Traveling to and Staying at Gulliver’s Lake Carefree RV Resort on our Great Canadian Two Lane Camping Adventure

 As we left Grand Oaks Carefree RV Resort, we traveled along the banks of The Grand River. We passed by the Nelles Settlement. The area of the former settlement is on the grounds of St. John’s Church, Highway 54 and Nelles Road. In 1785, Captain Hendrick Nelles was one of several loyalists invited by the Six Nations, on the advice of Joseph Brant, to settle on the native tract bordering the Grand River. Nelles and his family took up land in Seneca Township and by 1828 about 30 families resided there.

Also running parallel to The Grand River is the

Rotary Riverside Trail. The 6 km long trail is open year round and it starts just downstream of Caledonia and runs to York. It was developed and managed by the Rotary Club of Caledonia, most of the trail is on land owned by Haldimand County, with the rest of the trail on private land. It is used by walkers, runners and bicycles.

The Haldimand Chippewa Trail connects the Hamilton Chippawa Trail to the Riverside Rotary Trail at Seneca Park which takes trail

users to the Grand River and then off-road again along the Grand to the hamlet of York. This trail is likely the only part of the Trans-Canada Trail where you might catch a glimpse of a lion or a tiger as a portion of it runs alongside the Killman Zoo.

Arriving at Gulliver’s Lake Carefree RV Resort we were taken back and amazed at the lake that sits at the front edge of the property. For over 30 years, Gulliver’s Lake has been a friendly, well-maintained

family escape that brings guests back year after year. This park is host to a true natural wonder, the 14-acre lake spring-fed by artesian wells. You can enjoy the seclusion and carefree living at Gulliver’s Lake and swim in the cleanest waters in Southern Ontario. The park is host to over 200 sites for seasonal camping.

Even if you are not staying at Gulliver’s Lake, you can come and enjoy the picnic area, crystal clear lake with floating rafts & docks, kayak & paddleboat rentals, and a covered pavilion. Gulliver's Lake

is also the perfect location for seasoned and novice divers alike. Many local diving schools go there to train and dive for pleasure. As host of the 2002 Provincial Triathalon, Gulliver's Lake is also a popular training spot for local triathletes. Gulliver's Lake RV Resort is ideally situated close to the Greater Toronto Area, Burlington and Hamilton.

While you are camping at Gulliver’s Lake for the summer you can enjoy many local attractions. For those who hike there is the Bruce Trail. The Bruce Trail, Canada's oldest and longest marked footpath, provides the only continuous public access to the magnificent Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. Running along the Escarpment from Niagara to Tobermory, it spans more than 890 km of trail. Volunteers are responsible for maintaining, stewarding and promoting the Bruce Trail.

Canada's Original Safari Adventure, African Lion Safari is just 7 miles down the road from Gulliver’s Lake. You can get closer than you ever imagined to majestic lions, giraffe, cheetah, rhino... and over 1,000 other exotic birds and animals from around the world. This wildlife farm provides a unique viewing opportunity for visitors to see, hear, touch and learn about, and from, different species of animals with which they may otherwise never come in contact. African Lion Safari has earned awards for excellence in the care, management and breeding of many endangered species, both birds and animals. African Lion Safari is recognized internationally for its breeding programs for rare and endangered species as well as for its efforts to support conservation of wildlife worldwide.

Or if you are there in June you can experience organized pandemonium, uncontrollable laughter and non-stop family fun at the annual Dundas International Buskerfest! What is a busker? A busker is a street performer that usually performs for tips. This year’s festival featured artists from six countries and four provinces, including a country never before represented, Thailand! They had returning fan favorites including The Street Circus, and Circo Loco, alongside shows making their Dundas Buskerfest debut. This year’s performers also featured a Bachelor of Magic (really, it is a real degree), musicians with Broadway credits, and graduates of six different circus schools. Our 2015 Novice Busker is Fantastic Flash from Clearwater, Florida. She is young performer that brought her crackling wit and insane flexibility to the festival. We will have to see if we can see her back in Florida!

In August you can enjoy the Dundas Cactus Festival. Yes, a cactus festival in Ontario, Canada. The festival has a midway, a parade, live musicians, street performers, arts & crafts, games, vendors and even some charity gambling. The Dundas Cactus Festival began in 1976 as a festival to mark the beginning of summer. In 1979 the festival was moved to August with local downtown merchants having sidewalk sales to coincide with it. The Dundas Cactus Festival is named after Barend (Ben) Veldhuis, a Dutch immigrant who ran a large greenhouse specializing in cacti. Thanks to him, Dundas has become known as "the cactus capital of the universe". Something just make you go hhmmmm…

Don’t want to cook on Labor Day Weekend? You can attend the Rib Fest in Burlington. This is not just any Rib Fest, it is Canada's Largest Ribfest. How do you gauge something is the largest? Attendance, they broke their attendance record in 2009 when more than 175,000 people attended the festival! That is way too many people for me! Ribs sold, they sold more than 150,000 pounds of ribs were sold over the four-day event. Number of Rib cooking teams participating, they annually welcome 20 "Ribber Teams" from across North America. Money raised for charity, an unbelievable more than $3 million has been raised for local community organizations and charities over the last 19 years! This food festival is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Burlington Lakeshore’s 65 members. Ribfest is their largest and most successful community event, of which all proceeds go to charity.

As the camping season at Gulliver’s Lake starts to wind down in early October, you can enjoy Rockton World’s Fair hosted by the Rockton Agricultural Society. Charlie and I are “big” fair fans … and when we find another “World’s Fair” we have to learn more about it. Our “Little World’s” Fair has been going on in Hemlock since 1857. The Rockton Agricultural Society has come a long way since the first Beverly Agricultural Society Fair was held in October 1852. According to the information recorded in The Pioneers of Beverly, October 20th was a “glorious Indian Summer Day.” There were 181 members and prize money paid to the exhibitor’s was $194.50. Compare this to today’s volunteer membership of almost 700 and prize money of over $100,000 paid to over 1000 exhibitors. In 1934, the Beverly Agricultural Society became the North Wentworth Agricultural Society and, in 1966, the name was changed to the Rockton Agricultural Society. In 1878, Mrs. Andrew Kernighan commented that the fair should be called the “World’s Fair” because all of the world comes to it. The next day, local newspapers carried an article about the fair with the headline “The World’s Fair at Rockton.”

Whether you are looking to relax with friends and family, enjoy some diving or swimming in the crystal clear lake, or camping and seeing the local sights, there is something for everyone to do at or around Gulliver’s Lake Carefree RV Resort!