Rondeau is a sand spit curling out into Lake Erie, one of only two of its kind in North America. It holds the largest remaining stand of old-growth Carolinian forest in the country, eleven kilometres of warm sandy beach, and a bird list of more than 360 species. It is Ontario's second oldest provincial park and most Ontarians have never been.
Pick your date below. The bus leaves from 34 Asquith Avenue, just north of Yonge and Bloor.
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Leaving Toronto in the meantime
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.
Rondeau protects the largest remaining area of old-growth Carolinian forest in Canada. Tulip trees tower over the trail, sassafras grow up to five hundred years old, and shagbark hickory does what its name suggests. It is a southern ecosystem that most people in this province never get to walk through.
The spit itself is one of only two crescentic sand spits in North America, which is why the park has been protected since 1894, making it Ontario's second oldest.
More than 360 kinds of bird have been recorded here, including the endangered prothonotary warbler. In spring and autumn the peninsula fills with warblers, thrushes, flycatchers and tundra swans, and you do not need to be a birder to notice.
The oldest Carolinian forest in the country, on a beach.
The park is a peninsula and everything sits fairly close together. Here is what people do with the hours.
We pick you up
Just north of Yonge and Bloor subway station. Come up the Asquith exit and look for the coach.
Sandy shoreline running the length of the Lake Erie side, with eleven access points, so finding your own stretch is easy even on a busy day. Lake Erie is the shallowest Great Lake and the warmest to swim in.
Good to know:
Seven trails through the forest and the savanna, and they are genuinely different from one another. The Tulip Tree Trail is a flat 1.2 km boardwalk loop through old growth, suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. The Harrison Trail runs 8 km to the tip of the peninsula through oak woodland and savanna.
Good to know:
Interactive displays, live animal exhibits and an indoor theatre, and the place to go if the weather turns. Park naturalists run guided hikes, children's programmes and campfire talks through the warmer months.
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.
Beach and forest in the same day, so pack for both.
Food inside the park is limited. Pack lunch, snacks and plenty of water. Rondeau Joe's Pub, just outside the park gates on Rondeau Bay, is the sit-down option if you would rather.
Rondeau is a long way south. About three hours each way from Toronto. Plenty of people think that is a fair trade for the warmest swimming in Ontario and a forest that grows nowhere else in the country. Some people don't. Better to know now.
Rondeau runs in the warm months. Dates appear here when they open in the booking system.
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.
The largest remaining old-growth Carolinian forest in Canada: tulip trees, sassafras up to 500 years old, shagbark hickory.
Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes and the warmest to swim in. Eleven access points along the shore.
A designated Canadian Important Bird Area, and one of the best migration spots in the country.
Three hours back after a day on the sand. Sleep through it if you like.
★★★★★ 4.6/5.0 on Google
“This is the 1st time I used Parkbus but it won’t be the last.”Brenda H. · Google
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
Booked in minutes, had an unreal day in Algonquin, and was home by dinner.Cameron · Happy Parkbus customer
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.
Three hours down and three hours back, and you do not drive a metre of it.
Not quite the right fit? These all leave from the same spot downtown.
