Provincial Park Showdown: Ontario - Pinery Vs. Sauble Falls | Ep. 57 Sponsored by Niagara Trailers

Welcome to our fifth season of the RV Canucks Podcast! In this episode, we’re pitting two beloved Ontario Provincial Parks against each other in a “Battle of the Beach Towns” showdown: The Pinery (by Grand Bend) vs. Sauble Falls (by Sauble Beach). We compare everything from vibe and amenities to campsites, facilities, dog-friendliness, and more.

Main Topics Covered

• Park Highlights: Overview of each park’s unique features and atmosphere.
• Beach Town Vibe: Grand Bend vs. Sauble Beach — how do these two iconic Ontario beach towns stack up?
• Campground Facilities: Site sizes (big-rig friendliness), comfort stations, drop toilets, and dump station access.
• Dog Friendliness: Policies, pet-friendly beach areas, and recommended walks.
• Popularity & Ambiance: Why The Pinery has a 4.7 Google rating, while Sauble Falls sits at 4.4 — and what these numbers might mean for your next trip.
• Big Rig Tips: Sauble Falls can be tight, while The Pinery is known for accommodating large RVs.
• Our Final Verdict: Which park might be better for your camping style?

Sponsor Spotlight

Niagara Trailers – “It’s worth the drive.” Family-owned since 1972, featuring over 400 new and used trailers on-site, plus a fully stocked parts store. If you’re looking to upgrade your RV or need that perfect accessory, Niagara Trailers has you covered!

In Ontario? Be sure to visit their open house April 25-27, 2025 for some special deals

Links & References

• Episode 12 Mention: Curious about the haunted house we stayed in for our 5th wedding anniversary? Tune in to Episode 12 for that spooky tale (and maybe some campsite ghost stories, too!).
• Official Park Websites:
  • Sauble Falls Provincial Park
  • The Pinery Provincial Park

Key Takeaways

1. The Pinery offers:
   • Expansive beaches and dunes on Lake Huron
   • Multiple campground loops with big-rig-friendly sites
   • High popularity (book early!)
   • A lively, high-energy beach town vibe in Grand Bend
2. Sauble Falls delivers:
   • Cozy park setting featuring the scenic Sauble Falls
   • Proxim

Niagara Trailers - Season 5 Sponsor!
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Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

1 (4s):
Welcome to the RV Canucks the podcast for part-time Road Warriors and Weekend Wanderers. I'm Molina. And I'm Dan. And today we're turning up the heat with a head-to-head Battle of the Beach Towns where two of Ontario's most beloved provincial parks and their adjacent beach towns go toe to toe for camping glory. In one corner we've got Sauble Falls Provincial Park, tucked beside the iconic Sauble Beach and the electric vibe of Grand Band just minutes away with our other contender, The Pinery. So it's cozy versus colossal. It's chill versus charged sunsets versus surf sets. We're going to be breaking it all down. Park vibes, town eats, campsite realities and yes, those brutally honest one star reviews.

1 (48s):
So whether you're scouting the next spot to park your rig or just dreaming about your next lakeside escape, this battle's got you covered. So grab your marshmallows, fire up the GPS and let's dive into the Battle of the Beach Towns Sauble Falls versus The Pinery. And very exciting for us. We are going to pause for our first ever sponsor break.

2 (1m 9s):
Hey there, RV Adventurers. You're tuned into the RV Canucks podcast. This season we're rolling in style with the support of our 2025 sponsor. Niagara Trailers family owned since 1972, Niagara Trailers has been helping Canadians find their perfect home on wheels for over 50 years ever dreamt of hitting the open road with total freedom and comfort. Make those dreams a reality. At Niagara Trailers annual open house happening April 25th through 27th, 2025 with over 400 onsite new and used trailers and an onsite part store. The friendly team at Niagara Trailers is dedicated to helping you find just the right fit. Whether you're looking for a cozy travel trailer to explore Ontario's hidden gems or a spacious fifth wheel for that cross country adventure, Niagara Trailers has it.

2 (1m 51s):
During this special three day event, you'll get exclusive access to new models, onsite financing options, and expert advice from choosing the perfect RV to tackling maintenance and everything in between. Visit niagara trailers.com for more details and remember it's worth the drive.

1 (2m 6s):
Okay, welcome back everybody. So you may be wondering sponsor, what's that all about? Well, I am very excited to say, or we are very excited to say that this episode, although officially episode 57 in our long list of podcasts, is officially the start of season five. So this is our fifth year of doing the podcast. We've had great success with it. We're so pleased with all of the great people that we've been able to meet And we decided that this year we would allow the opportunity for some trusted partners that we have in the industry to sponsor the podcast this season. So this year, as you heard, our season sponsor is Niagara Trailers.

