The Grotto in Bruce Peninsula National Park

The Grotto in Tobermory is the best attraction I have been to yet! The natural cove formed over thousands of years is a 4-hour drive north of Toronto and lies within the famous Bruce Peninsula National Park.

As we had already taken the permit for the 12-4 slot (mentioned in the last post), we drove into the park around 11.45am and parked in P1 lot about 5 kilometers further up from the entrance (it is beyond the Cyprus Lake – see map in the last post). The grotto is about a half-hour easy walk from there. There are a couple of trails you can take to reach it – the longer one is along the Horse Lake and shorter one along the Marr Lake, which is what we took.

Once you hit the water, the views are unbelievable! There were hordes of people there, but I took them off the shot to avoid the clutter. It was quite windy that day, so you can’t see anybody swimming out there, but this would make for a perfect spot for anybody wanted to either plunge in the water or just have some nice time alongside. I stood at the edge for a couple of shots and got fully drenched 🙂We followed the Bruce Trail (which goes along the edge) and there is a Grotto Cave just a few meters away. I would imagine had it been a swimmable day, I wouldn’t even have found a suitable platform to snap it!Just a few meters further up is the Grotto, one which takes a lot of effort to reach as there is no defined pathway leading to it. The folks in the shot below had to find their way down through the rocks that you see in the view (same was on my side too).The park is too vast to enjoy fully in a 4-hour window but we did go further to explore a couple of more vistas. If you have time, do go to the Boulder Beach and the Overhanging Point. I wouldn’t say they are as magnificent as the Grotto but would give you some unique views nonetheless.

The boulder beach, as the name suggests, is quite rocky. It is a good spot for some sun-bathing though. You can bring your umbrella and maybe just read a book in the shade!The next was to hike up to the Overhanging Point (all the way up in the thick blanket of green in the above shot), but it takes some strenuous hiking for about a kilometer to reach that point. Being the last attraction for us (before we were to head back to the parking), we didn’t want to leave it.As is apparent, the rock has gone through erosion over centuries and now is a spectacular semic circle hanging off the edge.

We leisurely covered what one could do in the allotted time, but if you plan to swim or even go down in the Grotto, you might have to sacrifice on a few spots. Remember, you have to head back to the parking also, which would take at least 30 minutes…and you can’t risk the authorities towing away your vehicle! Btw, you don’t have to follow the same path in reverse to head back, there is a shortcut from the boulder beach which further merges into the Marr Lake trail.

P.S. As mentioned earlier, entry to any National Park in Canada is free this year owing to the country’s 150th anniversary.