the friendly ranger.  With the park map in our hands, we decided to explore two of the most popular areas of the park: Marsh Boardwalk and Tip Trails.

• Marsh Boardwalk Trail

Marsh Boardwalk Trail is a popular, 1.1 km round trip loop trail along the northern marshlands.  As soon as we passed the entrance station, we grabbed a map of the place, then headed straight to the trailhead.

The weather was nice, truly feeling like we were in late April, and not even close to mid-March way up in Canada.  I guess the days when Canada was known to be cold except in July, no longer applies.  

After parking our car at the parking lot, we noticed a constant hum of cars and fellow visitors.  It was a busy day for a mid-week day in March.  What’s more, we saw families with little school age children.

We were curious, so we chatted with one of those families, and they mentioned the schools were out for the spring break.  Ahh, that makes sense.

We took the stairs to the top of the observation tower to get a feel for the place.  Views were amazing!

Climbing the stairs on the observation tower 

At the trailhead 

At the top of the tower, we met up with a very nice family (ones who told us about the spring break), and we talked for awhile.  We talked about the nice, warm weather, our travels from North Carolina to visit here, and about this awesome national park.  

With several minutes already spent while busily chatting away, we decided to hike that nice boardwalk trail.  We said our goodbyes then walked down the tower to get on the trail.

We have always loved seeing marshes, and this was one of the best ones.  Views were expansive and beautiful, the birds were already out and about, singing loudly for the world to hear, and the long boardwalk beckoned us to continue our trek.  We gladly obliged.

We took in some refreshing Canadian air in March, and we moved along taking in the views.  

Look, it’s a bird!

When we reached a sort of midway point of the trail with a shaded bench along the trail, we stopped for awhile.  What’s better than being outside with nature all around you on a midweek day, without a care in the world?  My brain was so happy, exploring a new place.  

Isn’t this what we signed up for when we decided to retire early?  Sure, quitting work is nice, but had we stayed at the same place all the time, what fun would that be?  I love exploring new places, and this is really one of the top reasons for why we retired.

Contemplating and philosophizing aside, my wife and I really enjoyed our short, but memorable walk on the boardwalk.  I was convinced why this is such a popular trail at the park.  Nice!

Onto the next popular attraction at the park: Tip Trail!

• Tip Trail

Tip trail is located on the southern most end of the park, the very tip of the peninsula that makes up the park.  It is also the southern most point of the Canadian mainland.  We had to check this out.

We left the Boardwalk Marsh trail, then drove south, until we saw a giant observation tower that looked something out of a futuristic, dystopian movie.  We found a parking spot easily that day, but we knew had this visit been in the busy summer months, that would not be the case.

We started walking towards the cool looking observation tower, but found out it was closed for the season.  Bummer…

We kept on going, walking further south, when we felt increasing wind speeds the further we traveled.  The winds were practically howling at times, with the splash/mist from the waves hitting the rocky shores giving us a good scare or two.

We chose to walk along the inner most path along the trail so as not to get wet, which worked out well.  We can sense a large body of water really close by, and it even smelled like the ocean, even though we were near a lake, a very large lake at that, but definitely not an ocean.

Walking towards the tip!

Waves splashing against the rocky shores

At the end of the trail, we finally came upon the tip of the peninsula, and the southern most point of Canadian mainland.  As we neared the tip, we read a solemn sign about the dangers of swimming on this beach.  A young boy had drowned there, not heeding the warnings about the dangerous rip currents and undertows that can drag a person deeper into the lake.  

We walked on the sandy beach, noticing the unpredictable nature of the waters on either side of the tip.  It seemed the eastern shore’s waters were calm but the western shore’s waters were anything but.  It actually looked like an ocean, with waves pounding the beach.  This dichotomy struck us as odd but also fascinating.  

The Tip area; notice how calm the waters on the left side of it is vs the right

Looking north from the Tip

We walked all the way down to the end of the tip to fully take in the lowest point of Canadian mainland.  It was cold and windy, but the views were well worth it.  

Before heading back to Detroit, we stopped by at the visitor center for a quick pit stop.  We didn’t see any rest area with a bathroom along the way, so it made sense.  

We drove around hour and a half to arrive back at the Ambassador Bridge.  Before crossing the border, we stopped by the duty free shop to pick up two bottles of Canadian wine.  Prices weren’t bad at all, at around $10 (Canadian) for one bottle of wine.

After our quick shopping foray,  we crossed the bridge to line up at the customs/border patrol.  Luckily, there weren’t many people crossing into the US at the time, so we picked a booth that had an officer standing in front of one.  

The male officer was a matter-of-fact type who fired off one question after another.  Oh, and he didn’t smile one time by the way.  Here are some of the questions he asked that day:

1. What was the purpose of your trip to Canada?
2. How many days were you in Canada?
3. Where are you staying at in the area?
4. Where are you traveling from?
5. Why are you visiting Detroit of all places?
6. Are you bringing in anything from Canada?

I actually enjoy these interactions with customs officers, but maybe I’m not normal.  In any case, we were allowed entry back to the good old United States after that fun conversation with the customs officer.  One thing I’ve been noticing of late while coming back into the US is this:  most border patrol/customs officers are no nonsense types, who are not overly friendly.

I totally understand this though.  They have a tough enough job of keeping contraband, human trafficking, illegal aliens, and criminals out of the country.  It is no easy task.  I would probably be like them if I did the same kind of work…

Well, at least I enjoy these interactions more so than the majority of the population.  Am I a bit weird???

In conclusion:

Canada is such a cool place to visit whenever we can.  It feels like the United States as English is spoken there, but in places like Quebec, it feels like a whole new world with French being the dominant language.   Who doesn’t love chewing on a good, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside baguette in downtown Montreal or eating delicious French cuisine in Quebec City?  

We will always love Canada as it’s similar but also worlds apart.  Oh, and did I mention it’s close to the United States?

Visiting Point Pelee National Park was a perfect day trip idea while staying in Detroit.  At a driving time of roughly 90 minutes, it just made perfect sense to do so.  With beautiful trails, marshes, and the Tip, Point Pelee National Park is a must visit destination when you’re in the area.  We highly recommend it!

Thank you for reading and happy trails!

Jake

Wandering Money Pig 

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