1 (2m 47s):
We're really excited about it mostly because we now have direct access to one of the best in the industry as far as advice, maintenance, service, sales. So If you have any RV related questions that you would like us to pose or you would like us to cover with the folks at Niagara Trailers this season, let us know And we will make sure to pass those along and give you some great content.

3 (3m 11s):
I think they're just such a great team. Like they've been doing this long, like the business has been doing it longer. Niagara Trails has been doing it longer than some of us have been alive, so there's definitely a lot of knowledge and experience and stability in their dealership and I think that's really important.

1 (3m 26s):
I agree. So onto the battle.

3 (3m 28s):
Ding ding, ding, ding ding.

1 (3m 30s):
Okay, well I should say happy fifth anniversary I guess. Happy

3 (3m 33s):
Fifth anniversary.

1 (3m 34s):
Do you remember where we were on our actual fifth

3 (3m 36s):
Anniversary? I believe we should be referring people back to haunted places 'cause we stayed at a really haunted bed and breakfast on Wolf Island. It was Wolf Island in Kingston, it

1 (3m 47s):
Was Wolf Island. Good memory. So yeah, if you're interested about that, we stayed in a haunted house for our fifth anniversary. That was super not romantic, but If you wanna know about that, go find, I don't even remember the podcast episode. I'll have to put it in the show notes. But it was our first ever, like the most haunted places we've camped episode, which would've come out the first October of 2020 that We did the podcast. So go check it out If you want a hilarious slash scary story of our fifth anniversary in a haunted house. But we are here to talk about provincial parks specifically. I would say two of our favorites, but we're going to sort of declare a winner at the end and stick around If you wanna find out if Dan and I have the same winner because we actually haven't even talked about our declared winner. So they might be totally different.

1 (4m 27s):
And for those watching the podcast on video, you might see your first ever fist fight. So stick around might be, might be exciting. So as mentioned, we are comparing or we are putting head to head, Sauble Falls, provincial Park and The Pinery, which some would argue are two like very distinct, very different parks. But the reason we picked these parks to kind of do a little bit of a versus episode on was because of the beach towns that they're adjacent to. And I think those have, you know, pretty similar yet somewhat different vibes. So we wanted to kind of really compare If you were looking for that kind of beach town experience, what you can expect. So real quick, Sauble Falls Provincial Park, If you don't know, it's situated on the Sau River near the famous BLE beach in Ontario.

1 (5m 10s):
There is some scenic waterfalls. It's got a really small footprint, it's got a more cozy vibe. It's got an overall Google rating of 4.4. But our initial impressions, which we'll talk about, it's super tight. The Pinery on the other hand is massive. It spans, I think it's like 10 kilometers of beaches. I'll have to look that up. But it's a long Lake Huron near Grand Bend. There's really great sandy beaches there. There's dunes, there's forested camping. It has a slightly higher Google rating of 4.7 and it is like super big. And we will give you a little bit of a story on why we might think it's a little too big. Yeah. Okay. So let's talk about the beach towns a little bit and then I think we will maybe jump into the specifics of the park.

1 (5m 50s):
So how would you categorize like Sauble Beach if I were just to ask, ask you like what's the vibe of Sauble Beach?

3 (5m 56s):
It's pretty chill. It's got more of the casual old time cottage type. Like the cottages are a little bit older, they're really nice, but they're not palatial estates. There's, there's some money there, but it's more subtle.

1 (6m 12s):
Yeah, I would say it's more like traditional cottage vibes as in like the sizes of a lot of the beach cottages are still kind of like you would think like post World War ii, like houses like that about that size, which I love. It's very quaint, very laid back, sort of, you know, very family oriented. You know, there's great ice cream shops, there's, you know, that that typical like beach gear type of stores where you can go in and buy swimsuits and surfboards and bathing suits and that kind of stuff. Like that kind of vibe that you would see even in like a Hawaii beach town, which I really, really like. But it's like very unassuming. There's the BLE Speedway just down the road in Hepworth. There is a really good golf like mini golf course there.

1 (6m 52s):
And then they have this area right on the beach or right, right across the beach, which has like, it's, I guess it's an adventure park. You know, you like hook up to the,

3 (7m 2s):
What's it called, kind of like zip lines and slides kind of thing. Right. Kind of good for like older kids maybe Older

1 (7m 10s):
Kids, yeah, teens, pre-teens. Yeah. Really good facilities. Like that washroom there that's right behind the zip line thing is always very clean. The beach itself is really nice. It's wide, it's shallow. The water's really great. So like you're getting all the best things about like Huron without this like, like party vibe that I think exists maybe a little more in grand band.

