Pelee Island | Beautiful Islands in Canada

Pelee Island is a haven of green, encircled by the blue waters of Like Erie. Sitting just above 42 degree North, it marks Canada's most southerly inhabited point (the uninhabited Middle Island, located just to the south, is the country;s southernmost point). Measuring 14.5 km long and 5 km wide and located in the western half of the lake, it lies close to the Ohio boundary and on the same latitude as Northern California. Pelee's position gives it the best year-round climate in Eastern Canada.

Originally a marshland, little used by First Nations people, the island was leased by white settlers in the 19th century. Its mild climate lent Pelee to the growing of grapes, and the wine industry flourished until the Great War only to die out and them be revived again in the 1980s. The marshland was dredged in the late 19th century and tobacco was planted. Today the main crops are soybean and wheat.

Pelee Island is an important stopover for migrating birds and even non-twitchers will be impressed by the array of blue herons, cormorants, ducks and eagles on display. In 1984 the Lighthouse Point Nature Reverse was established, with trails that meander through wetland and marshes on to sandy beaches.

This is an ever-changing landscape where the coastline is easily eroded, dunes come and go, lagoons appear and new bays are formed. Its isolation makes for a gentle pace of life and the island only really springs to life during the pheasant-shooting season in autumn. It is a perfect place to walk, cycle or sail in a largely manufactured, but surprising unspoilt, nature reserve.