We live in an area that is full of places to explore, even during the winter. Today the sun was shining and when some plans fell through, other plans are created. This meant we headed out to Presquille Provincial Park for a little hike. Today’s agenda was the Owen Point Trail.
The parking areas for most of the trails are closed in winter, however, you are still able to park along the side of the road. Make sure you have a park permit! When we completed our hike, there was a park truck checking for permits. Yes we have one, and yes it was displayed. We actually buy an annual pass so that we can explore all year long.
After the trail sign, you walk in the small road to the actual parking lot. During the on-season at Prequille, this is where you can normally park. Off of the parking lot there are also trails that lead to the main beaches here at Presquille.
As we head toward the beaches, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning. You enter the trail on a small boardwalk, then pass through the sand dunes and onto the beach area.
As you can see on the trail map, this is a 1.6 km trail with 5 lookouts. During the bird nesting season, which runs from March 10th – September 10th, you are not permitted to walk out onto the island at the end of the point. You do need to keep your eyes open on this trail as the snowy owl tend to frequent this trail often in winter. (We were not so lucky today and didn’t see the owl)
It is so peaceful walking through the tall grasses that line the trail until you exit to the point. This time of year, we are able to walk all the way out to the water’s edge. As you gaze around, you can look left to the Highbluff campground, and then right to the beaches.
It’s really neat to see the interactions from different water temperatures on either side of the point. On the left you can see that there is lots of open water, but on the right the whole are is covered in ice. My son is drawn towards the ice, as per usual, and with a stick he found in the parking lot he was testing out the strength of this ice. It was not thick enough to walk on, but still fun to poke and watch the water move under the holes he was making.
Today we headed back the same was we entered the trail. However, you can make the entire loop as seen in the picture. This loop will take you past the trail that leads to the Highbluff campground and behind the park store.
If you decide to take this trail in the summer, I would highly recommend stopping at the park store to get some ice cream! If the store was open during the winter, I know my son would still ask for some. It doesn’t matter the time of year, he will always enjoy ice cream 🙂
Great to see the crew out on a nice day.