3 (7m 36s):
Yeah. And I think once you get there when you're trying to get to the beach from the park, you're probably gonna drive, if you're bringing towels and beach toys and coolers and everything else, you're gonna want to drive, be pay attention to where you park is what I wanna say. Like you need to pay for parking. You can't just park on a side street and amble over a block to the beach. You need to pay for parking. So just kind of keep that in the back of your mind. Other thing like practical day and coming out here, the grocery store was pretty good. So if you've forgotten something, chances are you can pick it up pretty easily from the campsite.

1 (8m 8s):
Yeah and what I would say for both of these PA or towns, you can't walk to them easily. You can't really bike to them easily given that the roads they're on. But I think the benefit of Sobel Beach is that it's only five kilometers from Sauble Falls Provincial Park. Yeah.

3 (8m 24s):
Really easy to get into. Yeah.

1 (8m 26s):
Now Graham, Ben on the other hand is a little bit, I guess more commercial is how I would characterize it. Like it's still very beachy but you will see like some chain restaurants on the main drag up to the beach that are kind of like disguised as beachy beach front.

3 (8m 41s):
Yeah, I think the other thing is I've lived in this area of southwestern Ontario for a long, well my whole life, I don't wanna say how long that is right now, but Grand Bend is on the upswing and so when I mentioned it, it's a little bit more cottagey in Sabo, Sabo Beach. The how the, I don't remember and I'm sure I'm wrong, but the general feeling is the cottages that are there are more like houses. They've been redone, lots of fancy boats. There's a boat launch, people are getting in kind of on the river at Grand Bend to go out on the lake. So I actually really like both towns. I think I remember a restaurant just near the boat launch where I got perched that day, which was, was nice.

3 (9m 24s):
Like it's something you can't get in most beach towns. I mean you can get it down in Port Dover and along Lake Erie. But I really enjoyed that part of Grand Bend.

1 (9m 32s):
Yeah, no it's really good. I think if I, if we were to like categorize this, like in a ski town sense, grand Bend to me is more like Blue Mountain and Sobel is more like, where's that place we went skiing where our car got broken into.

3 (9m 44s):
Oh wow. Was it Horseshoe?

1 (9m 46s):
Yeah, that's like the vibe difference, right?

3 (9m 48s):
I was gonna say like Grand Bend is probably more Banff and Salt Beach is more Jasper, but like you get the idea fair.

1 (9m 56s):
That's probably a better, yeah, a better comparison.

3 (9m 59s):
And that's not meant to run either of those, any of those, those four places down, they're all great places. Yeah.

1 (10m 4s):
But listen, you've got restaurants and like a definite night scene I think in grand band for sure. Not that it's not really there ensemble, but it's not super there ensemble like there's only a couple of places on the beach that would be open more of a festival type scene. Right. They have a very lively beach. There is the Lampton Heritage Museum, which is kind of between The Pinery and Grand Bend, which is really neat. There's also the Grand Bend Motorplex, which is more of like a drag raceway as opposed to like the Sobel one is like a quarter mile oval. And then let's talk about The Pinery market for a quick second before we jump into the parks. 'cause I think that's one of my favorite things about that area. And that's like open on Sundays nine to four and it's, it's, it's a really good like flea market.

3 (10m 47s):
It's really eclectic. It's, it's got some food. So we picked up some probies and cabbage rolls from a Ukrainian vendor. There's like little wood crafts games kind of things that have been handmade. Probably sunglasses. Cider. Cider. Oh yeah. Yeah. So there's a few different like craft siders down there. There's a little bit of everything really. It's really eclectic, it's not too uppity. So it's really casual, skewed in, didn't take too long to see the whole thing. I'd say it was like just about the right size.

1 (11m 19s):
Yeah. And I didn't actually write down the prices. I think last summer when we went it was like $3 a car or something like that. I could be wrong though. Check the website but it's for a day out or an afternoon out. Like there's, you can spend your time wandering around there and like cute little antiques and stuff. So I'd say that's definitely a highlight for me. So I think that's kind of like the base level expectations for the two towns. But I want to talk about the parks 'cause I think we're, we're here to talk about the parks and when we said Sauble Falls has a smaller layout, like I'll let Dan take this away. 'cause when we went there I was working and I met him there. So poor Dan had to set up by himself. So maybe I'll let you talk about like how sort of the tightness of the park.

3 (11m 59s):
So this is like, we always tell people look ahead, do your research. So Dan did not look ahead and Dan didn't do his research. So you know, we had a reservation, we booked a site that was appropriate for the size of our trailer. I figured it's like 99% of all other provincial parks. I'm gonna drive in, I'm gonna get my permit, I'm gonna fill up with water, I'm gonna go to my campsite and I'll back myself in. If I have to get somebody to help me kind of ground guide me in, then that's what I'll do. So I made a deliberate point of trying to get there before the sun went down. Keep in mind I did this by myself. Good boy, good boy. I drove up, I got to the gate, the lady checked me in, she said, do you have water?

