When you ask your kids what they want to do for summer break and one says “camping,” while the other says “definitely not camping,” what’s a parent to do other than compromise? Glamping was the obvious middle ground and we had so much fun last summer in southwestern Ontario that we decided to head down there again — this time near Turkey Point Beach.
And just because summer’s nearly over, don’t go thinking you’ll have to save these ideas for next summer because you can stay, play and eat near Turkey Point Beach well into fall, surrounded by spectacular fall colours. I’ve been once before in October and it was gorgeous!
Where to stay near Turkey Point Beach
Whether you choose a luxe wilderness suites — which are essentially glamping tents complete with heating, air conditioning, toilets and showers — for a romantic escape or you plan to bring the whole fam-damily and need to stay in the pod clusters, all of the lodging at Long Point Eco-Adventures is well-equipped and set in nature. You’ll literally be forest bathing 24/7 during your stay.
Big B and I have stayed in one of the king wilderness suites before and loved its proximity to the welcome centre and having a full bath connected to the tent, but with two teenagers in tow, we opted for the three-pod cluster. It’s comprised of three deluxe pods (each with one queen bed and double pull-out sofa, electricity, mini fridge, air conditioning and a half-bath), a living room pod with some sofas and chairs, and a fire pit surrounded by Muskoka chairs. They’re a bit of a longer walk to the centre of the action, but you’re rewarded with more privacy in the pod clusters, which is a bonus — especially at night when you can hear the tree frogs humming and crickets chirping.
Long Point Eco-Adventures is only a 10-minute drive to Turkey Point Beach and about half an hour from Long Point Beach, so no matter which beach you plan on hitting, it’s the perfect spot to rest your head at night.
Where to play near Turkey Point Beach
With so much to do onsite at Long Point Eco-Adventures, Turkey Point Beach certainly shouldn’t be the only thing on your itinerary. Actually, I’m going to argue that it should be last on your list. Here’s why:
1. A ziplining and the treetop canopy adventure. This 2.5-hour tour through beautiful Carolinian forest takes you on eight ziplines, two suspension bridges plus an exhilarating 40-foot rappel. This was a big achievement for me because it was the first time I’ve ziplined since breaking my ankle on one seven years ago. While I don’t think I’ll ever do a self-manned zipline again like the one that caused my injury, this zipline experience near Turkey Point Beach has two expert guides — one ahead of you and one behind — who take care of all the important safety details. Phew!
It’s a really exciting zipline tour because of the added treetop trekking elements, especially the 40-foot rappel at the end. I’ve rappelled down the side of a climbing wall before, but this marked the first time in my 49 years on this planet that I’ve been attached to a rope, stepped off a platform and descended four storeys using my hands to control the speed of said descent. Getting off the platform sent my heart racing but the rappel itself was AWESOME. Two thumbs up from all of us.
2. An observatory tour. Only available on clear nights, the observatory experience was one we weren’t able to do during our previous visit to Long Point Eco-Adventures, so I kept my fingers crossed as this trip approached. Success! We had two very clear nights and in this Dark Sky Preserve-certified area of Ontario’s southwest, we didn’t even need to climb to the top of the tower to see thousands of stars:
Adding the official tour, however, gave us so much more knowledge about some of the most well-known constellations and the Greek mythology behind them. The storytelling portion of the tour is quite long, so you’ll want to be sure that if you’ve got kids with you they’re either older (12+), very patient and/or really interested in astronomy. The part my teens loved the most was going into the observatory dome to see the night sky through the large telescope.
Long Point Eco-Adventures uses red lights at night on most of the property to help keep light pollution low, so even though its telescope is the second-largest in the province, being in a Dark Sky Preserve means you can actually see more here! I have to admit that seeing Saturn’s rings with my own eyes for the first time made this self-proclaimed nerd very, very giddy. But I think seeing the Milky Way that night, too, for the first time — without the telescope — was even cooler.
3. Axe-throwing. Be a lumberjack for an hour. Sort of. The hubs and I have tried axe-throwing a few times and it’s always so much fun, but introducing this activity to our teens was even better! There’s a guide there who will first help teach you how to safely throw your axe of choice and then help you score a game or mini-tournament among your duo, group or family. This one is an absolute must if you’re near Turkey Point Beach.
4. The JORO Outdoor Spa. Are you into saunas, cold plunges and kombucha? If so, this is the spot for you when visiting Turkey Point Beach. Set up in a private, fenced section of the Long Point Eco-Adventures resort, this outdoor spa is perfect for undoing hangovers or relaxing after a day of mountain biking, swimming and ziplining.
There are nice change rooms (with lockers, towels and robes available), a wood-fired sauna, outdoor rain showers and three cold plunges: one that’s around 20ºC, another that’s around 8-12ºC and one that’s a mere 2-4ºC. Big B went into all three but The K Man declined to try the coldest of the lot. There are only eight spots available for each one-hour-and-forty-five minute session, which take place at 10 a.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. every day, but you can also inquire about a private couple’s session if you prefer.
