Travelogue

After leaving Robinson’s Island, we decided to head towards the Cedar Dunes Provincial Park on the very southwestern tip of the island, which the Frommer’s Guide had described as one of the nicest provincial parks on PEI.

Lolo and boys in Bumper BoatsOur drive west along Route 2 took us through miles and miles of rolling farm country, not as striking as the scenery on Cape Breton and Newfoundland, but beautiful in its own way—very peaceful and restful. This end of the island had a much different feel to it than the central part—much more remote and pristine.

Despite the lack of development on this end of the island, I did manage to find the Mill River Fun Park, right on Route 2 West near Mill River Provincial Park. I think I was still trying to make up to Tommy for not finding an amusement park on Newfoundland for his birthday. Although it didn’t quite compare to the water parks we had been to in the states, it was okay and quite reasonably priced. With the coupons I found in the Free PEI Visitor Handbook, it only cost the four of us only $14 Canadian.

Herb and Lolo at West Point LighthouseWe started off with a little competitive family mini golf and then worked our way over to the giant Twister water slide. There was no line—something we don’t find in those fancy water parks in the states. The kids convinced Herb and me to do it too, and I’m glad because it actually was quite fun. We finished up our time in the Fun Park with the bumper boats. Once again, there was no line, so we could stay on as long as we liked. The park might not have been fancy, but there’s definitely something to be said for the lack of crowds.

On the drive to Cedar Dunes, we passed the PEI Potato Museum in the town of O’Leary. As the day was getting late, we managed to resist the lure of the14-foot-high sculptured potato in front of the museum and continued on to Cedar Dunes.

Frommer’s was right—Cedar Dunes was lovely. We got one of the 42 sites out in the open grassy area, just over the dunes from a beautiful red sand beach and a short walk away from the picturesque West Point Lighthouse. Very nice aesthetics! Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, I found out that the lighthouse served dinner. This was going to be good.

Lolo and Boys at top of lighthouseWe spent some time down at the beach where the sand was redder than any I have ever seen. The water was nice and warm, but the memory of all the jellyfish we had seen at our last PEI beach kept the boys on dry land playing Frisbee.

That evening we strolled over to the lighthouse and had a very enjoyable dinner (I usually find any dinner that I don’t have to cook in the RV enjoyable). After dinner, we explored the small museum at the base of the lighthouse and then climbed the spiral stairs to the top. The views of the beach and the Northumberland Strait were marvelous.

It had been a very nice day and a good way to end our visit to beautiful Prince Edward Island.

Description

Cedar Dunes Provincial Park is located in the southwestern corner of Prince Edward Island. This part of the island is the most remote and undeveloped--much less crowded than the central part of the island.

Camping in Cedar DunesThe park has a 42-site, open area campground next to a beautiful red sand beach. The warm waters of the Northumberland Strait make swimming here quite pleasant.

Adjacent to the park is the picturesque, black-and-white-striped West Point Lighthouse. Besides being a functioning lighthouse, it is also an inn and restaurant, the first of its kind in Canada. The inn has nine guest rooms and its restaurant serves dinner both in its dining room and on a patio overlooking the beach. A small museum in the tower has photographs and artifacts documenting its history. You can also climb up to the lantern deck at the top.