3 (12m 42s):
Did you fill up? And I'm like, no. And as soon as she said that before she said another word, I'm like, there's a catch. So what ended up happening is we, there's two campgrounds, one on the east side, one on the west side. I was on the west side. That's where the main gatehouse is. She's like, you have to go over to the east side, take your first, right, you're gonna pull in, you're gonna get water. I'm like okay. So it was easy enough to pull ahead, do a U-turn, go to the east side of the highway. I'm gonna admit the signage wasn't great. She said take your first right. There's actually two rights I got into the east campground. There wasn't a lot of signage, at least for me trying to make sure I don't hit a tree a kid to, to find my way to the water. I had a general sense of where it was.

3 (13m 23s):
The roads are a little narrower in this park because I think this park is a little older at a time when trailers and trucks were smaller but seventies ish. Yeah. So at one point I drove down the road and I'm head to head with a fella in a fifth wheel. Fortunately we were near the comfort station. He went right, I went my right. We got around each other. I eventually get in and I get water. It's a little tight with a 30 foot trailer but I did it 29 foot trailer. But I did it, I filled up with water and then there's a decision to be made and the decision is do I drive back out the way I came in back to my campsite or there's a sign that says do not enter, but I can very clearly see that if I do not enter the do not enter area, it's the works area where they park all their trucks and it goes straight to the highway.

3 (14m 5s):
That was one of the right turns that she failed to mention. I was with myself. I aired on the side of safety. I went through the do not air, do not enter area, pulled onto the highway, got to my campsite, got set up. It was a pretty straight back in near comfort station. It was nice and easy. So that went well. If I am in have committed some kind of crime in an Ontario provincial park, I will turn myself in and do my time. I got myself in, I got leveled, I got set up. That part was fine because maybe we're telling this story chronologically. Yeah. 'cause there's more to come at the end. So we stay tuned.

1 (14m 36s):
We'll come back to the exit of the park later. But If you want a quick overview. So Sauble Bea falls, like Dan said, there's an east campground and a west campground and the campground is essentially sliced into by a county road, the Sauble Bea Parkway I think it's called. Called. Which is really important If you are traveling with like pets, small kids and you're on the east side, like the playgrounds, the falls, the canoe and kayak access point, the volleyball courts, like all of that is on the west side. So If you have small kids, you don't want them crossing the road alone and and the traffic can be kind of busy like

3 (15m 11s):
It's a two-lane highway and people are like, especially in the summer, it's a very popular vacation area. So you would definitely wanna make sure you're looking left and right before you cross the road.

1 (15m 21s):
It's kind of on a curve. Yeah. Like it's just after a curve too. So just something to keep in mind. And then keep in mind, you know the dump station and the, and the water are on the east side but there's only 152 sites in the whole park. And if you're, If you have a rig that's over 32 feet, there's only six sites in the entire park that can take a rig over 32 feet. So it is definitely a smaller footprint for sure. There's two group camping sites in the East Campground near the dump and fill stations. The West Campground is actually radio free, which was okay. Like we usually play music and stuff but you know, I think it's kind of, If you think of Sobel and you think of you know, people in the summer and long weekend antics, like they just make it radio free all the time just so they don't have to police as much.

1 (16m 4s):
I think.

3 (16m 4s):
Yeah, Sobel does have a bit of a well and so does Grand Bend. They both have a bit of a party history in the past. There's a lot of high school kids that go up there towards graduation day for the day at the beach and, and so I can see why they might have radio free up there but I it never really took away from our trip.

1 (16m 19s):
Yeah, for sure. And I would say bath houses, there's two bath houses, one on the east, one on the west, you know, typical Ontario Park. Reasonably clean or I would say clean. And then there's additional vault toilets and drop toilets throughout the park. Let's talk about, well we talked about the water station. So the dump station is like same setup right? And there's only one

3 (16m 38s):
And it's the same spot like you're filling and dumping in the same spot. So at the end of the day you have to go back over to that side and dump on that side again.

1 (16m 46s):
And I think we had to wait for somebody or I came over with you. I was just gonna book it home 'cause we had two vehicles. But you had me come over with you to kind of direct

3 (16m 57s):
Just a second set of eyes. Yeah. Was helpful. You know, could I have done it myself? Obviously I've done it once already but still it was helpful to do that. Yeah.

1 (17m 6s):
Let's talk about exiting the park maybe and then we'll go to The Pinery.

3 (17m 9s):
So exiting the park, here's our story. You'll remember earlier on here I told you that we both booked an appropriate size site for our trailer. Meaning sometimes it's not just the site itself, it's the bends in the road. So getting out, we, we followed the road out. We, we followed the proper route out. We got to a point just near the comfort station where they had very clearly done some recent upgrades. Things were added. I think there was an electric vehicle charging station before you scooted up there in your electric vehicle. Double check that it's still there. But I feel like that was one of the upgrades. Yeah, there's a small little fence. What this meant is somebody had parked and, and they didn't do anything wrong. They were parked for us to make the turn to get out, I had to go over and knock on the fellow's window and say like, can you do me a favor buddy?

