Website:	www.ontarioparks.ca

 

Inverhuron is popular for its sandy beach, dunes and magnificent sunsets. Once a favourite camping destination, for the past 29 years Inverhuron has been open for day use only.  However, as of July 8th 2005, 125 private, well-treed campsites are available for reservation.  All sites have electrical service and convenient comfort stations. The trails are improved, and a large picnic shelter is available in the day-use area of the park.

In addition to the spectacular beach and dunes, Inverhuron includes wetlands and a young hardwood forest. The diverse habitat nurtures rare plants and protects many woodland animals and birds. The park also has a great history.  Aboriginal people roamed here for thousands of years. In the 1800s, a small town was located in what is now part of the provincial park.

 History

The limestone bedrock of Inverhuron Provincial Park outcrops along the shore north of the Little Sauble River. This bedrock was covered by an ancient coastal dune system which developed on top of a sand bar in post-glacial Lake Nipissing. As the Nipissing waters receded some 4000 years ago, new bars were formed and a series of more recent coastal dune systems developed. Today the oldest dunes are the furthest inland and the shore features a large sandy beach which is popular with swimmers and sunbathers.

The former beaches and the coastal dunes associated with them are very important in the archaeological history of the area. Inverhuron provides an excellent time capsule of man's past activities along the Lake Huron shoreline. The first recorded inhabitants were of the Archaic culture which lasted in Ontario from 5,000 B.C. to 1,000 B.C. Most recently, the townsite of Inverhuron, which consisted of a pier, commercial area with hotels, taverns, storehouses and a grist mill, was found here.

The park provides excellent representation of man's past activities in the area. Much of it is in an early stage of ecological succession due to logging, clearing, farming or fire.

Plants and Wildlife

Behind this large sandy beach, sand dunes, wetland areas and hardwood forest provide a diverse habitat. Plants found within the park include both provincially threatened and rare species and the use of the park by the provincially endangered bald eagle certainly adds to its significance.