Lake Ontario South Shoreline

You saw the beautiful stretch of sandy beach at Port Dalhousie yesterday. Today we see the shoreline just west of Jordan.  We're facing west in these pictures - you can see the Hamilton escarpment in the background.  It's an expansive view that showcases the Lake and the shoreline.

The shoreline is very similar all along this area - from Martin Road to Tufford Road - the corresponding numbers on yesterday's map would be in the 10 to 14 range.  It is called low shoreline.  The road is right against the shoreline with houses scattered along the north side.  Some of the houses are old cottages from days gone by, and others are modern houses with the lake view, but not the shoreline mansions further west.  The road starts and stops.  It is not continuous along the lake.  I expect this is due to erosion and property ownership. There are small stretches of private lanes and roads and property that doesn't have public access of any kind.   

I've explored this area in the past - looking for orchards overlooking the water.  However, that's not the normal situation - the winds are too strong at the water's edge.  It will be blustery out there today.

Lake Ontario South Shore Beaches

A few weeks ago I was looking for more information on the Charles Daley Park dynamic lagoon.  I came upon the 2009 study of south shore beaches.  I had no idea that there were 58 distinct shoreline areas.  The formal definition is 'reaches'.  These are "a length of shoreline having common physiographic characteristics, shore dynamics, environmental elements and land use."

Our picture today is Port Dalhousie's lighthouses from the west side - from Lakeside Park.  It is 28 on the map.  At the shore is what remains of the amusement park at Lakeside Park.  All that's left is the antique Carousel which has been beautifully preserved.  One can still ride for 5 cents in the summer.  Lakeside Park has a long, long sandy beach with great views of the sky in both directions.  It seems particularly exposed here.  The day of these pictures there were huge waves beating a frozen shoreline.  In Grimsby there was no ice on the shore yet.

We'll be visiting many of these points on the south shore and see what these different reaches have to offer.