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Today I’ll be covering some information about hiking to Lion’s Head Lookout and Tobermory. If you missed out my previous blogs, you can check out this one about the Bruce Caves, and this one about the Grotto. Both are great options for winter adventures. Going to Lion’s Head Lookout in the winter lets you avoid the large crowds the summer season brings.
If you’d like to watch a video to see more parts of the trail and the Lion’s Head lookout point, you can check out my Youtube video!
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Getting to Lion's Head Lookout
Getting to the Bruce Peninsula from Toronto is about 3.5 hours. Once you’ve reached this area, you take highway 6 northbound. Once you get to Ferndale (there are signs directing you to Lion’s Head Lookout too), you turn right onto Bruce County Rd 9 which will take you to the town of Lion’s Head.
If you are looking for the fastest walk in to the lookout point, you’ll want to find Moore St from town until you reach McCurdy Dr. There is a small parkette at the end of the road (McCurdy Dr Parkette in the map below). There is no fee to park here, and no fee to enter the trail either.
We came here on a Sunday morning around 11 a.m., and there were only a few cars in the lot so no issue finding a spot. When we left the parking lot was full! It turned out that we had double parked in comparison to how everyone else had parked after us (yikes!). So if visiting on the weekend, try and get there earlier so you can grab a spot—and park tight enough to any other car to make sure there’s space for other people!
What's the trail like in the winter?
I mentioned the parking lot was full once we left, but being on the trail itself didn’t feel too crammed. Although of course by the time the park was filling up, we were on our way out, so take that into consideration.
As far as ice and snow goes, we had it pretty easy. It was mid March when we visited, and the previous days had been abnormally warm, so a lot of snow had already melted. But because of this melt, there were a lot of packed down, slippery ice patches to skate across which were a little tricky.
A lot of the trail is fairly rocky with lots of boulders to skip around (again not ideal if too icy) so this might be difficult if you aren’t so agile. Once you get closer to Lion’s Head Lookout, there are also some large rocks to climb across to reach the edge, which might be an issue depending on your fitness level. For the average person though (and with good shoes when the trail is icy), there is no issue in hiking this trail in the winter.
The photo above is the view looking back towards Lion’s Head from the main lookout point. To walk here from the parkette is about 1 hour. Once you get to this view, you probably won’t be bothered about the ice or boulders you’ve had to trudge across.
There are actually many sections along the trail where you can walk out to the edge and have a peak at the bay and the surrounding cliff faces. If one is not in a rush, you could spend quite a while climbing out and gazing at the view.
The first spot lookout spot had several neat ‘potholes’ in the ground.
Obviously these aren’t the Toronto city potholes I’m used to. I’m no expert in geology, but you can read this for a little more info on the potholes. There are actually a pair of ancient potholes you can walk to closer to the beginning of the trail (there are signs which direct you to this side trail). Although I admit I find the younger pot holes (like the one in the photo above) more interesting to look at.
What about Tobermory?
Tobermory in the winter is a ghost town. Nearly all shops are closed, and all water sports and tour boats from here don’t operate until later in the spring.
Essentially, there isn’t much to do—but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s quiet, and very beautiful, even though it’s cold. For me it’d be one of those spots I could hunker down while going on walks and reading books.
We decided to check out the Big Tub Lighthouse (photo above), which is a cute little spot looking out onto the bay. You don’t have to pay for parking here until May (yay!).
After checking out the lighthouse, we decided to stop at another random spot just a south of Tobermory.
Adjacent to Fathom Five National Marine Park, is Dunks Bay.
Admittedly, this photo doesn’t do the place justice. Dunks Bay is a sandy bay with a small public area. The majority of the area is private property with residential homes backing on to the beach. The sand is very white and soft, and from here you could walk along the Bruce Trail and check out Fathom Five National Park. I made a mental note to keep this place in mind when considering future cottage getaways.
Unfortunately we didn’t have time for a hike here (we had other plans for the day), but I would have liked to explore this area more.
That’s a wrap on my information on the Lion’s Head Lookout and Tobermory! I hope you enjoyed the read and found some of the information helpful. If you want to read more about some other spots in the winter, check out my blogs on the Bruce Caves, and the Grotto.
If you are looking for more visuals on Lion’s Head lookout, check out this video.
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If you have any questions about the information in the blog, leave me a comment, I’m always happy to chat!
Thanks for reading, and I wish you safe and happy future adventures!
Much love,
Danika
