Pinery Provincial Park

Start: August 29, 2025 - 20:30 PM End: August 29, 2025 - 21:30 PM

Make some noise!!! Humans aren’t the only creatures who make music, in fact there’s song all around the park if you take the time to listen. Meet the contestants, discover more about the meanings behind their music, and cast your vote for the next Pinery Idol. Please meet at the Outdoor Theatre

Start: August 30, 2025 - 10:00 AM End: August 30, 2025 - 12:00 PM

Join the mission to keep Pinery’s beaches healthy, clean, and beautiful. Connect with Park Naturalists to learn more about Pinery’s beaches, what threatens their integrity, and help become a part of the solution by actively cleaning up our beaches and making artwork with what we find. Express your creativity and care for the Park all in one place! Location: P9 Pavillion.

Start: August 30, 2025 - 12:30 PM End: August 30, 2025 - 15:00 PM

Stop by the Visitor Centre to meet a local legend and see one of the largest collections of beach garbage around! Lynn, or “Gran Cleans the Beach” is a local resident passionate about plastic pollution and dune and beach health. Come have a conversation about how you can make a difference.

Start: August 30, 2025 - 19:30 PM End: August 30, 2025 - 20:30 PM

Join Park Naturalists to learn how rolling waves and grains of sand created Pinery. Stroll along the shoreline as day turns to dusk and marvel at the world-renowned Lake Huron sunset. Please meet at Dunes Beach Lookout.

Start: August 31, 2025 - 10:00 AM End: August 31, 2025 - 11:00 AM

In a race for precious resources, different tree species have tricks up their sleeves to get a leg up. Join a Park Naturalist to find out who will win the race! This is not a designated accessible trail, please be ready for hills and stairs. Please meet at the Carolinian Trail.

Start: August 31, 2025 - 14:00 PM End: August 31, 2025 - 15:00 PM

Pinery is home to a thriving population of Five-lined Skinks, but that isn’t true for outside of the park! Join a Park Naturalist at the Chalet to have some fun learning about these little lizards that scurry along the ground. Please meet in the Indoor Theatre at the Visitor Centre.

Start: August 31, 2025 - 14:00 PM End: August 31, 2025 - 15:00 PM

What do you see when you look up? Explore the clouds above while chatting with a Park Naturalist about Pinery’s weather, water, and cloud formations. Don’t forget to spin the Wheel of Clouds in an interactive activity. Located at the Park Store.

Start: September 1, 2025 - 10:00 AM End: September 1, 2025 - 11:00 AM

Join a Park Naturalist for a program full of digging, dirt, mystery, and fun. Learn what an Archaeologist is, what they do, and how they are important to understanding the history of Pinery and beyond. Please meet at the Children's Program Area/Chalet.

Start: September 1, 2025 - 13:00 PM End: September 1, 2025 - 14:00 PM

Have you ever wondered what people used as medicine before hospitals and pharmacies? Drop by Riverside Trail Dock to discover some traditional medicinal plants, how they have been used for centuries, and the gifts that they hold. Turn left at the fork to quickly access the program.

Start: September 1, 2025 - 15:00 PM End: September 1, 2025 - 16:00 PM

Come find out what all the buzz is about. Through stories and games, children can discovery the amazing world of native bees, while learning about why non-native honeybees may pose a threat to our ecosystems. This program is intended for younger audiences, although all are welcome. Please meet at the Indoor Theatre in the Visitor Centre.

Start: September 6, 2025 - 10:00 AM End: September 6, 2025 - 11:00 AM

We are all connected to Pinery’s ecosystems from tiny butterflies to the wolves who once roamed these lands. Join a Park Naturalist on the Cedar Trail to explore how it’s all connected and what we are doing to fix the mistakes of the past.

Start: September 6, 2025 - 10:00 AM End: September 14, 2025 - 16:00 PM

This week, we are celebrating the beautiful Monarch Butterfly as they prepare for their journey south. Check out one of our many monarch-themed activities, join a monarch tagging program, and learn about another butterfly that was successfully re-introduced to Pinery.

Start: September 6, 2025 - 14:00 PM End: September 6, 2025 - 15:00 PM

We are in the peak of Monarch Butterfly Migration! Meet in the Visitor Centre to learn about the journey that these butterflies embark on to Mexico and participate in tagging Monarchs on the Cedar Trail. Nets will be provided.

