Sauble Beach, Ontario
Sauble Beach, Ontario, Canada (pop. 2000) is a resort area on the eastern shores of Lake Huron, located along the south-west border of the municipality of South Bruce Peninsula, on the north edge of the Saugeen Nation.
The beach takes its name from that given by early French explorers to the sandy Sauble River, originally Riviere aux Saubles, that empties into the lake near Sauble Falls. The first settler is reported to have been John Eldridge, who built a cottage nearby in 1877, although most of the resort development of the modern beach area dates from about 1948, including still-surviving attractions like the Driftwood Cafe, Sauble Lodge Motel and the Crowd Inn hot-dog stand.
At over seven miles long, Sauble Beach is said to be the second longest freshwater beach in the world after Wasaga Beach. A unique phenomenon of sandbar deposits building out along the Huron shore keep the beach at Sauble very shallow and warm, making this a popular destination for families with young children. With the beach facing west across Lake Huron, Sauble Beach is also the site of impressive sunset views that attract photographers and cinematographers.
Recreational activities include swimming, windsurfing, water-skiing, fishing, golfing, lawn bowling, tennis, street dances, beach volleyball, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, birding, an annual winterfest and an annual sandcastle contest. The Canadian National (Beach) Volleyball Championships have been held there, and the local Steelback Sauble Speedway is on the NASCAR professional racing circuit. The Sauble area is one of Ontario's favourite retirement destinations as well as a popular destination among young people for their annual May 2-4 campsite revelries.
While a hot summer long-weekend can see the resident count soar to over 40,000, Sauble Beach is the permanent year-round home to approximately 2000 people, and offers local facilities for hardware, appliance and grocery shopping, restaurants and hotels, fire and police services, daycare and a medical clinic. To serve the growing numbers of young families, Amabel-Sauble Community School was built in 1995 as an innovative collaborative experiment in joint ownership between the Bluewater District School Board and the Township of Amabel (now part of South Bruce Peninsula); the school provides primary curriculum from Jr. Kindergarten to Grade 8 and also hosts the Amabel-Sauble Daycare, continuing education and heritage language programs, and an evening marshall arts program.