Created in 1918, Point Pelee is Canada's smallest national park at just 15 square kilometres - also the country's most southerly point. This forest oasis boldly juts out into Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes. It tapers off into a distinct sandspit which has occasionally been washed away: a few years ago the 'no swimming' sign marking land's end was found 100km away across the lake - and across the US border - on an Ohio beach. The park is popular with kayakers and canoeists, who enjoy exploring the waterways of the marshes to the sounds of grasshoppers and in the company of blue herons

Photograph: Francesca Yorke/Getty