Start: September 6, 2025 - 20:00 PM End: September 6, 2025 - 21:00 PM

The world of insects is one we frequently dismiss. We can all find ourselves looking at a tiny creature crawling or flying around and think of it as nothing more than a nuisance, a “bug”, without even knowing what these creatures really are. Set your fears aside as we delve into the strange and amazing world of our six-legged friends and explore just how special the life of a bug can be. Located at the Outdoor Theatre

Start: September 7, 2025 - 10:00 AM End: September 7, 2025 - 11:30 AM

In a race for precious resources, different tree species have tricks up their sleeves to get a leg up. Join a Park Naturalist on the Carolinian Trail to find out who will win the race! This is not a designated accessible trail, please be ready for hills and stairs.

Start: September 7, 2025 - 15:00 PM End: September 7, 2025 - 16:00 PM

Come find out what all the buzz is about. Through stories and games, children can discovery the amazing world of native bees, while learning about why non-native honeybees may pose a threat to our ecosystems. This program is intended for younger audiences, although all are welcome. Located at the Visitor Centre Indoor Theatre.

Start: September 8, 2025 - 11:00 AM End: September 8, 2025 - 12:00 PM

Did you know that the dragonflies we see darting around actually spend most of their lives underwater? Hike the Riverside Trail and find a Park Naturalist to learn about dragonflies throughout all stages of their lives. Turn left at the fork for easy access.

Start: September 9, 2025 - 14:00 PM End: September 9, 2025 - 15:00 PM

We are in the peak of Monarch Butterfly Migration! Meet in the Visitor Centre to learn about the journey that these butterflies embark on to Mexico and participate in tagging Monarchs on the Cedar Trail. Nets will be provided.

Start: September 10, 2025 - 11:00 AM End: September 10, 2025 - 12:00 PM

1990 was the last sighting of the Mottled Duskywing Butterfly here at Pinery until 2021, when the Ontario Butterfly Species-at-Risk team began their efforts to reintroduce this butterfly back into the park (and the province!) Four years later, the Mottled Duskywing can call Pinery home once again. Join a Park Naturalist in some of the Mottled Duskywing’s habitat to learn about their return. Located at the Cedar Trail Entrance.

Start: September 10, 2025 - 14:00 PM End: September 10, 2025 - 15:00 PM

Head to the Indoor Theatre in the Visitor Centre to see how researchers and park staff successfully re-introduced a locally extinct butterfly population right here at Pinery. First released in 2022, the butterflies have been on their path back from the brink and thriving since. The documentary is approximately 45 minutes long.

Start: September 11, 2025 - 14:00 PM End: September 11, 2025 - 15:00 PM

We are in the peak of Monarch Butterfly Migration! Meet in the Visitor Centre to learn about the journey that these butterflies embark on to Mexico and participate in tagging Monarchs on the Cedar Trail. Nets will be provided.

Start: September 12, 2025 - 14:00 PM End: September 12, 2025 - 15:00 PM

Our marvelous Monarch friends have returned to Pinery! Join a Park Naturalist to learn about the amazing journey that they have taken to return to Pinery, their life cycle, and what you can to help them now that they are here. This program is intended for younger audiences, although all are welcome.

Start: September 13, 2025 - 10:00 AM End: September 13, 2025 - 11:00 AM

There is a miniature world of plants and creatures that play a big part in forest ecology. Hike the Pine Trail and discover the tiny members of the forest community. Please note that this is not a designated accessible trail.

Start: September 13, 2025 - 14:00 PM End: September 13, 2025 - 15:00 PM

We are in the peak of Monarch Butterfly Migration! Meet in the Visitor Centre to learn about the journey that these butterflies embark on to Mexico and participate in tagging Monarchs on the Cedar Trail. Nets will be provided.

Start: September 14, 2025 - 10:00 AM End: September 14, 2025 - 11:00 AM

We are all connected to Pinery’s ecosystems from tiny butterflies to the wolves who once roamed these lands. Join a Park Naturalist on the Cedar Trail to explore how it’s all connected and what we are doing to fix the mistakes of the past.

Start: September 14, 2025 - 14:00 PM End: September 14, 2025 - 15:00 PM

Did you know that the dragonflies we see darting around actually spend most of their lives underwater? Hike the Riverside Trail and find a Park Naturalist to learn about dragonflies throughout all stages of their lives. Turn left at the fork for easy access.

Start: October 24, 2025 - 17:00 PM End: October 26, 2025 - 17:00 PM

Pinery may be sunny in the summer, but it can quickly turn spooky with the darker days, colder nights, and silent forests. Events and activities will be available from Friday to Sunday for those brave enough to join us for ghastly and ghostly fun.