This Ontario Town Is Made For Walking

Though best known for its glass-bottom cruises, diving, and national park punch, one pastime that should not be overlooked when visiting this Ontario gem is simply walking around. This Ontario harbour town makes walking easy, with Bay Street, waterfront boardwalks around Little Tub Harbour, and simple routes leading to the national park visitor centre and Big Tub Harbour. Along the way, you can pass Shipwreck Lee’s restaurant and Blue Heron Cruises. You can also stop at the Bruce Trail’s Northern Terminus Cairn and end at the whitewashed Big Tub Lighthouse overlooking Georgian Bay. Come along for a bipedal POV tour of Tobermory.

Downtown

Having arrived at the very top of the Bruce Peninsula via Highway 6 (hopefully early enough to find parking if it's a summer weekend), you will naturally be funneled into the heart of Tobermory. Here, using the quiet streets, boardwalks, and paths, we will begin our stroll around Little Tub Harbour.

Entering Bay Street, you will get an immediate taste of what downtown Tobermory has to offer. On your right, you'll see Shipwreck Lee's (home to all-you-can-eat fish & chips) and Peninsula Ice Cream and Treats, and on your left you'll spot Dive Life Tobermory, and jovial patrons atop Crownest Pub & Restaurant's second-story patio. Repeat this template and sprinkle in a few gift shops, and that's pretty much the all-ages, all-paletes experience of Tobermory's commercial district. Feel free to indulge as you please, and when you're ready, let's take a closer look at the marina.

Tour boats and private boats are docked along all three sides of Little Tub Harbour. Heading up the north shore boardwalk, you can watch Blue Heron Cruises whisk their next batch of patrons away on a glass-bottom boat destined for the shipwrecks of neighboring Big Tub Harbour, followed by the islands of Fathom Five National Marine Park.

Using the thunderous foghorn as a guide, you can also press onwards from the cruise docks to the Chi-Cheemaun ferry terminal to watch the 111-meter (364-foot), Indigenous-decorated passenger and vehicle vessel set forth for Manitoulin Island. If you have time to kill before its next departure, this could be a good opportunity to grab a cup of joe at Tobermory Coffee Company, or dine at Shipwreck Lee's second location.

Doubling back to the south side of Little Tub Harbour, walkers can weave on and off of Bay Street and its parallel, brick-lined waterfront path. Along with continued views of the active yet tranquil harbour, take stock of the giant schooner anchor (signalling Tobermory's extensive shipwreck history), and the Bruce Trail's Northern Terminus Cairn (signaling the culmination of a 900-kilometer trek through the Niagara Escarpment UNESCO World Biosphere). The stroll up Bay Street continues to unfold in a beautiful manner, leading to a near-shore shipwreck cluster called "The Tugs." Or, if you'd like to get a taste of the vast wilderness surrounding Tobermory, cut over to Head Street and follow it up to the Bruce Peninsula National Park and Fathom Five National Marine Park Visitor Center

Into the Wild

Tobermory's Parks Canada Visitor Center is one of the more impressive, informative, and interactive national park headquarters I've set foot in. So by all means, put another pin in this leisurely stroll to better appreciate the geology and history behind the region's ancient limestone escarpment and post-Ice Age water bodies. But if it's the raw beauty that drives you forward, then there are two immediate assets to attend to.

Just beyond the Visitor Center, a 65-foot lookout tower gets you above the expansive evergreen treeline, exposing the blue horizon of Lake Huron and its subsidiary coves. At the base of the tower, you'll spot a wide nature trail marked with the Bruce Trail's white blazes. For a short stroll through the cedars to Little Dunks Bay Lookout, head straight out for half a mile and return the same way. And for a longer wander out to the rocky cliffsides and turquoise waters of Georgian Bay, start with the same trail toward Little Dunks Bay and then branch off onto Burnt Point Loop (amounting to a 4.8 km/3 mi round-trip from the Visitor Center).

Big Tub Harbour

Now that the day has ticked on and steps have accumulated, it might be time for another mid-stroll treat. So on your way back through town, why not pop into Tobermory Brewing Company for a local brew on the patio? Then, with a belly restocked with pub grub and libations, there should be just enough time and willpower for one last leg of this local journey: Big Tub Harbour.

Big Tub Harbour is the deepest freshwater harbour in Canada — acting as a watery grave for two 19th-century schooners. At the same time, above water this westward extension of Tobermory has fostered luxury homes, out-of-the-way accommodations, and, long before all of that, the 14-meter-tall, whitewashed, circa-1885 lighthouse that marks the end of this zig-zagging stroll. Walking Big Tub Road takes a good 20 minutes, and this time there are no pedestrian paths or nature trails to lead the way, but traffic is light, the air is fresh, and ultimately, the juice is well worth the squeeze.

Toodle-oo, Tobermory

Standing beside Big Tub Lighthouse, with the town teased across the water, dark green forests on every fringe, and a mix of ferries and tour boats puttering off into the abyss, you should now have a sense of what downtown Tobermory is all about, and of what its vast playgrounds can offer as an epic epilogue. I hope you have additional days to devote to this Ontario gem, but even if the journey ends here, take solace knowing that this comprehensive stroll hit many of Tobermory's best beats.