Dog friendly Tobermory Ontario

Last month, at the peak of July’s 2020 heat wave, my little family and I (Cole of Akkadian Spray Art and Warhol my trusted art dog) left our community for a little backyard adventure a couple of towns over to Tobermory, Ontario! Running our own little business and the reality of the last couple of months… we needed to recharge, even if not that far away.

With the promise of crystal clear waters, less tourists then usual we set sail for down south (ish) from Cole’s grandmothers house with a car full of food, a years supply of sunscreen and bug spray, too many clothes and a 1 person tent I had just purchased. No stranger to adventures myself, we specifically chose this destination for its promise of a dog friendly paradise where our furry creature would be welcomed as the fur baby he truly is. And boy we’re we not disappointed!

You might be asking yourself, ‘this is not a time to travel?’ and you are absolutely correct. It is important to know that this trip was not very far, a place underneath our noses we hadn’t had an opportunity to explore yet. Masks in toe, we headed towards the clear waters making the most of the short drive to explore as many places as we could along the way. Our goal was to paint at destinations as we usually do… but the universe had other plans.

We left my mothers house after a swim with a fish (true story without proof unfortunately) and headed to Cole’s grandmothers house for the night where we left first thing the next morning. Our first stop was to Cole’s old high school teacher Peter’s property to check out his amazing, HUGE and pet friendly creations just outside of Burk’s Falls Ontario – Screaming heads. Located precisely at 925-1201 Midlothian Rd, Burk’s Falls, ON P0A 1C0.

The infamous Screaming Heads was everything I could have hoped for! Giant abstract poured concrete sculptures that would be an absolute nightmare on a bad trip and an absolute delight on a beautiful sunny day. It was also much bigger then I could have ever imagined and consisted of way more than just faces. From figures to giant metal structures, it is an artists absolute dream.

If travelling with your furry companion please have them on a leash, pick up their shit and bring water! It got really hot, really fast, there was a ton of shade but the black flies made it impossible to enjoy one area for more then a minute.

Unfortunately black flies are just a reality we know all too well about, growing up on a swamp myself it’s just part of the elements. We were able to walk around the property without worry running into other visitors every 10 minutes or so. As a dog mom I was a little worried about other furry pets and strangers but Warhol was amazing and seemed to enjoy the property as much as we did.

For those who are new to the area, the screaming heads is a FREE art installation you can visit with brilliant artisans and out of this world structures. The unofficial (not sure about the logistics of that to be honest) landmark of the area, it offers a sense of community where nature meets the mind – in other words probably the best place to party! Speaking of party, I knew of this brilliant location from hearing crazy stories about its yearly festival Harvest Festival – usually in September post black fly season.

We finished our tour by purchasing some artisan goods and rewarded baby boy with a Tim Bit and snuggles until our next destination. We debated pitching a tent or getting a room between Barrie and Tobermory for what seemed like a lifetime and decided on going with the most budget friendly options which was surprisingly a last minute hotel room downtown Barrie Ontario.

Warhol eating a old fashion Tim Bit from Tim Hortons

I have a soft spot for Barrie Ontario. From working in their high schools to having to spend a couple of hours every few months between trains. I was looking forward to spending the night. We started our one night stay by doing some nostalgic sight seeing where Cole showed me where he lived while in college.

We ended up getting a room at the comfort inn where we had direct access to outside via a sliding door absolutely brilliant for midnight pees. Also to note, the air conditioning system was so loud we couldn’t hear anything or anyone from our room which created a bark free environment we are not used to. (Look at that face!)

Barrie was not very dog friendly with the new safety measures so we ordered out and ate at our pet friendly hotel! We took the opportunity to relax and went for a long walk ending our evening by watching the provided cable like the kings and queen we truly are.

Warhol with our tacos from a little dive bar opened for take out

With an amazing nights sleep under our belt we left just after 10 am. First Stop coffee. Knowing clear waters were hours away I left for our travels wearing my bathing suit, sunnies from my last family trip out West and favorite blush slides.

Feeling myself pre mask before leaving for the open road and crystal waters

I know myself enough to know that coffee is always key while travelling and thankfully we just missed the morning rush and grabbed some pike coffee while Warhol got to enjoy a little puppy-ccino provided by the local Starbucks!

Proof of why Starbucks isn’t as bad as everyone says

We were able to book a little cabin last minute 20 minutes out of the town of Tobermory. The route from Barrie really wasn’t far so we took our time and blasted music. Warhol also got the hang of the make shift bed we made for him in the back seat by the time we got there.

We arrived in no time to Roxy’s camp ground where we soon found out we had the place to ourselves for the night! Before arriving, every place I called said they were fully booked only to realize when we got there that it was not the case.

The cabin was really cute and included two sleeping areas, a fire pit and shared washrooms. We dropped off our stuff and headed to the singing sands about 15 minutes away from our home away from home.

If you find yourself at Roxy’s don’t forget your quarters to use the shower. From experience, you need at least a dollar in change to get fully lathered. Once settled in we waisted no time to find the Singing sands, which ended up being about 15 minutes from out site.

Cole and Warhol walking to the Singing Sands

Known for it’s unique vast beach the rumour is you can hear natural melodies from the wind hitting the sand. I personally didn’t hear any singing but it was dog friends and because we arrived pretty late we didn’t have to pay for parking!

It was so nice to see people from the city set up their music and shisha at the beach, felt like my good ol city days! We easily found a spot, set up our stuff and hit the water!

We even got to use Warhols new life-jacket for the first time. These waters are something special. You can literally walk for miles before the water hots yours knees and the water was warm and crystal clear! We also took the opportunity to try our go pro we purchased last year.

We swam with Warhol for about 5 minutes then took turns to see how far we could swim before it got too deep. We ended up swimming for less then an hour and decided to make the most of having a camp ground to ourself and went back before nightfall to make some ramen on the fire.

Warhol crashed pretty early and we ended up playing with magic fire for the majority of the night. We decided to head to bed early-ish to enjoy a full day in Tobermory.