This blog post comes from Walker Kitchens, coordinator of the ActiveDays program.
Are you taking the 30×30 Challenge this August? Need a way to get your nature time in?
In honour of the challenge, Parkbus is offering three ActiveDays throughout the month of August to get you moving in the outdoors.
Let’s get active!
ActiveDays is building an outdoor community within Toronto and Vancouver. We explore some of the most beautiful parks in the country and connect people with a passion to get outdoors, explore, and have fun together. This is an inclusive space to meet new people, share stories and have fun!
There is no better place to get to know someone than the outdoors. We all share a desire to get out, explore and move.
ActiveDays’ philosophy is simple: to disconnect from city life, and get outside. Programs allow for people to discover new places, build skills, and meet like-minded people in a collaborative environment.
ActiveDays events are about creating environments that one can engage with in their own way. Everyone has their own relationship with the outdoors and their bodies. We want to meet you where you’re at. Come walk in silence, play 20 questions, and get to know some new people.
ActiveDays is a program run by Parkbus. Parkbus is a Canadian non-profit organization working to increase access for city dwellers to the outdoors. Parkbus runs public buses to some of Canada’s most beautiful outdoor spaces from Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax, and Ottawa.
August 4: Beautiful beaches at Awenda
ActiveDays is heading up to Georgian Bay to swim and hike along some beautiful coastline.
Awenda Provincial Park is just two hours from Toronto, and yet it feels like a different time zone. With four unique natural beaches and over 31 km of trails, Awenda is the perfect place to get away.
We start the day exploring the park on foot with a hike through some beautiful forest. We will then descend to the water for an afternoon of swimming and exploring Awenda’s beaches. Bring your bathing suit, hiking shoes, camera, and adventurous attitude, and come explore the shores and waters of Lake Huron.
Click here to sign up.
August 12: See the stars at Sibbald Point
Active Days is heading up to Sibbald Point Provincial Park to witness the Perseid Meteor Shower.
This year, the Perseids are shaping up to be special, as a new moon will create a particularly dark sky. Each year, as the earth passes through the tail of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, the Perseids occur. We are leaving the city limits and driving to a dark, flat space an hour from the city to watch this majestic event.
The evening will begin by explaining meteor showers and how to best see them. As night falls the tapestry of hundreds of stars will fill the sky, revealing the summer constellations and the milky way. Come, bring a blanket and/or mat, lay down, and watch some shooting stars with us.
Click here to sign up.
August 18: Hike the geological formations of Mono Cliffs
ActiveDays and Parkbus are lacing up our boots and heading to Mono Cliffs Provincial Park to trek through some magical forest and imposing cliffs.
Just over an hour from Toronto and nestled within rolling hills, Mono Cliffs is a gem. The Bruce Trail passes through and follows a trail above some escarpment cliffs that can reach 30 m in height. There are great viewpoints and stunning rock formations. Mono Cliffs is also home to a beautiful forest filled with ferns and old growth trees. It’s a wild and atmospheric space.
We will depart Toronto at 8:30 am and 8:45 am from our two pick up locations. Once we arrive at Mono Cliffs we will have roughly four hours to hike and explore. There is a network of trails that can be linked to extend or shorten the hike.
Click here to sign up.
Can’t make ActiveDays?
You can get your thirty minutes of nature in at any of our 340 provincial parks! Visit our Park Locator to find a park near you.