During our camping trip to Presqu’ile Provincial Park, we made day trips to provincial parks within driving distance. One of those parks was North Beach Provincial Park, which is located in Prince Edward County, Ontario. The day that we visited was extremely hot so we were all prepared to swim and picnic at the park for several hours. The park does not offer camping but it is an excellent spot for those of you who love to spend the day at the beach.

There are actually two different beaches available at the park that you can enjoy. On the west side there is 1,200 metre sandy beach that has a gradual drop off into Lake Ontario, while the east side offers a calmer lake with a steep drop off. Both beaches are sandy and have change rooms close by.

The day we visited the park it was especially windy, which made the lake side very rough and choppy. It would have been an awesome spot for playing in the waves and maybe body surfing. As far as I remember, there is no dog exercise area on the lake side. The day we were there the winds were picking up the sand and causing it to hit our skin in an uncomfortable way.

On the Lake Ontario side, there was a beach flag system to inform swimmers of the conditions. The yellow sign meant that there was a possibility of there being an undertow and that people should be careful, especially with younger children. Undertows are extremely dangerous and unpredictable and shouldn’t be underestimated. Luckily for us, the pet exercise area was located on the North Bay side which was calm and actually offered some shade for the truck and we found a picnic table that had shade too! A sandy beach with shade? Perfect!

What we really enjoyed the most about this beach was that the quality was just as good, if not better than the main beach. The water level was shallow enough for a decent distance but we could send Maya to fetch beyond the drop so that she had to swim, not just walk through the water to retrieve her toy.

Speaking of her toy, we bought it this year specifically because she wasn’t floating as high in the water and because her eye-sight had gotten worse. This “lighthouse” toy has some special features that helped Maya find it. First, the toy is white and red, which meant it was visible against dark and light backgrounds. Also, it is heavier on the bottom which means the top part of the toy is floating straight up out of the water and it’s moving back and forth to draw her attention to it! We found it to be extremely visible for her and we would highly recommend it to anyone who has a dog who loves to fetch. It’s visible in wavy conditions too because it sits higher in the water and the waves make it sway back and forth with the motion. We ordered ours from Amazon.ca and it says it comes in two different sizes.

One of the change rooms available. The sand dune seemed to be overtaking it. Check out the milkweed growing around the building though.

Along the beach, I spotted evidence of beaver activity in the area.

This was an inlet that fed from the lake to the bay. The water was very clean and refreshing.

Sand dune succession on a small scale compared to the Pinery Provincial Park.

There were no trails at the park but there was an information board that talked about the different habitats, species and the importance of respecting the area.

The park was basically a road that separated the two beach areas. There were parking lots off this road and there was a park store that also sold some fast food.

Overall we really enjoyed our time at North Beach Provincial Park. It was a fantastic spot to exercise Maya with a good swim and then shade breaks in between. If there had been a hiking trail or two, we would have spent more than a few hours here. We would definitely recommend this park to anyone who enjoys a day at the beach, who has a dog that loves to swim or even as a place to find some shade for a picnic. The park was significantly less crowded than Sandbanks and if you’re looking for a beach, skip Sandbanks and all the people, and check out North Beach Provincial Park.