Lion's Head Lookout and Halfway Dump

These were two of my absolutely favourite hikes!!!! I cannot wait to go back to this area to complete the rest of the bruce trail in the Peninsula Section. For my birthday, I had wanted to do each of these trails so we found an AirBnB in Lions Head that allowed dogs. This is the first bruce trail hike that we were accompanied by Jared and the first in the Peninsula section.

Lion's Head Lookout

We completed this trail on Nov 25, 2023. I can't say enough about these amazing views from this trail. It is so beautiful to lookout over the stunning water. We actually ran into several people on this trail which was unexpected considering we went in late November.

There were lots of rocks on the trail floor so definitely watch your step. We actually spent a lot of this hike hopping rock to rock. Jared and I, not the dogs. haha These rocks brought out the child within us.

Jared and I actually had to view this lookout separately and without the dogs. We had come to a very narrow rock crevice that we had to hop over. It wasn't a wide gap or anything like that but Oliver refused to cross it. He is more unsure about his capabilities and doesn't have the confidence to try new things. The lookout was really close to this crevice so Jared stayed with the pups while I went and viewed it. As I carried on hiking, I can hear Oliver behind me losing his mind. He is crying up a storm. He's not always attached to me but he picks his moments and there have been plenty where he doesn't want me to leave his sight.

When we reached the crevice/lookout spot we were also pressed for time since the sun would be setting soon. We didn't particularly enjoy the thought of being on the trail in the dark. Especially considering we don't know the area that well. So I quickly took in the beautiful views and then hustled back to Jared and the pups. Upon returning back to them, Oliver instantly stopped crying and was super happy to see me. Mia probably didn't notice I was gone. haha Jared then went to see the sights as I stayed with the pups.

Georgian Bay's water is absolutely stunning here. It looks so clean and clear as if we were down south in the Caribbean. It's truly remarkable.

This hike took us 2 hrs to complete and we travelled 7.3 kms. Because we had hiked out and back, only 3.72 kms of this contribute to the main Bruce Trail distance.

Halfway Dump to the Grotto

This hike was truly incredible!! We hiked it on November 26, 2023. This part of the trail was very tough, you would literally head down a hill just to head straight back up. There are lots of hikes like this but this was seriously next level. Up and Down foreverrrr. This day was so memorable for so many reasons. Like I said before I came for my birthday and I really wanted to visit the Grotto. That was literally the entire point of this trip. Welllll spoiler alert it didn't even happen! haha We never made it to the Grotto and honestly I wasn't even upset about it.

This trail starts at the Halfway Dump which literally can be a destination in itself because it was so darn beautiful. We walked out to the most stunning rocky beach I've ever seen. These rocks were white as snow (or white as Oliver!). This may or may not have been foreshadowing for the rest of our walk. Just like Lion's Head Lookout, Halfway Dump is also on Georgian Bay which had the most beautiful clear water. To make Halfway Dump even better, there was not a single other person here (remember its the end of November). I assume in the summer, this would be jammed packed with people. We decided to let the pups run and enjoy some off leash time before starting our big hike. Even though it was cold temperatures the dogs went straight into the water (that's huskies for ya).

Right beside the white rock beach are these big flat black rocks. It didn't even seem like these two things should be right beside each other because they're total opposites.

I can only imagine how busy this place is in the summer. It is such a gem of a place. We could have stayed here all day soaking in its rarity however I wanted to see the Grotto so we went on our hike, like planned.

Like I previously said, this was one tough hike! I was glad that I had Jared with me for this one. There were so many hills and a lot of them were very steep so for safety reasons we let the dogs off leash. Either Jared or I would hike to the bottom of the hill while the other stayed with the pups at the top. We would holler up (sometimes there were bends too so we couldn't even see each other) to let the dogs off. One by one the dogs would come barrelling down and then whoever was up top would also make their way down. We would then put the dogs back on leash (until the next steep hill).

We were able to pass Stormhaven (a spot where people can set up camp) and it started to heavily snow. Since the terrain is made up mostly of rocks, it made hiking very slippery. We made the call that it would be safer to return back to the truck instead of continuing on to the Grotto. I may or may not have slipped and fell three times on the way back. haha This hike had so many incredible lookout spots which looked completely different once the snow started. The picture below was taken exactly two hours apart at the same location. The differences are staggering, before the snowfall you can see so far in the distance. The weather change was so drastic and so quick. As sad as it was that we didn't make it to the Grotto (remember - it was the whole point of the trip) this was a truly remarkable hike and was such a great experience.

This hike took us 3 hrs and 6 min and we travelled 9.9 kms. Of this 9.9 kms, 4.55kms can be included in our grand total of the main bruce trail.

Lion's Head Lookout and the Halfway Dump are definitely must see destinations. These hikes were both incredible with truly amazing views! Add Lion's Head and Halfway Dump to your hiking list for sure.

Have you been to either of these two spots or to the Grotto? If you've been to the Grotto, you must tell me all about it. As I still have yet to be there! Have you ever been on hikes where the weather made drastic changes? These always make for great stories and I'd love to hear it.

Thanks for reading,

Kendal

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