3 (17m 53s):
I'm really sorry but I need you to move your car 'cause I need to swing out and around. And so it wasn't because I pushed the limits of the site, they just, it's, it's a little tight. Maybe their information wasn't accurate. Obviously I didn't want to hit anybody's car but it was a little tight to get out. So should that stop you from going there? No, I did it. I probably wouldn't wanna stay on the west side campground and try and get out in a bigger trailer. But keep this in mind, I went up by myself, did most of it by myself and I got in and out. Okay. So two people showing up with a smaller trailer should probably be okay. Like if you're showing up 25, 26 feet, I would think you're probably okay. Yeah. So that's my thing.

3 (18m 33s):
Other thing I want to just jump in here as a promotion of Sauble Beach is it's a good spot for like walking trails, riding your bike, doing that kind of stuff. And even because it's on the river, if you've got a kid who likes to fish, they can pack up their backpack, they can go over to the river and they can fish the river themselves from the east campground. So If you know who doesn't want their kid to play outside and do what they should be doing instead of on their phone or doing that kind of stuff. So it's a good spot for that kind of thing.

1 (18m 59s):
Yeah and I would say If you really enjoy canoeing and kayaking, the SAU River is really, really great. Like it's a slow moving river. We saw tons of wildlife turtles, like it's really pleasurable to paddle both ways, right? There's not a ton of current like it's just a really nice wide river to paddle. Well

3 (19m 19s):
We went and rented two kayaks from the park And we went up for a couple hours and I, that was one of the best camping experiences in the last few years that I can remember. Like it's a really good spot for, that was an enjoyable time. I maybe we saw one car, one glimpse of a road even though we were in the middle of kind of that gray Bruce area. So it was amazing. Was awesome. Really enjoyed it and I would recommend that you take the time to do that If you go to Salvo Beach

1 (19m 43s):
For sure. And the falls themselves, they're nice. Yeah. Majestic. No like they're not like, I mean this is gonna mean nothing to anybody but bridal Vale Falls, which is where we used to go like kind of out west like there it's not a huge, it's like a cascading waterfall is how I would say. But it's nice, it's nice to sit there and and have a look at, sometimes you will see people like paddling around like the, like it's kind of like a stepped cascading waterfall and sometimes people, you see people getting in the water there, it's not sanctioned, it says on the Ontario Park site, like not official and you kind of really never know what the flow is gonna do. So maybe like not a great idea 'cause the rocks would be certainly very slippery. But we have seen people in in that water for sure.

1 (20m 25s):
Yeah. In terms of The Pinery, so The Pinery, If you don't know of it, if you're thinking of coming to Ontario, it is one of Ontario's largest campgrounds. It is also one of Ontario's big five. So If you follow us on YouTube, there's a video there that goes through how to successfully book with Ontario parks, which is is like a whole other topic, you know the 7:00 AM you know, nightmare of trying to get on a site and there's five campgrounds in Ontario's like what are like 114 campgrounds that are always booked and The Pinery is one of them. So keep that in mind. You can still find a spot like we went there in June, was it Father's Day weekend?

1 (21m 8s):
I think it was Father's Day weekend. Oh maybe it

3 (21m 10s):
Was,

1 (21m 10s):
It was Father's Day weekend. We still managed to get a spot and We did not book five months out I don't think. And so with those types of parks, you can still get a spot but maybe be flexible in terms of like your start dates and end dates and maybe look at what's available before you book your holidays from work. Is that what I would say for that? So super popular, always very busy, but it's also really large so it doesn't like feel super busy. But I would say you know there's over a thousand campsites. So compare that to the 152 that we just talked about. In Ensemble Falls it's massive. There's three campgrounds, the Dune, Riverside and Burleigh campgrounds. We stayed in Burleigh. There's 10 group camping sites. There is a pet free area.

1 (21m 51s):
So I think area four in the Dunes campground is pet free. And area three in Riverside is radio free and there's also eight cabins and six years. So like no matter how you want camp, no matter what volume you want, you'll find it at The Pinery, which was really good. And they've got a lot of options for you know, larger trailers and big rigs and things like that. So there's also 14 comfort stations so you are not gonna have to walk too far. A lot of flesh toilets, hot showers in them. And then there's additional vault toilets sort of all over the park. There is two dump stations and two fill stations. So they're right after the gate house on the way into the park. And then there's one at the Riverside campground. So I would say they're pretty well located but the fact that there's only two with a thousand campsites like you, it's gonna get busy at peak times for sure.

