PINEHURST LAKE CONSERVATION AREA – MAY 2014
We finally made it back to Pinehurst Lake after nearly six years! It’s a beautiful little park and it’s close to home for us – under two hours! Some things had changed since our last visit in 2008. First, it’s now only the two of us camping. No more kids with us and second, we’ve gone from a 23′ hybrid trailer to a 32′ travel trailer. I forgot that last point when choosing and booking our campsite online. The site that was so spacious and easy to back into wasn’t so much so with a trailer that was nearly 10 feet longer and that’s not including our much larger truck! After a bit of time and frustration, I managed to back it in. Our site was beautiful! Here are some photos:
We spent some time biking around the park with my new mountain bike and kayaking on Pinehurst Lake on Saturday morning. We didn’t catch any fish to speak of, but it was a fun, relaxing way to spend time.
We decided that we’d bike part of the Cambridge to Paris Rail Trail Saturday afternoon. There’s a trail head in the little town of Glen Morris, just outside the park. It runs parallel to the Grand River often with very beautiful views of the river close by. The trail is pea gravel and fairly wide. Here are some photos:
The rest of our weekend was spent relaxing back at camp enjoying campfires and each others great company! Pinehurst was as wonderful as ever. It’s part of the Grand River Conservation Authority and they do know how to run parks. The parks are always so clean, well patrolled and quiet. The site quality is always good too. I should mention that while we were here, there was supposed to be a meteor shower that peaked around 3:30am on Saturday morning. I happened to be up at that time, so I headed down to the field in my pjs. Of course I was hoping there weren’t any other “want to be astronomers” up to see me in my pjs. I was the only one and I didn’t see one meteor. Â I hung around for a half hour or so past peak – nothing! The nights sky was very beautiful though! Â Here are more photos of our time here:
As always, we enjoyed our relaxing weekend at Pinehurst Lake. It’s a nice, close to home weekend park that gets us away and camping quickly on a Friday night. If you’re into swimming, this park has a beach, but it’s a small lake. There are hiking trails, which we haven’t hiked yet. The park is reasonably close the the Cambridge to Paris Rail Trail for hiking and bike riding and it’s close to the small town of Paris as well. See below for links to websites.
HAPPY CAMPING!
PINEHURST LAKE CONSERVATION AREA Â – JUNE 2008
After our trip to Pinehurst in May of 2008, we decided to return again in June. This time around our site was at the top of a hill and well treed. It still wasn’t overly private, but it was nicer than the pull thru. We kayaked only at the park this time and did not do any out of park touring. Our girls camped with us and brought friends. Here’s a few more pictures of our site and the campground:
And, here are some pictures of our kayaking and canoeing on Pinehurst Lake:
We really liked Pinehurst Lake Conservation Area. The park is part of the Grand River Conservation Authority and honestly, so far, every park of theirs has been great. The staff are friendly and helpful and the parks are well patrolled and clean. We suffered a hydro malfunction while at this park and the staff promptly came out to find where the problem was and restored our hydro in no time. This park is close enough to our home to make it a good weekend destination. At some point, we will camp here again. Here are some links:
http://www.grandriver.ca/index/document.cfm?Sec=27&Sub1=129&sub2=0
https://picasaweb.google.com/Adventurer67/PinehurstJune2008#
PINEHURST CONSERVATION AREA – MAY 2008
We camped at Pinehurst Conservation Area in May 2008. Our site was a pull thru with a lack of privacy.It was a long weekend and very busy. Camping at the park this weekend gave us opportunity to find other sites to come back to and come back we did. I think in total after this trip, we came back here three more times. This park is located close to the beautiful town of Cambridge and there are some unique attractions in the area. Here are some pictures:
Between Paris and Cambridge is located a cute little town with access to a rail trail and the Grand River. The town is Glen Morris and the rail trail is the Cambridge to Paris Rail Trail. This spot on the Grand River was the take out for our paddle down the Grand and it was also the place where we bicycled this beautiful trail. Here are some pics:
We stopped at the Paris Plains Church which is an example of a very unique architecture using a cobblestone technique.
Pinehurst Lake is a cute little lake with some nice bass and other smaller fish. We kayaked here one day during our stay. Interestingly enough, we found out much later that in the winter, ice skating is open on this lake. We came back for that the winter of 2011. The beach was okay, our kids swam there and liked it. Here are some photos:
By far my favorite part of kayaking on this trip was our paddle down the Grand River. We left my bike at the take out in Glen Morris and launched at Cambridge. The plan was to paddle down the Grand River to the take out then I would ride my bike back to get the truck. Great plan at the time, but I think I underestimated the distance required to ride back on the rail trail. The temperature was kind of cool, but still a nice day for a paddle. The swallows dipped in and out of the river ahead of my kayak. Dave and Katie canoed behind me enjoying the scenery. That is at least until we turned a bend in the river and noticed that the wind had picked up. We were in one heck of a head wind. Slowly we made our way with the help of the river current to the take out at Glen Morris. I took out first, then came Nikki. She needed a little assistance and I became a little damp. Next came Kat and Dave who promptly became stuck on a rock in the middle of the small channel leading to the take out. I remember saying “throw me the rope”. Too bad they neglected to tie a rope on the canoe. Well, I became very much wetter wading out to try to pry them off the rock. Eventually we succeeded but I was soaked and the water was cold. Dave was upset and felt that I was seeking “too much adventure” in life, only there were some expletives involved. I rode my bike then walked my bike when my soaked jeans made my poor legs too cold to peddle. Eventually after a much longer ride I arrived at the truck and made my way back to pick up the paddlers waiting. Given the opportunity, I would LOVE to paddle any and all of the Grand River. Here’s some pics:
We rode our mountain bikes for a few kilometres down the Cambridge to Paris Rail Trail. It was a beautiful day for riding. Too bad Kateys bike suffered some issues! Here are some photos:
It seemed like we packed a lot of things into our long weekend at Pinehurst. We took a trip into Paris as well as all the other activities and still had plenty of time for relaxing. Here are some more photos:
Our stay at Pinehurst was very enjoyable. Despite it being a long weekend, the park was well patrolled and quiet. The facilities at the park were very clean as was the campground itself. We’ve stayed at Pinehurst a few times since this visit but have found nicer sites than our pull thru. Here are some links:
http://www.grandriver.ca/index/document.cfm?Sec=27&Sub1=129&sub2=0
https://picasaweb.google.com/Adventurer67/PinehurstMay2008#
http://www.ontarioarchitecture.com/gothicrevival.html
Sue and Daves RV Adventures 