If one magical Lake Huron sunset isn’t enough for you, there’s a small Ontario town where, if you move quickly, you can watch it happen twice.
Goderich is perched above Lake Huron on a series of natural bluffs, about 2.5 hours from Toronto. This unusual geography has given the town one of its coolest claims to fame: the “double sunset.”
The trick starts down at the Goderich waterfront. Find a spot along the beach, watch the sun sink toward the horizon and, as soon as it disappears, start climbing. Staircases connect the waterfront to parks along the top of the bluff, and if you make it up quickly enough, you can briefly see the sunset a second time from the higher vantage point, right before it disappears all over again.
According to Goderich Tourism, “There is limited time between the first and second sunset. We can not control the speed of the sun, but you can manage your speed up the hill!”
The sunset alone makes Goderich the most perfectly dreamy late-summer road trip, but there’s a lot more waiting along the waterfront! The town has three Lake Huron beaches, all connected by a waterfront boardwalk that runs for about 1.5 kilometres. Picnic shelters, playgrounds and public washrooms are dotted along the route, while concessions operate from late spring into early fall (you can catch the town’s famous sunsets from the beaches or from one of 13 viewpoint parks along the top of the bluff).
The first beach you’ll encounter is Main Beach, nestled on Harbour Rd. This is the classic sandy, family-friendly option, complete with play equipment and concessions, but it also comes with the prettiest backdrop: you can watch massive ships moving in and out of the Port of Goderich while lounging beside the lake.
A little farther along, you’ll stumble upon St. Christopher’s Beach. This is a shadier spot in the centre of the waterfront and a great pick if you have a four-legged road-trip companion (yup, dogs are allowed).
At the end of Cove Rd., Rotary Cove Beach has another sandy shoreline. The water here is shallow, so the beach is pretty popular with families with little ones. There’s a concession booth, play equipment and outdoor fitness equipment here too, so, a nice spot to settle in for an afternoon before attempting the double sunset later on.
The boardwalk itself is worth exploring, too! Its route traces nearly two centuries of Goderich’s marine history, passing through an area that was once filled with rail lines, salt works and abandoned ships before being transformed into the recreational waterfront you see today.
No surprise, Goderich has long been known as “Canada’s Prettiest Town,” a nickname linked to a comment once made by Queen Victoria. She never actually visited Goderich, but according to town lore, after hearing glowing descriptions of the community, she remarked that it must be the prettiest town in Canada (and the nickname has stuck ever since!)
And as pretty as the town is in the summer, it’s just as enviable in the colder months.