Kelso Beach at Nawash Park is a beach, a park, a festival site, and local history all in one!

Located on the shores of Georgian Bay at the mouth of the Pottawatami River, you can access the park by car via the Eddie Sargent Parkway or by foot or bicycle following the city's harbourfront walkway. The park offers views of the eastern shore of the harbour, interspersed with tall willow trees and boats in the distance. It's adjacent to the Georgian Shores Marina.

At Kelso Beach at Nawash Park, you'll find a sandy playground, beach, picnic shelters, soccer fields, and baseball diamonds, plus a children's splash pad, built by the Scenic City Order of Good Cheer.

The splash pad is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., from Victoria Day weekend until Thanksgiving Monday. The beach and splash pad are both unsupervised. A water advisory will be posted at the beach by the local health unit if it's unsafe for swimming.

Please observe the following rules when using the Splash Pad:

  • Use of the splash pad is at your own risk and sole responsibility.
  • Children must be supervised at all times while in the splash pad.
  • No climbing on the spray equipment.
  • No pets (except for service animals), glass, rocks, bottles, or other foreign objects are allowed in the Splash Pad.
  • No skateboards, rollerblades, scooters or bicycles allowed.
  • Smoke Free environment.
  • The use of soaps, detergents or shampoos is not allowed in the splash pad.
  • Be considerate of others.

Kelso Beach at Nawash Park is home to some key annual festivals, including Canada Day Celebrations, the Summerfolk Music & Crafts Festival, and the Salmon Spectacular Fishing Derby. Public camping is available across the road at Kelso Beach at Nawash Park Campground during major events.

In the Spirit of Reconciliation, the Garden will be a contemplative place where our community can pause, reflect and remember.

Location:
South end of Kelso Beach at Nawash Park
Vehicle entrance to the Park at 100 19th Street West, Owen Sound

The Kelso Beach at Nawash Park site was chosen as our oral and written history tells us that the banks of the Sydenham and Potawatomie were once the fertile hunting and fishing grounds of the Saugeen Ojibwa Nation of the Nawash people.

See more on Indigenous Reconciliation on the City's website here.

Kelso Beach at Nawash Park was originally part of the Anishinaabe native territory that extended from what is now Collingwood to Goderich, Ontario. The shores of the bay were filled in for shipping and industrial purposes, such as wharves and grain elevators, and to create Kelso Beach at Nawash Park. The park was redeveloped in 1982 to include a large amphitheater, playing fields, plantings, playgrounds, walkways, and parking.