Burlington, Ontario Part One

The dazzling city of Burlington sits in a prime position between Toronto and Niagara Falls, right in the center of Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe. It’s been named the Best City of Its Size in Canada for the last five years running and was also recognized as Municipality of the Year by Festivals and Events Ontario in 2016.

The gorgeous setting is complemented by fun activities, exciting events and a friendly community.

Hamilton Harbor

Burlington’s marina is protected in Hamilton Harbor. To get there, you’ll need to enter through the Burlington Ship Canal. It’s fairly easy to see in the distance because it’s crossed by the Burlington Skyway, which is a high, multi-lane expressway.

The canal entrance is marked by the lift bridge’s twin lift towers, and the bridge opens according to demand for commercial vessels and every hour and a half for recreational boats.

The Bridgemaster is the person in charge of all the bridge openings and he monitors channel VHF 16 while working on channel VHF 12. Keep in mind that you need to be under power while traveling through the canal because vessels aren’t allowed to sail or tack through the canal.

And ta-da! You’re in Hamilton Harbor. Now to the marina!

LaSalle Park Marina  

On the north side of Hamilton Harbor, you’ll find Burlington’s picturesque LaSalle Park Marina. It’s a man-made floating breakwater that runs south into the harbor with well-maintained, deep water slips.

LaSalle Park Marina is the closest marina on the bay for lake access, and it’s also got access to some excellent hiking with abundant wildlife. Additionally, they have a banquette center, a wading pool, baseball diamonds, a panoramic view of the bay and playgrounds for the kids. In short, it’s got pretty much everything you need to have a good time.

Did somebody say “barbeque”? Since LaSalle decided against using charcoal barbeques in their marina, they figured out a unique way to keep everybody happy. So if you want to barbeque, don’t you fret, because LaSalle created a floating picnic area! It comes complete with tables and gas barbeques available along the main walkway from the shoreline.

Treasure Hunting

Anyone for an adventure? How about a treasure hunt? You should give geocaching a try! This is a kind of scavenger hunt for waterproof containers holding treasure. You use the container’s exact location with geographic coordinates, then all you have to do is use your GPS and it’ll give you a unique way to explore Burlington.

When you find a cache, you’ll usually find a logbook so you can log what you found. If you take something out of the cache, make sure you leave something of equal or greater value so the next person to find it won’t be disappointed. Could you imagine finding an empty cache? That would just be the worst, so don’t be that person!

Burlington is full of geocaches, and you can bet this would be an awesome way to wander the city and stumble upon unique and unexpected things. Happy hunting!

For More Information

Burlington Bay

www.burlbay.com

Great Lakes Sailing

www.great-lakes-sailing.com

Tourism Burlington

www.tourismburlington.com