r/ONProvincialParks

If you call the reservation will they help you book one night at a couple of the roofed accommodations.

What I mean is the sites only have one night available but I could cobble together a whole week. Would they allow that?

I'm getting really excited about an upcoming trip to Provincial Parks in Northern Ontario. The trip is 9 days / 8 nights and looks like this:

Start point: Kitchener

Chutes: 1 night

Lake Superior: 4 nights

Ivanhoe Lake: 2 nights

Undecided (Grundy Lake or Killbear): 1 night

I haven't been to any of these parks so I'm happy to get any recommendations and general feedback. If you have a hike you love or a must-try bite on the road, a cute coffeshop & trip rest place, etc.

Thank you!

What are some of the changes you’ve noticed at specific parks over the years? Good or bad?

I spent my childhood enjoying Voyageur Provincial Park, but there’s definitely been changes over the years. Maybe it’s nostalgia for the most part, but when I was last there, the signage for day activities had been taken down, garbage locations moved to a central location, and overall, it just felt hollow. The metaphorical bones of the park are still there, but the difference I felt between my younger experiences vs adult experience hit me a little hard, ngl.

Oh, and I remember there being a horse riding stable, which has been looooong grown over.

I have a couple nights of camping booked at a sweet spot on Pancake Bay. I’d like to extend the trip to make the haul from Ottawa worth it… never been further north than Agawa Bay on 17.

I’m travelling Ottawa to the Soo, spending the night there, and trying to decide whether or not to go all the way up to Neys for a couple nights before coming back down to Pancake Bay, which would be another ~5 hours, or if it’s better to just plant myself at Rabbit Blanket Lake in Lake Superior PP.

Context: August, car camping, want to do day hikes but nothing major, just looking to soak up the vibes on the most Superior of Lakes. I’ve seen the MI - WI - MN side of Lake Superior up to Thunder Bay but the ON side is a mystery to me.

Hello everyone!

I am in search of historical photos of park warden vehicles. Growing up, my family visited The Pinery every July in the 80's. I remember seeing the "Yogi's" (as my parents called them) patrol the parks in green and white LTD Crown Victorias or Chevy Caprices, often with red cherries on the roof for lights. In the 90's vehicles transitioned to an all white paint scheme with an Ontario Parks sticker on the door.

Does anyone out there have old photos of these things? Thanks for reading.

Recently camped at Balsam Lake Eco-Sites and wanted to provide a trip report. The 6 eco-sites are walk-in only and various distances from the parking lot, but all within a 5 min walk. The sites themselves are very private. E4 was my site and I didn’t hear or see anybody the entire time. You definitely get the backcountry feel but with your vehicle/other amenities close by if needed.

Each site has a tent pad, fire pit and picnic table. The tent pads are a bit small and didn’t fit my 3 person, so I ended up pitching my tent on the ground away from the pad. There are also food lockers, garbage bins and a water tap in the area.

The trails in the park are well maintained but were quite mucky after some rainy days. Definitely check for ticks after hitting the trail. Mosquitoes were pretty bad in some sections of the park too.

All-in-all a great experience for anyone trying Backcountry style camping without wanting to jump into a longer distance hike

So, what's the consensus on the new relaxed alcohol rules in the parks? Its only June and so far I've seen alcohol cans in the shower, broken, discarded wine bottles left around garbage cans, drunks on the path carrying drinks (saying inappropriate things to the women), louder than normal campsites, the list goes on...

Hey Folks.

Myself and two friends want to go on a scenic hike and camp overnight. Ideally something near a lake so we can enjoy a swim in the summer heat.

We'll be departing from Milton, Ontario, and don't want to drive more than 3 hours. Any suggestions?

Ideally want to leave in the early morning hike during the day, stay one night, and head back the next afternoon to be home by the evening. Also ideally some nice nature sites along the way.

Please advise on similar trips you've done that you enjoy!!!!

Half of us want to go to Driftwood as we found a really nice looking available spot there. However the other half doesn't want to deal with the approximate 5hr+ drive.

So they have found a half decent spot in Selkirk which is about a 2hr drive from us.

Personally, I think the spot at Driftwood looked better, at least from the video reviews and pictures I have seen. But Selkirk also doesn't look too bad. Just maybe less private and closer to marsh which I assume means more bugs?

This is why I would like to ask more people who have been there. If you ignore the drive time and had to choose between Selkirk or Driftwood, which would you pick and why?

Main things I would like to know about are:

Water quality

Campsite quality

Bug situation (will be going around mid July)

Other park activities

We'll be heading on a road trip from the GTA to Thunder Bay and plan to hit a dozen or so provincial parks along the way. I forgot to order a summer day use permit earlier and it takes 5 to 10 business days to arrive in the mail if ordered online. I'm planning on checking at Bronte Creek Provincial park to see if they have any at hand but not sure if all provincial parks have the summer permits. Has anyone bought a seasonal or summer permit on the spot at any provincial park? Edit: we leave in a couple of days and that's not enough time for the summer permit to arrive in the mail.