1 (22m 38s):
And I think we sort of planned our exits for sure. I think we left a little bit later just to kind of maybe avoid the rush 'cause I don't remember waiting too long for the devastation on the way back. But

3 (22m 48s):
No, we really didn't wait too long on the way back. We weren't in a rush. I don't remember it taking us a long time. It wasn't the longest wait we've ever had at some other parks. So the fact that it was uneventful experience is what you want when you're at the dumb station, isn't it?

1 (23m 2s):
Yes. Let's hope

3 (23m 3s):
We haven't talked about the park store. The park store is something else. Yeah, like it's more than just matches and a t-shirt. Like it's got everything. And I feel I didn't was the restaurant

1 (23m 13s):
It was

3 (23m 14s):
Open cooking? Yeah, so yeah, yeah it's got a little restaurant there, which if you're familiar with Ontario provincial parks is not common. Yeah. So that's probably why it's in the big five.

1 (23m 22s):
Yeah. And then right across from the restaurant in the parking lot they do bike rentals and that's where you can rent canoes and kayaks. That is not the Sen river, it's the old, how do you say it? Old Sauble Bea Sauble Bea channel.

3 (23m 35s):
You got it. I

1 (23m 36s):
Don't know. But you can still rent canoes and canoe there. And then of course there's the beach. There is a ton of trail loops. There's the nature center and the guided programs that Ontario parks run, which are really, really great. And that's because it's a bigger established park. But I will say in terms of the size, the signage isn't great in the park. And don't get lost if you're riding your bike because you will cry and you will be on the road for like 12 kilometers.

3 (24m 4s):
Oh my goodness. So we went for a bike ride, amazing park for riding your bike. Definitely bring your bike, there's lots of trails. We went for a ride, we checked out the beach, it was a pretty casual ride. Looked at other parts of the campground, had a great time. We got back to our bikes and we're like, do we go back the way we can or do we go the other way? So do we go left or do we go right? And we rolled the dice And we went right where we hadn't gone.

1 (24m 26s):
I think actually I was like let's go this way. I'm sure it's quicker, but

3 (24m 30s):
Well it wasn't quicker. I don't think we saw another campsite till we got back to ours. I'm pretty certain we rode at least 10 kilometers. We rode up a hill and down a hill and up a hill and every time you went up you're like, I think this is the one. And then of course it wasn't, we didn't get passed by a car, like maybe one car was out. So we rode a long way. Keep in mind I have a nice bicycle. I was trying to be a gentleman. I did try to get Molina to take my bike at the time she had a bike that would be the equivalent of like a 1978 John Deere with a bad transmission. So she definitely had to work a lot harder. Refused to give up her bike. Although I will know very shortly after this trip we bought her a brand new pretty slick bike.

3 (25m 10s):
So I did,

1 (25m 11s):
We did, We did. This bike was like, we bought it when we were dating. So this is like definitely, well we got married in 2002 so this was probably like 99 or 2000 that we bought this bike and it was like the Canadian tire special. And I am very tall and I have very long legs. So it's a men's bike so there's no like you have to climb over the bar to get on it and this thing is just trash. Like it's, it's over 20 years old. It was squeaky and uncomfortable and you know I'm you know, almost 45 years old and you're hunched over like on a mountain bike like your back just can't do it anymore. Yeah, it was very, very uncomfortable. So I'm very happy with my new bicycle.

3 (25m 47s):
Moral of the story is like for the second time in this podcast episode, maybe check ahead. Yeah. But anyways you learn from what We did wrong. Yeah

1 (25m 55s):
And listen, a lot of people love The Pinery. We love The Pinery but I would say it's probably be mindful of like long weekends at The Pinery because they are going to be louder than normal. And if that's not your thing then maybe sort of schedule a different time to visit is what I would say about that. So it's more buzzing with activity I would say. So let's talk about the Google because I did look up the Google rankings as I do with every place we go, whether it be a restaurant or a campground or whatever. So as we mentioned, BLE falls is a 4.4, The Pinery is a 4.7. But I thought it would be good, a good idea to kind of pick a five star and a one star review So we can kind of look at what the vibe of what people are thinking. So it's not just, you know, our opinion. So the one star review at Sauble Bea basically said, to be very honest, I have no idea why this place is named Provincial Park.

1 (26m 42s):
Consider any roadside water puddle better than this. I'm serious. Like what exactly is this place? So I think this is maybe like a lunch bag letdown, like maybe they expected the falls to be something more that they were, I don't know. But most of the one star reviews on the piner or ensemble, I'm sorry, were about wardens cracking down on noise or not doing so and bathroom cleanliness. Now the five star review, which I thought was very lovely. Somebody said beautiful park, quiet, excellent location. The falls are lovely and it's so close to Bruce Bruce's caves, which we've never been to. We should Go Sabo Beach and the Beautiful Sunsets, absolutely a must on the provincial park list for scenery and adventures.

