NORDIC CENTRE - SUMMER
The trail system at Wasaga Beach Provincial Park is truly a rare find. Well over 50 km of hiking trails can be accessed from the Wasaga Nordic Centre (formerly Blueberry Trails Nordic Centre). You can use the ski trails for your summer hiking pleasure. Linkages to the Ganaraska Hiking Trail are accessible.
Among the highlights of these trails will be your journey through one of the rarest ecosystems in Canada - the pine-oak savannah. This ecosystem is globally imperilled due to development and the lack of natural fires. It is characterized as an open forest of oak and pine intermixed with prairie plants. Plants such as Butterfly Weed, New Jersey Tea, Big Bluestem and Little Bluestem are all species to look for when in these special places. The Pine Trail Guidebook provides more information about pine-oak savannah.
Our trails are in a section of the park known as the Dunes Area. Wasaga Beach's location at the southern end of Georgian Bay is the result of collected sand, which blows in with prevailing winds. Over thousands of years, a large series of sand dunes have developed. Some of the dunes that our trails travel through are over 40 metres tall.
Most people expect to see landscapes reminiscent of the Sahara Desert when they first hear about our dunes and are disappointed when they get here and can not find them. Our dunes are now covered in forests and meadows making them difficult to see. There are still outcroppings of exposed sand throughout the dunes but large open sand dunes are rare.
There is no better place in Wasaga Beach to get away from all the activity on the beach front than an enjoyable walk along these trails at the Wasaga Nordic trail system. We'll see you there!
Pine Trail Guidebook
The Friends of Nancy Island and Wasaga Beach Park have published The Pine Trail interpretive booklet to guide you through the dynamic formation of our sand dune ecosystems and introduce you to a few of the unique plants and animals that make this area special. When taking this booklet with you on a hike, you will discover why the continued survival of some of these species, as well as the dunes themselves are threatened and measures that Wasaga Beach Provincial Park is taking to help them. The 6-km Pine Trail winds through many of the unique areas that make the dunes so valuable. Pick up this companion guide for $1.00 at Nancy Island or the Park Office and enhance your understanding and appreciation of this special place.
