Awenda Provincial Park
Penetanguishene, ON, Canada
Awenda Provincial Park covers about 7,000 acres of forest on a peninsula jutting into Georgian Bay in Tiny Township, Ontario, with a string of numbered beaches along the shore. First Beach is pebbly and closest to parking. Second and Fourth are sandy and a longer walk, and Third Beach, curved into Methodist Bay, is the most sheltered and has the best sand.
A string of forest-backed beaches that rewards a short walk, though First Beach gets crowded.
How we score beachesSkip crowded First Beach and walk the Beach Trail to Third Beach for the best sand and calmest water.
Day-use parking at First Beach and at Kettle's Lake; an Ontario Parks permit is required.
First Beach is close to the lot; the others are reached along the Beach Trail through the forest.
The park has a designated pet beach.
July and August are busiest. Fall colour in the hardwood forest is a highlight in early October.
This isn't one entrance, it's a stretch with a few. Here's where locals actually meet up.
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