A forty minute drive from Highway 6, north of Wiarton, and along a lovely dirt road, we followed an indigo bunting toward the Cape Croker Lighthouse. Upon arrival, we had the entire vista, the historic lighthouse and boulder beach to ourselves as we explored the area.
Cape Croker Lighthouse, 1902.
Check the hillside for beautiful wildflowers.
The original smaller lighthouse was replaced, only four years after it was built, by the impressive octagonal lighthouse that stands on the spot today. This stronger design was the first of its kind and boasted an electrically operated light and foghorn. The 18 metre high structure shone a light 15 miles out into the Georgian Bay. This lighthouse is only 1 of 3 that still uses a Fresnel lens to this day.
Gorgeous Black-eyed Susan
The Cape Croker lighthouse is no longer manned and therefore not open for tours. It is also surrounded by a chain link fence which makes photography challenging, but not impossible.
From the parking lot you can easily venture onto the beach, which is covered in fairly large stones. The beach offers spectacular views of the shoreline, the Niagara Escarpment and the vastness of Georgian Bay. Along the beach, we found many large stone ‘people’ or structures. The Inuit call them inukshuk, or inunnguaq (if they resemble the shape of a person).
The Georgian Bay is 80 kilometres wide.
An inukshuk in the form of a human being is called an inunnguaq.
Granite stones, from the last ice age, cover the beach.
More inukshuks built on the beach by visitors or by locals from the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation community.
Beautiful day great clouds in the sky.
Views along this journey of discovery are worth the drive. Bring a picnic basket but keep in mind that there are no facilities here. Leave the beautiful surroundings as you found them; free of garbage and full of echoes of our Nation’s past.
Sources:
“Brucecoast Lighthouses.” Cape Croker Lighthouse (Neyaashiinigaaming) « Bruce Coast Lighthouses in Ontario. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2015. <http://www.brucecoastlighthouses.com/lighthouses/cape-croker-lighthouse-neyaashiinigaaming/>.
“Lighthouses and Marine Heritage & Culture on Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada.” Lighthouses and Marine Heritage & Culture on Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada. N.p., 11 May 2015. Web. 11 May 2015. <http://www.visitgeorgianbay.com/lighthouse-marine.cfm?action=1&things_to_doid=145&category=5>.
