St. Christopher's Beach, one of three along Goderich's waterfront on Lake Huron

There’s more to Goderich, Ont. than meets the eye. TheLake Huron waterfront  has three people-friendly beaches, a  curving shoreline with topaz water and a boardwalk that spans two kilometres.

I chose to start my tour with the waterfront, which has a busy harbour. I was surprised to see freighters picking up grain and salt right at water’s edge

Sam Platt was prospecting for oil in 1866 and instead struck rock salt– 305 metres below Goderich’s harbour.

 By 1919 the salt company was the largest industry in Huron County. Modern demands for crushed rock salt for winter roads and water softening meant a growth industry for the salt company, named Sifto in 1955.

Today the mine employs more than 300 workers. At a depth of 533 metres, and 2.41 kilometres wide, the mine complex extends 3.22 kilometres into Lake Huron. Much like a beehive underwater, the ceilings reach as high as 13.7 metres, with huge pillars dividing the spaces into ‘rooms’ for the movement of trucks and workers.

Talk about the shifting sands of time! Created 400 million years ago the rock salt is 98.2 per cent pure and produces 5 1/2 million tonnes of salt a year, half of Canada’s production.

 It’s a pretty town that knows how to roll up its sleeves.

I stuck my camping chair in the sand and decided to sit awhile, lulled by breezes and the sight of tugboats silently nudging a freighter into place.

 A mother and four youngsters looked up to see what part of the world was visiting now, then continued bobbing about on air mattresses.

 Back at shore an artist tried to capture the dichotomy on the water while her friend serenaded her on the guitar. Over my shoulder I spotted workers finishing a children’s playground in the play area. I stayed until evening because the best sunsets, they say, are on the Sahara and here on Lake Huron, with Goderich’s being extra special.

A view of the Menesetung Bridge from the lookout gazebo off Gloucester Terrace

You get to see the sunset twice. Go atop the bluffs where the Lighthouse stands tall on the highest point on the Canadian side of the lake and catch the first showing, then scramble down – there are stairs – to see a second sunset in pink meringue, while fairy lights flicker on the Sifto Salt Mine.

But Goderich is not just salt and sunsets. The town’s homes run the gamut, from a 19th century lakeside cottage to a castle (the tower contains an elevator run by water from a reservoir on its roof), and reads like an architect’s dictionary: Georgian, Gothic, Italianate, Neo-Classical, Picturesque, Queen Anne, Regency,  Revival, Romanesque and Victorian.

 The Centre’s Heritage Walking Tours is beautifully formatted with maps of  four informative and entertaining walks.

Start with ‘The Square’, a Heritage Conservation District, the epitome of a town plan,  perfectly designed before construction began. It includes eight primary streets, each 30 metres in width, converging onto a circular road the same width. The resulting octagon, including eight business blocks, is aligned with the points of a compass, a motif you’ll see spotted throughout the town.

The Huron County Museum is an example of Elizabethan style, rare for CanadaA feature of the museum are the 4,000 models created by J.H. Neill.

Before heading home I stopped at the lookout gazebo off Gloucester Terrace with a great view of the Menesetung Bridge, once the longest railway bridge in Ontario.

Goderich, prettiest town in Canada? By far.