Pinery sits on a six thousand year old dune system on the southeast shore of Lake Huron, about two hours northwest of Waterloo. Ten kilometres of soft sand, a slow channel you can paddle, and sunsets National Geographic has put in its top ten in the world. The bus leaves from the University of Waterloo terminal.
Pick your date below. The bus leaves from the University of Waterloo terminal, in the EC3 lot off Columbia Street.
Dates not open yet
We put seats on sale one season at a time, and this one is not up yet. Nothing is hidden and there is no list to pay to join. Leave your email and you hear the day the dates open.
See every trip with dates on saleEverything we run from Waterloo
Cancel 14 or more days before you go and you get 90% back.
Nobody leads the day. The bus drops you off, you do what you like with the time, and you meet it again where it left you.
Flat and short, on even ground, with no climbing and no rush. This is a walk rather than a hike, and you set the pace.
Less than a tenth of one percent of the world's oak savanna is still standing, and a large piece of what is left is here. Black oaks and red pines rise over an open floor of prairie grass, lupines and wildflowers, and the dunes ripple inland from the beach in low ridges held together by juniper roots.
It is 2,500 hectares of beach, savanna, wetland and Carolinian forest, holding more than 800 kinds of plant, 325 kinds of bird and 60 kinds of butterfly. That is the sort of density you normally have to get on a plane to find.
Then there is the beach. Ten kilometres of soft sand facing due west, with shallow water that is warm enough to swim in by July and very little on the horizon to get in the way of the sunset.
Six thousand years of dunes, ninety minutes from Waterloo.
The bus drops you in one place and everything is walkable from there. Here is how most people use the hours.
We pick you up
The EC3 parking lot off Columbia Street, on the university grounds. Look for the coach. It is a big bus and it is hard to miss.
Soft sand, shallow water with no sudden drop off at the main beach areas, and a west facing shore. Most people walk straight down and stay. There is enough beach that five minutes of walking finds you a quiet patch.
Good to know:
A slow former river running through the park, which you can paddle end to end. The park rents canoes, single and double kayaks, paddleboards, hydro bikes and Corcls, which are small round craft that children find hilarious.
Good to know:
Ten short trails through dune, savanna and Carolinian forest. None of them are hard. The Cedar Trail is the one most people walk, the Heritage Trail explains what the oak savanna actually is, and the Riverside Trail follows the channel and is flat.
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.
The park store and a grill near the day-use area sell snacks, hot food, ice cream and cold drinks. Hours vary through the season.
Pack a lunch as a backup. It is a day trip and you do not want to spend part of it in a queue.
Pinery is about two hours each way from Kitchener-Waterloo, traffic depending. Plenty of people think that is a fair trade for a Lake Huron beach day with no car and no parking to worry about. Some people don't. Better to know now.
Pinery runs through the summer. July and August are warmest for swimming, and September is quieter with the water still warm.
Placeholder dates · the real ones come from our booking system
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 with wheels.
Pinery is one of the busiest parks in Ontario. On a sunny July Saturday the day-use lot can fill by mid morning and vehicle permits sell out. The bus does not queue for a space.
Nothing to sort out at the gate, and nothing extra to pay when you get there.
Reclining seats, air conditioning, big windows and a washroom on board.
Two hours back after a day in the sun. Read, sleep, or watch Huron go past.
★★★★★ 4.6/5.0 on Google
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
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
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
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.
Ninety minutes up County Road 5, and you do not have to drive a metre of it or find a space when you get there.