Point Farms is situated along the bluffs of Lake Huron near Goderich amidst a pretty mixed forest, complete with sprawling weeping willows. It provides the perfect setting for a quintessential Lake Huron experience.

Our Experience

We arrived in Goderich mid-afternoon, picked up a few groceries and headed to our site in Colborne. I was pleasantly surprised by the scenic drive through the forest on the way in. I knew there would be some forested areas, but my mind wouldn’t let go of a more sparse, field-type setting. The word “farm” in the title, I guess!

We booked a site just a few weeks ago. We were lucky to get one of the last 2 sites left! With a good privacy and quality rating, I think someone must have just canceled. Site 147 was a pretty large site with fairly even ground and a nice big maple in the middle. I’m not sure I would consider the site private – it was completely open to the road along the front. There were trees on the other 3 sides, just not enough to provide a lot privacy.  Somewhat subjective though – I definitely prefer secluded sites, and may have my expectations fairly high for car-camping!

We set up the basics and then hit the beach! We walked down the road to the beach – all downhill. It’s pretty far down from the bluffs, but I didn’t find it too bad. Driving may be a better option for those who don’t want to do a whole lot of stairs, or walk the winding road up and down.

 

After the beach was campfire time! We never bring our own wood when we camp. I don’t want to take any chances accidentally infesting the park, and because I like to support Ontario Parks. Most (all?) parks have pretty strict rules against bringing in firewood anyway. We were impressed with how dry the wood was – Ontario Parks has a reputation for damp firewood, and we certainly had an issue our last camping trip.

My son chopped the wood, my daughter and I built the fire, and then it was marshmallow, soup, and hotdog time! My daughter has decided it is her job to make a soup over the fire every camping trip.

Being a long weekend, and not being able to get a reservation in Huron – the radio-free – campground – meant we did have some pretty terrible music and light-shows we had to put up with. Disco lights and rap aren’t my idea of a great camping trip, but I could mostly ignore it and everyone was quiet by midnight. Except the drunk yelling guy…and all the people yelling at him to shut up. Pretty sure he passed out by 1am. Okay for us, but clearly the people shouting at him would have preferred an earlier bedtime. We were just there for the night, so was not a huge deal, but certainly confirms the fact that I prefer radio-free zones, and need to book earlier to get what I want!

The next day we had a leisurely coffee, played some card games in the tent, went for a walk, packed up and hit the beach again.

Hiking

There are 6 kms of diverse trails.

The Under The Bluff Trail is a 0.5 km linear trail through trees below the bluffs, close enough to Huron to hear the waves.

The Ravine Trail is another linear trail. It has a rating of moderate and is 1 km. Being along a ravine, I imagine this would qualify as more of a hike than the other trails!

Old Farms Trail is a 4 km loop with a rating of easy. This is the one we chose, doing the Hare and Tortoise side trails to loop back for a shorter stroll. Super easy trail with open spaces, trees, an old barn and lots of chirping creatures. It was a picture-perfect summer day, with chirping grasshoppers and cicadas serenading us.

 

Swimming

The sandy beaches of Lake Huron are amazing. The water was warm enough, and shallow for a long ways out. The spot we chose had a lot of little rocks, but just at the edge of the water. We all enjoy searching for interesting ones anyway!

The second day we were down the beach just a bit and had all sand.

Cycling

Lots of families were biking along the roads of the campground and apparently the trails are open to cyclists. I didn’t notice anything about which trails specifically – maybe all of them? My daughter just learned to ride a bike, so by next summer this is something that I will need to know before all our camping trips!

Winter Activities

The park is closed, but hiking and cross-country skiing is permitted. Snowmobiles may be used on the roads.

Surrounding Area

Goderich is a quaint little town with a beautiful old downtown. The downtown square has a Saturday Farmers’ Market from 8-1. Sunday there is a Flea Market in the square from 9-3.

Bayfield is about 25 minutes south of Point Farms, and is definitely worth a visit! Wonderful heritage village in the town of Bluewater. The treed main street is lined with boutiques, restaurants and little hotels. We had a fantastic dinner at the Albion Hotel, wandered around the shops, stopped at the playground/splashpad, then headed to the Blue Flag beach and pier for sunset.

Bayfield Photo Album

Planning a trip?

There are 2 campgrounds at Point Farms – Huron and Colborne. Both have playgrounds, comfort stations and a mix of electric and non-electric sites. There are about 100 sites in each campground. The main difference is that Huron is radio-free and further from the beach.

Group camping is available.

You can book a site beginning at 7 am, 5 months in advance.