Categories: Travel

The world’s longest freshwater beach is in Ontario with 14 km of sandy shores

Image via Mircea Costina/Shutterstock

Did you know that Wasaga Beach Provincial Park is the busiest provincial park, receiving over 1.5 million visitors every year? The beach spans 14 km of beautiful sand, and it’s worth a visit once the warm weather rolls in (which it’s certainly starting to).

According to Ontario Parks, “Wasaga’s 14-kilometre-long beach draws thousands of visitors each summer. Families enjoy safe swimming in the warm, shallow waters and playing on the wide sandy beach.”

The sandy shores of Wasaga Beach are accessible from eight different entry points, marked as Beach Area one through eight.

Once you’ve gotten in your fix of sand, water and sunshine, it’s time to get those steps in. Among the trails at this park are 700 types of plants and 230 species of birds.

The dune area of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park is where the trails can be found, boasting over 30 km of hiking, which can be accessed from the Wasaga Nordic & Trail Centre. As you enter the trail system, you’ll be treated with awesome views right off the bat. Upon entering, you’ll pass through an area known as the raised beaches.

The raised beaches are the remnants of a glacial lake that covered the Wasaga Beach area close to a whopping 10,000 years ago.

As you continue, you’ll be led into the “largest and least disturbed set of parabolic sand dunes in Ontario.” What is a parabolic sand dune, you may be wondering? I was, too. These types of dunes are typically U-shaped and called “blowouts.” As per National Geographic, this is because “winds blow out the center of the dune, leaving just a rim on the outside.”

So whether you want to venture the trails or relax on the sandy beach, add Wasaga Beach to your list of destinations this summer.