Pinery's oaks hold their green long after the maples up north have turned and dropped. Ontario Parks says so themselves. That makes one Saturday in late October the best leaf day left in the province, and we run a coach to it. Ten kilometres of Lake Huron beach underneath, and your park pass comes with the ticket.
10%
colour change
Ontario Parks put Pinery at ten percent colour and nothing down yet. Up north that number would be bad news. Here it is the whole reason to come late: Ontario Parks say Pinery's oaks "hold on to their green colour much later into the season than the beech maple forests elsewhere in the province". By our Saturday, 24 October, the maples up north will be long past it and Pinery should be at or near its best, in the rusty reds and oranges the oaks and the sassafras give it. That last part is our estimate, not a promise. The live report is linked below and we check it.
One bus, one Saturday, the last colour of the year.
Ontario Parks report, 5 October 2026 · Ontario Parks fall colour report
Pick your date below. The bus leaves from 34 Asquith Avenue, just north of Yonge and Bloor. Tickets are $90 regular, $81 for students and seniors, and $45 for children aged 2 to 12.
Cancel 14 or more days before you go and you get 90% back.
Choose your own adventure: we drop you off, and the bus picks you up in the same spot.
A short, flat walk on even ground, at your own pace.
Pinery sits on a 9.5 km stretch of freshwater coastal dunes. The wind and the lake have been piling up that sand for about six thousand years, and it's still moving. Walk over a ridge and you could be at the ocean, except the water is fresh and you can drink it.
Behind the dunes is the Old Ausable Channel, a quiet 14 km waterway threading through the park. Painted turtles line up on the logs to sun themselves. It's flat, slow water, which makes it one of the easiest places in Ontario to try a canoe for the first time.
In between the two is something rarer than either. Pinery protects one of the last big pieces of oak savanna left in Canada, a grassland with widely spaced oaks that looks more like Africa than Ontario. Less than one percent of it survives worldwide. You can walk through it in about half an hour on the Cedar Trail.
Put together, that's a beach day, a paddle, and a walk through a rare ecosystem, all within a few minutes of where the bus drops you off.
Ten kilometres of beach, and you don't need a car to get to it.
The bus drops you in one spot and everything is walkable from there. You have five and a half hours. Here's how most people use them.
We pick you up
Just north of Yonge and Bloor subway station. Come up the Asquith exit and look for the coach. It's a big bus and it's hard to miss.
Soft sand, shallow water that warms up fast, and a west-facing shore. Most people head straight here and stay. There's enough beach that you can walk five minutes and find quiet.
Good to know:
A slow, sheltered channel running through the park. You can rent a canoe, a kayak (single or double), a stand up paddleboard, or a Corcl, which is a round tub you spin around in and which children find hilarious.
Good to know:
Nine short trails wind through the dunes and the oak savanna. None of them are hard. The Cedar Trail is the one most people do at 2.3 km, and it links to the beach if you add the extension.
Good to know:
We drop you back
The bus returns to the same place it left from, so you go home the way you came.
This is our estimated return time, not a guarantee. Traffic can change it and some trips do run late, so please leave yourself some room afterwards rather than booking something tight against it.
It's a beach day. Pack like one.
Pinery is a long way from Toronto. Three hours out, three hours back, and 5.5 hours on the ground. Plenty of people think that's a fair trade for a Lake Huron beach day with no car and no traffic to fight. Some people don't. Better to know now.
Sorry. Pets aren't allowed on this bus, with the exception of certified service animals.
The Pinery Park Store sells groceries, camping gear, ice and souvenirs. There's a small restaurant inside doing wraps, hamburgers, fish and chips and other hot food. Scooped ice cream has moved to the rental building across from the store.
All the same, pack food and water. It's a short day and you don't want to spend an hour of it in a queue.
One date this autumn, Saturday 24 October. The date and the fares below come straight from the booking system.
Only one trip scheduled
October 24
This is the only date this season, so there is no second chance at it.
We're Canada's outdoor bus service. Since 2010 we've taken more than 300,000 people to parks and trails without a car. You bring a towel. We handle everything else.
Your park admission is included. No car rental, no gas, and nothing to sort out at the gate.
Soft sand and warm shallow water on Lake Huron. Even on a busy day you can find your own patch.
Reclining seats, air conditioning, big windows, and a washroom on board. We stop halfway too.
Three hours back after a day in the sun. Read a book, have a nap, let someone else watch the road.
★★★★★ 4.6/5.0 on Google
“This is the 1st time I used Parkbus but it won't be the last.”Brenda H. · Google · Elora Quarry, a beach day like this one
Took a day trip to Algonquin Park with Parkbus. They pick up on Asquith Ave. in the Bloor/Yonge area and have a quick break stop at the Onroute Barrie. All stops enable guests ample time to explore the destination. This is a highly a good idea trip for those that appreciate spending time in nature minus distractions.OnAir48444 · Tripadvisor · Oct 2025
The amount of time we were given in the park was perfect for a day trip, we did some canoeing, hiking, and our toddler had a great time on the playground. The bus was on time and all staff involved were pleasant and friendly!Rebecca McLeod · Google Local Guide
This is a great service if you don't have a vehicle or just don't want to drive. I'm so happy to have discovered this. There will definitely be more Parkbus trips in my future!James Taylor Wilson · Happy Parkbus customer
Highly recommend them. The bus service is so useful for people who doesn't want to drive and gives return facility. They were on time and bus facility was good too. Total worth the cost if you want to avoid hassle driving/parking.Sidhant Duggal · Facebook · Aug 2022
I just recently went on my first guided tour with a friend of mine from work. And man, was it amazing! Speaking from someone who doesn't drive. This is a must!!Linda Ann · Facebook · Jun 2024
Came with my friend in April, our guide Mike did a great job! Nice tour, small group, everything was great! Will go again!Natalia N. · Tripadvisor · Jul 2025
Factor in the cost of gas, parking and renting a car, it's a lot cheaper than taking a personal vehicle.Toronto Star
Parkbus is a great option for nature lovers, whether it's a day trip or overnight camping getaway.The Globe and Mail
Cancel more than 14 days before departure and you get a 90% refund, with 10% withheld for payment processing. Inside 14 days refunds are not available, except for a medical emergency in the 48 hours before departure, which needs a signed doctor’s note within 14 days of the missed trip and returns 50%. Tickets are transferable: you can change the passenger name up to 48 hours before departure.
If Parkbus cancels a trip, you get a full refund. We decide no later than 48 hours before departure and only on confirmed conditions: the park closed or the park authority asking us to stand down, an evacuation order or alert, an area restriction order, the highway closed, or the trip judged unsafe to run. A forecast is not one of those things, and trips run rain or shine.
Everywhere else is bare by then. Pack a lunch, and let us handle the three hours of highway in each direction.
Not quite the right fit? These all leave from the same spot downtown.
