An off-season trek is the secret to exploring the Grotto without the crowds at Bruce Peninsula National Park.
words :: Allison Kennedy Davies
In high school, we used to skip class to go to the Grotto. We’d drive up the Saugeen Bruce Peninsula without a care in the world, with no parking reservation and with zero concerns that our favourite place might be too busy. We had no idea how lucky we were. A post-pandemic era in the Tobermory area is a different reality. Visits to the Grotto now need to be booked well in advance, locals know to avoid the summer months and the Bruce Peninsula National Park sees enough visitors that it’s expanded to include winter offerings.
Despite having been to the Grotto at least a dozen times on my own, I recently joined Eco Adventures on their Snowshoe the Grotto program. I wasn’t too sure what to expect. After all, what could a local guide tell me that I didn’t already know about this place? It turns out I had a lot to learn.
From cedar tea prepared trailside to details about the geology of the Niagara Escarpment itself and frequent stops to identify tracks in the snow, the Eco Adventure guides offered a window into a deeper layer of information about this place I loved. The highlight of the day was snowshoeing along the Bruce Trail to the water’s edge, safely traversing the ice and down into the Grotto itself. With the ice groaning and shifting, those steps are ones I wouldn’t have had the skills or confidence to take without an experienced leader at the helm to inspect the ice thickness and choose the safest route.
The guides offered a window into a deeper layer of information about this place I loved.
This winter tour is one of many offered by Eco Adventures, a program created by the Bruce Peninsula Biosphere Association (BPBA). Tasked with preserving one of the world’s most unique ecosystems, the BPBA helps to protect the peninsula, which is in a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. With no formal conservation authority in the region, the BPBA tackles everything from water-quality monitoring to wetland revitalization, bioremediation projects and the installation of more than 50 EV chargers spanning from Wiarton to Tobermory.
The BPBA launched Eco Adventures with two primary goals: to generate revenue in support of those key projects and to foster a deeper connection between visitors and the Bruce Peninsula’s natural wonders. The sustainable, off-peak tours steer clear of crowded hot spots, encouraging participants to fall in love with the very spaces they help to conserve.
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Running from early January to early March, Snowshoe the Grotto was recently rebranded Journey to the Winter Grotto to account for unpredictable snowfall. The tour allows visitors to get a closeup experience on the trail with hiking boots, ice cleats or snowshoes, depending on conditions. Along the way, guides share information about the area’s ecology, geology and history, making time for the group to explore the shoreline in a peace and quiet rarely found during peak tourist season.
To reach their lofty goals of fundraising and education, Eco Adventures offers a list of excursions throughout the year, including night hikes and daytime nature walks. The after-hours hikes provide a unique opportunity to experience the peninsula’s wilderness with a focus on night ecology and stargazing. In late February and early March, the peninsula’s owls become particularly active and the Owl Prowl begins. Taking place in Lindsay Tract’s wetlands and forests, the programming offers visitors a rare chance to learn about nocturnal owl behaviour.
Later, in warmer weather, I joined another guided tour at Lindsay Tract; this one focused on bushcraft, and our guide made frequent stops to point out tiny mushrooms and fungi I’d otherwise have flown right by. We stepped just off the trail to view some large black claw marks in a beech tree left by a black bear climbing to the top. I’ve been back to that same section of trail many times and I’ve never successfully found those claw marks again. It’s funny what a great guide can unearth for you.
Photo: Allison Kennedy Davies
The expertise of these local guides transforms each hike into a memorable experience and brings the landscape to life, and they’re passionate about inspiring visitors to become stewards of the peninsula’s future. Says Eco Adventures guide Caeli Mazara: “If you know what is there to protect, you become more inspired to protect it.”
Learn more about Eco Adventures tours and their mission at
www.myecoadventures.ca.
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