Ontario Parks Camping 2020

[Etch]

Several of us have been discussing camping at Ontario Parks this summer in another, more general, thread. I thought I would move the conversation over here so we could share information and questions. I have a few posts in mind so i'll start with those.

 

[Etch]

Current Opening Plans and Dates:

Theses are the opening plans for parks located within health regions allowed to move into phase 2 opening. Those parks still in phase 1 are open for some day use activities. Before you go to a park in either phase, check the park website to see what is open at each park.

June 12: Beach access begins to open as maintenance and water testing are completed.

June 22: Camping begins to open at most phase 2 parks this week. The Ontario parks website has a complete list of which days each park will open on.

Parks not opening for camping at this time:
Aaron
Darlington
Long Point
MacLeod
Ojibway
Pakwash
Pinery
Rock Point Selkirk
Sibbald Point
Turkey Point

Bronte Creek - *listed as opening July 10*

 

[Etch]

Amenities:

From the Ontario Parks Website:

We will start gradually opening campgrounds and more facilities and services including providing washrooms, drinking water and opening trailer sanitation stations. The remaining backcountry camping will also now be available at all provincial parks and conservation reserves.

Reservations for arrivals up to and including the park specific extended closure date will be automatically cancelled and you will receive a full refund with no penalty. There is no need for you to contact Ontario Parks to receive your refund.

We also plan to slowly open roofed accommodations, park store and rental operations, visitor centers, playgrounds and sports fields when we are able to do so.
Facilities such as showers, laundry, group camping, picnic shelter rentals and swimming pools will remain closed for the season.
We are actively working as quickly as we can to open as many facilities and services as possible for this season.

 

[Etch]

I also wanted to mention that Ontario Parks has eliminated it's cancellation fees for the season. So if you need to cancel, for whatever reason , you will receive a full refund.

 

[Etch]

Availability looks pretty good at most of the parks through the summer except for the really popular parks (Pinery, Killbear, Killarney, Bon Echo, Sandbanks) I would encourage anyone to try some of the other parks though as there are many, less popular, hidden gems.

Electrical/Trailer sites are a little harder to come by as well.

 

[bankr63]

Just to add for those who like the St Lawrence Parks (Run by the Ministry of Culture rather than the Ministry of Negative Results), they have also announced tentative reopening plans:

Delayed Opening
Parks of the St. Lawrence campgrounds will continue to remain closed to all transient camping, including roofed accommodations, until June 25 for Ivy Lea and Woodlands Campgrounds and June 30, 2020 for all other campgrounds. Customers will receive a full refund with no penalty. Our team will be in touch directly via email and phone. You are welcome to make changes to your 2020 reservations, depending on availability.

Our teams have been hard at work assessing each campground and their feasibility to open during these difficult times, with the health and safety of our visitors and staff being a priority.

We may just make it; our first booking is Woodlands on June 26th. The Commission indicates that it may decide to extend closing dates however.

They will NOT be opening washrooms/showers/common facilities, so tent camping will be very difficult. We did just order a poop tote to make mid-week cleanout easier.

 

[pigletto]

I would love some input on where to reserve if anyone has any suggestions. We would be tent camping over the Civic Holiday long weekend. I looked at Algonquin and Bon Echo but both are fully booked. I am not opposed to a smaller park but I am not familiar with most of them.
We like sites that are somewhat private but we realize it can’t be secluded, especially on a holiday weekend. We like to do some hiking but also like if there is some sites to go see nearby or small town to explore if possible.
Our family cottage is not far from Killarney so that one is out too. We would be coming from Niagara and wouldn’t want to drive much more than 6 hours .
Any suggestions ?

 

[pigletto]

I ended up booking Murphy’s point. It looks like a very pretty area with lots of treed sites. If we can explore the greater area we will, but are just as happy to stick to our site and read and play board games.

 

[CanadianKrista]

So we usually do a mix of using the washrooms and the trailer, mostly for the clean water tank capacity. What do people do to refill that tank without packing up and over to the trailer station?

 

[bankr63]

I ended up booking Murphy’s point. It looks like a very pretty area with lots of treed sites. If we can explore the greater area we will, but are just as happy to stick to our site and read and play board games.

