On the north shore of Lake Erie, Rock Point Provincial Park is home to some unique ecological features. The limestone shelves that make up a shore of the park suggest that the region may have been a coral reef 350 million years ago, full of fossils to uncover. As part of the Carolinian forest region of Ontario, the park also houses opossums, Canada’s only marsupial.
Birds to see
September: Black-bellied plover, sanderling, hudsonian godwit, greater yellowlegs, American golden-plover.
October: Long-billed dowitcher, common snipe, American woodcock, dunlin, pectoral sandpiper juveniles.
How to get there: From Toronto, take the Gardiner Expressway West. Continue onto the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW), then merge onto ON-403 W. Take a slight left onto the QEW (follow signs for Niagara/East Hamilton/Fort Erie). Take the exit for Centennial Parkway South and continue onto Centennial Parkway North. Continue onto Upper Centennial Parkway, then Regional Road 56, then Haldimand Highway 56. Turn left at Talbot Road/ON-3 E (signs for Dunnville). Turn right onto Dunnville road/ON-3 E. Continue onto Main Street West, then North Shore Drive. Turn right onto Rymer Road/Regional Road 64, then take the first left onto Downey Road, which will take you into the park.