5. Mountain bike tours. Though we didn’t have time for an MTB tour this time around, Big B and I had a blast during our last visit. Guide Paul Meiklejohn will bring bikes for you if you don’t have your own and the first part of the tour will be instructional if you’re not an experienced mountain biker. There are an incredible 86 kilometres of bike trails leading out of the resort, created by the Turkey Point Mountain Bike Club, and you can cover a lot in two hours. Paul ensures each tour matches guests’ abilities and sense of adventure and provides tips along the way to help your MTB riding improve.
6. Perusing Port Rowan’s antique stores and art gallery. Just 25 minutes or so from Long Point Eco-Adventures and Turkey Point Beach, Port Rowan is another little lakeside community on Lake Erie. It has an adorable downtown strip with a few eateries, a cute ice cream shop in a bright yellow building called Twins Ice Cream Parlour, a couple of antique stores (Franni’s Attic Antiques, Uniques And Collectibles is two floors and three storefronts wide and has both new and pre-loved goods plus some cool decor pieces like cow skulls) and a fun novelty shop called Dizzy Lizzy’s.
You absolutely must continue northwest on Bay Street from Franni’s and Dizzy Lizzy’s to look for a local artist who has set up shop in an unmarked storefront. Scotty Schafer was sitting outside his gallery, tanned and relaxed in a Muskoka chair and chatting with a passerby, when I strolled inside. His beachy landscape paintings are gorgeous but I was even more drawn to his tobacco kiln paintings, fittingly set on reclaimed wood from old tobacco huts found nearby. I’m still thinking about driving back to get one before he sets off for his Mexican villa this winter; it’d be the ultimate souvenir from Norfolk County.
7. A Long Point Beach day. Sure, it’s an extra 20 minutes from your home base at Long Point Eco-Adventures, but since you’ve added Port Rowan to your Turkey Point Beach weekend, it makes so much more sense to spend a sunny day at Long Point Beach. It’s got clean water and hard sand underfoot, rippled from the gentle tides in this section of Lake Erie, and if you want to avoid the $18/day provincial park parking fee, there’s plenty of pedestrian access along Beach Avenue, west of Long Beach Provincial Park. You can’t park here unless you know a cottage owner, but we saw throngs of people walking with their beach bags from the side streets beyond Erie Blvd. and there’s a paid parking lot across from Stub’s Grub (at the corner of Beach Ave. and Abigail Becker Pkwy.) if you can’t find a free spot.
8. Visiting Turkey Point Beach. I wasn’t kidding when I said this should be last on your list! We were so excited to spend an afternoon at Turkey Point Beach, but I am the biggest lake wimp you’ll ever meet and I just couldn’t do it. There was a bit too much seaweed for my liking and both the hubs and the kids reported that the sand was “mushy” in spots. I don’t do mushy sand unless it’s at the bottom of an ocean, so I stayed on land while they waded out.
It’s $4/hour to park on Cedar Drive, which runs parallel with Turkey Point Beach or you can pay $18/day for the parking lot managed by Ontario Provincial Parks. We paid the full $18 before I knew about the mushy sand. Next time, we’ll skip Turkey Point Beach in favour of Long Point’s.
Turkey Point restaurants
The Turkey Point Beach strip along Cedar Drive has a few eateries and a small ice cream shop, but if you’re staying at Long Point Eco-Adventures, you should know that you can order S’mores kits and boxed lunches ahead of your stay. These lunches are healthy and hearty and come in a picnic basket with a cooler-backpack for your drinks — perfect for a beach day!
The Marshview Patio is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and has both indoor and outdoor seating available. Except on Wednesdays, so if you plan on being here midweek, keep this in mind. Dishes are tasty and priced well overall and some of the resort packages include breakfast, which is ideal since the last thing you want to do is wake up and leave the resort just to find some caffeine and food.
Our favourites included:
- Breakfast — the farmer’s breakfast and the Greek yogurt parfait
- Lunch — the farmer’s burger, buffalo chicken quesadilla and watermelon & tomato Caprese salad
- Dinner — the steak bites, cheese & charcuterie board, chicken wings and flourless chocolate cake
- Drinks — the red sangria and watermelon mojito (the latter is probably the best cocktail I had all summer, in fact!)
Still looking for even more ways to explore the Turkey Point Beach area? Give this Ontario Drives post a read, which will take you to Ontario’s Blue Coast all the way to Pelee Island. Have fun!
DISCLAIMER: Long Point Eco-Adventures compensated me for this content. All opinions and suggestions are my own.
Gayle B says
We did a similar trip this year, ours had an outdoor screened kitchen, outdoor shower & outhouse, same type of bunkie but set up differently. It was missing that outdoor spa though….I think we may need to check this one out next!