On the north shore of Lake Erie, Rondeau Provincial Park extends almost 8km into the lake, on a formation called a cuspate sandspit. The park offers a 262-site campground, excellent swimming, six hiking trails, including one wheelchair accessible route, and a bay for canoeing and fishing. The park is open year round and offers skiing in the winter months.
Birds to see
September: Mourning dove, belted kingfisher, gray catbird, brown thrasher, black-throated green warbler, house wren, black-bellied plover, sanderling, hudsonian godwit, greater yellowlegs, American golden-plover, swainson’s thrush, common yellowthroat, black-throated blue warbler, blackpoll warbler, pine warbler, Connecticut warbler, marsh wren, Philadelphia vireo, black-billed cuckoo, wood thrush, redstart, ovenbird, several types of warblers, great blue heron, blue-winged teal, wood duck, gadwall, sandhill crane, yellow-bellied sapsucker, northern flicker, winter wren, ruby-crowned kinglet, blue-headed vireo, gray-cheeked thrush, Nashville warbler, palm warbler, northern parula, eastern towhee, Lincoln’s sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler, red-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, eastern phoebe, hermit thrush, orange-crowned warbler, savannah sparrow
October: Golden-crowned kinglet, white-throated sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, dark-eyed junco, chipping sparrow, field sparrow, vesper sparrow, swamp sparrow, purple finch, American pipit, brown-headed cowbird, great blue heron, blue-winged teal, wood duck, gadwall, American wigeon, northern pintail, lesser scaup, American coot, sandhill crane, yellow-bellied sapsucker, northern flicker, winter wren, ruby-crowned kinglet, blue-headed vireo, gray-cheeked thrush, Nashville warbler, palm warbler, northern parula, eastern towhee, Lincoln’s sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler, red-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, eastern phoebe, hermit thrush, orange-crowned warbler, savannah sparrow, Bonaparte’s gull, little gull
November: American wigeon, northern pintail, lesser scaup, American coot, Bonaparte’s gull, little gull
How to get there: From Toronto, take Highway 401 westbound to exit 109 for Regiona Road 21/County Road 17/ Victoria Road toward Thamesville/Ridgetown. Turn left onto Victoria Road/County Road 17. Turn left to stay on 17, then continue onto Rondeau Road, then onto Wildwood Line, then onto Rondeau Park Road, and proceed into the park.
