Parry Sound District

In Parry Sound, waterfront experiences come together with activity and culture: a challenging hiking trail, Waubuno Beach, museums, and boat launches on Georgian Bay offer different reasons to visit.

Hiking, Beach, and Water

The North Shore Rugged Hiking Trail is a challenging, 2.5-kilometre-long hiking trail on the Town of Parry Sound’s Salt Dock Wharf waterfront property. It extends to the municipal boundary of the Municipality of McDougall. If you’d like to include a challenging hike in your trip, its length is a useful point of reference. The trail does not automatically connect different attractions: its described route runs from the Salt Dock Wharf property to the municipal boundary.

Waubuno Beach in Parry Sound has a different character. There, you’ll find shallow water, a gently sloping shore, and soft, clean sand. If you’d like to include a beach visit in your vacation, it offers a different kind of outdoor experience from the challenging hiking trail.

The Rotary and Algonquin Regiment Fitness Trail also offers a way to build activity into your stay, with five fitness stations along the trail. Signs share information about the local community. These include an Algonquin Regiment memorial and memorial plaques from the Shrine Club and Rotary. In this way, physical activity comes together with insights into people and organizations that play a role in the community.

If you’d like to experience Georgian Bay by watercraft, free boat launches for recreational boats, sailboats, and kayaks are available along Parry Sound’s waterfront. The launches provide access to the bay. This option is distinct from a beach visit or a hike and may help you decide how to spend your stay.

Museums, Music, and Local History

The Museum on Tower Hill offers two different ways to explore nature and history. Its permanent exhibit features a model of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway. The museum is also home to the Northern Nature Exchange, which encourages people of all ages to appreciate nature and learn about the environment through observation. If you’re travelling with children, you can explore both a piece of railway history and an invitation to observe more closely.

The Bobby Orr Hall of Fame is an interactive sports and local history museum. It is dedicated to hockey player Bobby Orr and other outstanding athletes with ties to the West Parry Sound region. The Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts adds a venue to these cultural offerings: its Festival Performance Hall has 400 seats. During your stay, museums, sports history, and the performing arts can appeal to different cultural interests.

Below the observation tower is the Tower Hill Heritage Garden, where you can take a stroll. Volunteers create and maintain the gardens. The garden offers another way to add a walk among landscaped garden areas to your stay in Parry Sound.

Choose the Right Focus

When searching for accommodation, use the kind of day you want as a guide: the hiking trail and fitness trail offer different types of active pursuits, while Waubuno Beach and the boat launches provide two distinct ways to enjoy the water. Museums, the Hall of Fame, the Heritage Garden, and the performing arts centre add cultural highlights.

For information around town, the Town of Parry Sound operates a visitor information centre on the waterfront at 2 Bay Street. More places to discover: Emsdale, Mcdougall, Nipissing, Port Loring, South River, Sundridge, Magnetawan, Callander.

For the broader travel overview: Parry Sound District.