1 (27m 23s):
And this person goes on to say lovely playground, well-maintained and close to a shelter slash picnic facility. Restrooms clean and well-maintained dog friendliness. Dogs are welcome everywhere. We took our beagle on hikes in town to the falls and the picnic area. Also well-maintained large facilities for hosting a picnic in the falls and playground. So I think that kind of aligns, but you're gonna get unhappy people everywhere. So let's maybe contrast that with the one star review from The Pinery, which basically maybe echoes the way we were feeling after our 12 kilometer impromptu bike ride with no water. But it said too far from beach, too much driving into the woods, too many dogs in the park all night. We could hear barking people not knowing how to control their dogs, et cetera, et cetera.

1 (28m 4s):
Washrooms were clean and I would say most of the other one star reviews I saw were due to the size of the park, like a lot of drivings and then lack of directional roadsides, which I totally get now. The five star review that I chose, I chose it because it kind of encompasses a lot of what's available at the park. But this person said it's an amazing park for camping. This was our second time And we stayed for three nights. The washrooms and showers were always clean and in close proximity we stayed in dunes area and it was a 10 to 15 minute walk to the beach for us. The beach is amazing. The first date was very wavy, which made it really fun. And the next day the water was normal. The fishing at the park wasn't very good because of the pressure put on the fish at the dock.

1 (28m 46s):
Even the panfish were very smart and hesitant to eat. So the fishing might be better with a boat though we rented a canoe for an hour. It was very fun. And then they give the price, which I won't mention just because in case it's changed. And then the rental equipment, bikes and boats were in great condition. This park is a must go for all ages, especially kids and mentioning Lake Huron, like maybe you can give an idea because when people, anybody who's not visited this particular great lake, I think you are very familiar with the wave. I mean Dan looks up the waves at Lake Huron like almost daily during fishing season. So what can you tell people about like what to expect with the lake?

3 (29m 23s):
So what I will tell you goes kind of for the entire length of the Lake Huron shoreline. So whether we're talking about The Pinery or we're talking about Sauble Falls or we're talking about any park in between, this is a big lake, like this is one of the the Great lakes. And so you need to be mindful of the undercurrent and and the undercurrent. Maybe some people would refer that to the, to the rip tide. But when the lake is rough you can't just go jumping into the lake and go for a swim. So If you have little swimmers, even on a a day when a lots of people are in the water, you should still be keeping an eye on them and you need to make a judgment call 'cause there will not be lifeguards there. This is not like swimming on a big beach in California. There are no lifeguards.

3 (30m 4s):
Yeah. And unfortunately I've seen days when somebody has gone missing and they've had to clear the beach or we've had to do the extended line and it's not fun. So that's like your public service announcement to just be careful. Now can you go there on some days and swim? Absolutely. There's days where you can skip stones and it feels like maybe you could skip one right across to Michigan. But some days the lake is to be respected and that's where I'll leave it.

1 (30m 29s):
Yep. No I think that's really a very good summary and super important. So to summarize, we'll say Sauble Falls smaller intimate cottage vibe, like true like old timey cottage vibe, scenic falls, The Pinery for larger rigs, families looking for sort of expansive amenities, sort of resort style as much as you can get in a provincial park, I guess beaches and like a high energy sort of vibe for beach town. So

3 (30m 57s):
I'm gonna jump in for just one second. So how We did these trips, these weekends was a little bit different. When we were in Grand Bend we stayed really tight to Grand Bend. We didn't really go outside of Grand Bend other than to come or go from the area. And we drove into the town a couple of different times we hit the the flea market, like we mentioned, we had a great lunch one day. So that was, that was really great. Nothing wrong with that. Traffic is a little bit busier if I recall correctly. Just trying to get in and outta Grand Bend. There's more cars, more stop lights, the river kind of bisects the town so the drive time can be a little bit longer than what you might expect for the distance you have to cover, but like don't pull the fire alarm.

3 (31m 42s):
Yeah, Sabo Beach on the other hand, We did a bit of a, used it as a bit of a jumping off point and this is maybe it, and these aren't good or bad for either park. We used it as a jumping off point. So we went up to Ton and called Police Bay And we hit a few antique places along the way. So we kind of did a bit of a drive that day And we kind of saw the actually the Georgian Bayside a little bit as well. So If you want to use that as a jumping off area to see, you know, go up to Tober Maori or go down to South Hampton, it's a good park for that. And you might end up doing that after you've seen everything that Sabo Beach has to have. But I would say it's really good for that. Those are kind of two pros I think or kind of neutrals for, for those two parks about how We did our weekends there and they were both really enjoyable.

