MACGREGOR POINT PROVINCIAL PARK – JUNE 2014

We stayed at MacGregor Point Provincial Park during our June holidays. It was the second park we stayed at and by far our most favourite. Our campsite, pictured above was very private with a trail to the right and the Pitcher Plant Marl to the left, which gave us many neat bird sightings and a beautiful natural border around the campsite. Our site was #117 in the Algonquin campground. Pretty near all the campsites in this loop including the many pull-thrus were private. The perimeter of the campsite was covered with poison ivy, so I’d make sure you know what this plant looks like if you camp here. The hydro posts were located at the front of the sites which made for a much longer cable run than usual. Glad we had 100′ of electric cable.

MacGregor has so many very nice trails to hike and mountain bike. We enjoyed hiking two – The Lake Ridge Trail and the connecting trail to Lake Huron which was directly beside our campsite. Here are some photos:

For the most part, the weather was nice while we stayed at MacGregor. It stormed and rained the day we arrived then cleared out and remained sunny and warm the rest of the week. Lake Huron remained calm and beautiful. Here are some photos:

The trails at MacGregor are well marked and a joy to mountain bike. Most trails permit bikes, but some don’t, so it’s best to check the park brochure before heading out. We biked the Deer Run Trail, then came back to our campsite picked up some water and headed back out to spend the rest of the day riding. We picked the Old Shore Trail up from our campground road and followed it along Lake Huron. The views along the lake were spectacular! Here are some photos of the Deer Run Trail and the Old Shore Trail:

The next part of our mountain bike journey took us down a connecting trail – The Kempf Trail which would lead us to the next loop trail called The Tower Trail. Each trail had sections of boardwalk and some stone as well. The trails were well marked out but a little rough in some places. It was all good, it was a fun mountain bike ride with beautiful scenery along the way! Here are some photos of both trails:

While at MacGregor Point, we drove to the Saugeen River in the town of Southampton and kayaked. I’ll post a link at the end of this blog to photos of our kayaking trip.

As usual, we enjoyed many beautiful campfires while here. Many nights we watched the sun go down and the stars come out. The campground was very quiet, even on the weekend. The park was very full, but still quiet. I used the laundry facilities and found them to be clean and adequate. I didn’t use the park showers, so I can’t comment on them. The comfort stations seemed to be clean. The park store sells quite a variety of merchandise and a decent supply of popular food supplies. We both bought  nice warm shirts and a couple of little souvenirs. Here are a few miscellaneous photos of our campfires, one in particular where we said goodbye to our camp table that we’d had since around 2007 (it burned well) and one where we said hello to a new friend!

Our visit to MacGregor Point was awesome! I can’t think of one bad thing to say about this park. I could easily spend a week here and still not have time to do everything I’d like to. The trail riding and hiking was excellent. The campsite quality great and the park was always so quiet and clean. This park is absolutely on our favourite list!  Here are some links:

To my Picasa Album for MacGregor Point Provincial Park:

https://plus.google.com/photos/116741237613027767021/albums/6035989450824472737?banner=pwa

To Ontario Parks website:

http://www.ontarioparks.com/park/macgregorpoint

Port Elgin Tourist Page:

http://www.visitportelgin.ca/things-to-do/

Southampton Tourist Page:

http://www.visitsouthampton.ca/things-to-do/attractions/

Happy Camping and visit MacGregor Point Provincial Park – you won’t be disappointed if you do!