Vacation plan
Lake Huron park has great fishing, hiking, beachcombing and much more
No matter how long they’ve been on summer vacation, kids eventually start complaining that they’re bored. If you’ve got young kids, the splash pad will only buy you so much time. And if you’ve got older ones, it can sometimes be tough to tear them away from screens. The solution? Pack up and head into the great outdoors. While a simple change of environment can do wonders to entertain easily-bored kids, you can up the novelty factor by creating a personalized bucket list. That’s what managing editor Bob Sexton and family did when they visited Inverhuron Provincial Park near Kincardine, Ontario, in June, 2018. He describes five items on their Inverhuron to-do list.
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Go for a hike
There are three trails of varying distances in the park—the Chain Trail and the newly opened Maloney Trail Extension and the River Trails. We did as much of the Chain Trail as we could before the kids started to drag their feet. Along the way, we passed through stands of mixed-wood forest and marsh. The hike was a great opportunity to teach the kids about respecting the local flora and fauna and how to identify and stay away from poison ivy (below) .
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We also turned the hike into a small scavenger hunt where the kids had to collect or spot natural items, such as pine cones, flowers, bird feathers or insects. Note, while you’re walking on the Chain Trail, you’ll be reminded just how close the park is to the Bruce Power site, which sometimes emits a low hum or hiss. The noise was mostly at night, however, and didn’t really affect our experience overall. That said, if you’re looking for a remote getaway, one of Ontario’s other 330 provincial parks might be more suitable.
