Great Lakes Guide unleashes your inner explorer. It guides you to places you can connect with water and discover the Great Lakes. From trickling tributaries to open water, the Great Lakes offer endless possibilities to rekindle your relationship with the natural world.

Great Lakes Guide is growing the community of people actively participating in outdoor activities in the Great Lakes region. Learn about the region’s ecology, history, and culture from the Great Lakes Guide community as we bring together personal stories, indigenous knowledge, local history, and scientific discoveries.

Connecting with this ecologically diverse and economically important area fosters a deeper love and appreciation for it, and helps ensure a swimmable, drinkable, fishable future. Like Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, this exciting program is a product of Swim Drink Fish, a national charity connecting people to water since 2001.

The Great Lakes Guide website shows your where to camp, hike, relax and swim around the Great Lakes.

Reconnecting you with nature

Enhancing your connection with nature will improve your physical and mental health, strengthen social bonds, and restore your sense of wonder.

Like Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Great Lakes Guide is in pursuit of a future where everyone can swim, drink and fish from their local waters. By reconnecting you with nature, your motivation to protect your local waters increases.

Plan your next trip

Great Lakes Guide connects you with national and provincial parks, conservation areas, and beaches. It offers ideas for your next trip outside and lets you create lists of places to explore around the Great Lakes. And this is just the beginning!

Create a Great Lakes Guide account today and begin planning your next trip.