This week, the theme that the Tourism Sarnia-Lambton summer students focused on was Trails, Parks, and Camping. To better assist visitors interested in this, and to promote local tourism, the students spent some time researching, making content for and visiting the areas, services, and experiences available throughout Lambton County related to this week's theme.
Along with our research on these parks, the team got out into the community to visit several key spots across the region, including Pinery Provincial Park, Guthrie Park, Brander Park and Rock Glen Conservation Area. These visits gave them a chance to check out the local amenities themselves and get to know what makes each area special for visitors. This helped them to gather information on how these parks work, whether you can stay overnight, seasonally or if they were for day-use only. Gaining this experience also means that when visitors need recommendations or ask questions about camping, hiking or places to relax in our county, the students will be able to use personal experience from visiting some of these places to help offer suggestions.
The first park that the students visited was Pinery Provincial Park which is located on Huron Lake near Grand Bend. During this trip, the students split into groups to experience the area's diverse recreational offerings. One group took to the water to experience kayaking on the lake, enjoying the sunshine and nice weather to check out what the lake is like. Meanwhile another student drove through the park and explored the relaxing beach areas that Pinery Park has to offer.
The second and third locations that the students got a chance to visit were Guthrie Park and Brander Park, where they got to check out the scenery and then set up a booth to chat with locals visiting the parks. At Guthrie Park they got to check out the beautiful bridge and trees, as well as check out the nice view of the water! While there, the students chatted with locals who were visiting the park for the views, as well as for photographing local wildlife. Then they drove down to Brander Park in Port Lambton where they set up a booth with some free merchandise, maps and guides to chat with people at the park and to help encourage them to check out what Lambton County, or Tourism Sarnia-Lambton, has to offer.
Finally, the summer students ended the week by getting a tour of Rock Glen Conservation Area, getting to check out the scenic waterfalls and the recreational walking trails through Carolinian Forest. While the sun was out for a bit, the cooler weather was nice for the small hike through the trails the students did, which was guided by one of the conservationists that works in Rock Glen and with the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority. While on the tour/hike, the students got to visit the Arkona Lions Museum to learn about the history of the conservation area, and about the fossils held in the museum, and those found in the area! While at the waterfalls the students also found a few fossils that were really cool!
Overall, this week was so much fun, we learned a lot about what parks, trails and campsites our county has to offer. We can wait to see what we get to experience and learn about next week!