Murphy's Point is a fun park @pigletto. Spent a lot of time there when the kids were little and we were tent camping; we don't go as often now as the trailer sites aren't as nice. There are two small beaches, but rarely busy. It is on a quiet country road, cycling and hiking are great around there. Not much activity in the Ottawa Valley this summer, but normally Perth is a great little town, and (Smith's Falls nearby as well) would normally have some activities going on. But it is a good park for just chilling and enjoying nature as well.

If you are looking for another park outing, try Lake St Peter, just outside Algonquin on the East side, it is a great little park with lots to do in the area. That's our August outing this year.

 

[Jrb1979]

So we usually do a mix of using the washrooms and the trailer, mostly for the clean water tank capacity. What do people do to refill that tank without packing up and over to the trailer station?

We have a honey wagon that we use. Its portable

 

[bankr63]

So we usually do a mix of using the washrooms and the trailer, mostly for the clean water tank capacity. What do people do to refill that tank without packing up and over to the trailer station?

There are a couple of ways to fill, and I do either one depending on how close the nearest water is.
The most effort is to use our 5 gallon water jug to transport water and pour it into the gravity fill. I have an "offset" funnel to help with this; mine is actually an oil fill funnel from the automotive department at Canadian Tire. We generally bring two big jugs of city water on our trips for drinking water only; even if park water is potable, it doesn't necessarily taste great and no telling what the last person did at the faucet (I've seen a few things I can't unsee). Need to at least empty the first jug before needing a refill.

The easiest way if you are close to the tap is to just temporarily run a potable water hose from the faucet to your gravity fill and top off. And by close, you don't need to be that close; last year one camper a full loop away from us managed to string together 3 or 4 hoses to refill their tanks. Other campers will probably let you run across their sites temporarily if you ask politely; maybe not quite so much in COVID times. Note that if the faucet does not have threads you can use a handy little device called a water bandit to attach. It is simply a flexible rubber tube in a slight funnel shape that attaches to the end of a threaded hose and then jams onto the end of the spigot. You will probably have to hold it in place, but it works well enough. https://www.amazon.ca/Camco-22484-2...eywords=RV+water+bandit&qid=1592241074&sr=8-1

My black and gray tanks are each roughly the same size as my fresh tank, so I can go two fills before I need to dump and with judicious use (nightime only) we can go a week without needing to dump. I have a honey wagon being delivered this week as I expect we will need it this year with the washrooms closed at our favorite parks. Even in our Provincial Park stay I think I will be more comfortable using the trailer toilet for the entire stay.

 

[Etch]

With the announcement of additional phase 2 regions, only a handful of parks will not be opening next week:

Still closed until further notice:
MacLeod
Ojibway
Pakwash

Scheduled to open July 10:
Bronte Creek

 

[thr33boys]

I have to say I love the no change fee this year. I was able to find a Sandbanks ressie Jul 4-6 at West Lake about a week ago so I took it. Then I switched it to Jul 3-5 in Woodlands when a site opened up there, even though it was in the field, the dates worked better. Tonight, I switched it to another site within Woodlands that has partial shade. I was also able to extend my Pog Lake (Algonquin Park) ressie by a night to align with availability the next day at Arrowhead. I'm one happy camper

 

[CanadianKrista]

We extended two of our trips as well - We now have 3 nights (was 2) in Sharbot Lake, 4 in Bonnechere on the August long weekend (was 3) and 5 in Sandbanks I was so happy to snag a Woodlands shaded site for 5 days in August when we usually go to Sandbanks, but had planned to be in Disney this year!

 

[petunia]

We havent been camping in years and with likely not going to Disney this year we'd like to..are there a few less than 2 hours away good for teens/swimming, we are in Durham? Thanks!

 

[Etch]

Sandbanks is probably the nicest beach for swimming within 2 hours of you. However, it is very popular and may not have availability depending on when you want to go.

Balsam Lake and Sibbald Point would be my other suggestions if Sandbanks is full.

The Ontario Parks website is really well done and has an individual page(s) for each campground. I would have your teens check out the different park activities (canoeing, biking, hiking etc.) and figure out which one they think might like to try.