The Grotto, up north of us, in the Bruce Peninsula National Park, has become one of Southern Ontario’s most popular tourist destinations in the summer. Located near Tobermory, it’s close to lots of other tourist destinations such as Fathom Five National Marine Park, where you also find Flower Pot Island. The Grotto is located close to the Cyprus Lake Campground in the Bruce Peninsula National Park, located on the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula. It is about 300 kilometres or a 4-hour drive northwest of Toronto.
To get to the Grotto, you will have to hike the Georgian Bay Trail from P1 of Cyprus Lake Campground. It takes roughly 30 – 45 minutes, depending on how often you stop to take photos and admire the surroundings, which I do a lot. The trailhead to the shoreline at Indian Head Cove is rated as easy. It’s a man-made trail that is wide and scenic. However, once you get to the shoreline, it’s a rocky hike. It is not wheelchair accessible. Watch your footing. The portion of the Bruce Trail leading to the Grotto requires some climbing over slippery rocks and tree roots. I have never tried to access it in the winter and I would highly recommend against trying.
The Grotto itself is a unique natural shoreline sea cave with beautiful turquoize blue waters, even in the winter but I would not recommend trying to scale down to it in January. An underwater tunnel extends from the pool inside the cave through the cliff to Georgian Bay, which often makes it appear as though the pool is glowing on sunny days.
Open all year round, our favourite time to visit is the winter. There’s less people, and sometimes almost no one which is fabulous in my opinion. Plus, the colour of the water is the same, unless it’s covered in ice. The rocks are also usually covered in ice as the water that would have normally washed over the rocks is frozen.
On our last two visits, the trail from the Head of Trails at P1 was well packed and quite an easy hike. We hiked in wearing krampons (ice cleats).
Weather on the Bruce Peninsula does change frequently and can be unpredictable. On this day, there were perfectly blue skies until we got within fifteen minutes of Tobermory and then the clouds moved in lighting quickly. Please do not plan on hiking out there later in the afternoon unless you want to hike back to the Head Of Trails in the dark. Use caution when approaching the shoreline as it can and will be slippery. Bring hiking poles.
It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyways: Stay off the ice on the bay.
Here’s a gallery of photos from the day…
No Comments