3 (32m 27s):
Yeah,

1 (32m 27s):
I would say for sure, and I didn't mention this before, but The Pinery to Grand band is nine and a half kilometers. So you're about double the, the time it takes from from Sauble Falls to Ble Beach. So who wins? What's the verdict do you wanna say on three? 'cause I don't know what you're gonna say.

3 (32m 44s):
Okay. But then we're gonna say why. Yeah, sure. Okay.

1 (32m 47s):
Okay. Three

3 (32m 48s):
One. Oh we can't even agree how we're doing the countdown. All right. You do the countdown and we'll say, okay,

1 (32m 53s):
3, 2, 1 Saab. Yeah.

3 (32m 59s):
Legit. We didn't know what the either person was gonna say.

1 (33m 2s):
Okay, so why do you say that?

3 (33m 4s):
So for Sauble Bea, I'll tell you why this is important for me. It's the kind of place your kid can go and go fishing by themselves along the river. I think that's important for kids to like get out from the

1 (33m 14s):
On the east side.

3 (33m 15s):
Yeah, on the east side. But I think that's important for kids to get out and do that kind of outdoor activity. So that's one reason. The second reason I really enjoyed the kayak ride up the river. I would go up there just for the day just to do that. I mean fortunately we live close enough that it's a good day Trip Town. I would go back to do that again in a heartbeat. One of my favorite memories of something we've done in the trailer. And then the last thing, so remember earlier on I mentioned that I got a really good perch lunch. That was amazing. Like it, I take that opportunity to have perch when I can and I appreciate it. But we had an amazing lunch at a little place on the beach with a patio and I swear to god, Jimmy Buffett or Kenny Chesney was gonna come out at any minute and say hi.

3 (34m 3s):
It was just really chill. The food was awesome. I don't remember what kind of beer we had. It was probably like some kind of Brazilian tasty beer on a hot day, but like super chill that way. And so that's why I picked some, those are my three reasons.

1 (34m 16s):
It was a local, local brew. If I remember, I'm actually just looking back at my notes 'cause we do notes now 'cause we're so professional and I wrote down the name of it but I think I skipped over it and that was one of my main reasons why. But if I look here, I don't know where it is. Oh yeah, Solas Grill it's called. I see I did write it down. And there's also the Luscious Bakery, which is in this tiny little building behind like as you kind of go back towards behind the washroom that are kind of adjacent to the beach, there's a little bakery called Luscious Bakery, which is so cute. But yeah, soulless Grill is what it was called. And we had like the best patio burger I think we've ever

3 (34m 56s):
Had. But the vibe was awesome. We, there wasn't a lineup to get in, there was a bit of atmosphere but it wasn't jammed and it was like a private little place. It wasn't like they tried to squeeze every last ounce out of their patio. Yeah, that's what made it cool and awesome.

1 (35m 9s):
Yeah, and I liked like, I mean everything that Dan said, but I also liked it because of the small footprint because there's like, I like just like the chill vibes of like very like Unbusy Unbothered parks where you've got, you know, volleyball and a basketball court and a nice playground and like tons of picnic space where you can just grab a blanket and go sit out in the sun. And I just, yeah, I mean there's, I can't really kind of put a finger on it but I just appreciate that vibe about the park and it's sort of less of that traditional party park and maybe we just wanna be contrary to all of those who, yeah

3 (35m 45s):
Like I don't think I found The Pinery the weekend we went to be a party park. We had a good chat with a gentleman across the road. He was super friendly. I enjoy my time. I'm gonna go back to The Pinery. Oh for sure. We're never not, not gonna go back to The Pinery. I dunno if I got the right knots in the right order there. But like we're going to go back to the, to The Pinery. It was awesome. But I think Bel Falls, you have to pick a winner and a loser and that's why I picked Sauble Bea.

1 (36m 9s):
Yeah. So that's it. That's our winner decreed. I think we need like a judge's gavel that we can slam on the table after all of these. But If you have two parks that you think you would like us to compare that are in close proximity or maybe not so close proximity, but share some

3 (36m 25s):
Features, similar qualities.

1 (36m 26s):
Yeah, similar qualities, let us know. So always reach out to us like TikTok Instagram or by email hello@rvconnects.com. You can also message us on Facebook and we'll take that And we will create a little bit of a story for you. So I think we're going to do a few more of these 'cause we have a couple that we are really thinking about, but we've got some other new content. I'm not gonna say what, 'cause then we're like hem in and don't have any creative vibe to like change it up. So we will talk to you again in two very short weeks and we are excited to get this fifth season off the ground.

3 (36m 59s):
Really excited. I'm really excited to get out there and get some camping done and do some cool podcasts.

1 (37m 3s):
Awesome. Thanks Dan.

3 (37m 5s):
I love you honey.

1 (37m 7s):
Love you

3 (37m 7s):
Too. Happy fifth. Okay.

1 (37m 9s):
Bye everyone.

3 (37m 10s):
Bye.