Ontario Provincial Parks

[Jpjlauer]

I am planning on traveling through Ontario following the North shore of Lake Superior. There are many Provincial Parks to choose from up there, but I would like the freedom of traveling without reservations. The trip will be in August. If I get to a park and it's full, do the Provincial Parks have "overflow" overnight dry camping?

[hone_eagle]

Jpjlauer wrote:
Hamops,
Great information.
Thank you very much.

seconded, good stuff.

[almcc]

I concur with the comments about needing to reserve. Last year we tried to get into Neys in July, it was full. Pukaskwa is a good choice, they are rarely full. There is also a city park in Marathon called Penn Lake, full services and you can reserve by calling the town office. Looks like the southerners have found the north!

[Jpjlauer]

Hamops,
Great information.
Thank you very much.

[Hamops]

There are several Provincial Parks on the Lake Superior route.

Leaving Sault Ste Marie, Pancake Bay is the first park on the route. In the summer months, (July/August) it's usually full because of it's closeness to the Soo. (42 miles) The next park is Lake Superior Provincial Park. Inside the park, there are several campgrounds. They are Cresent Lake, Agawa Bay, and Rabbit Blanket Lake. Cresent Lake has no electrical sites available. The other two have electrical sites but the number are limited. Agawa Bay Campground is the only cammpground located on Lake Superior. Here is the link to LAKE SUPERIOR PROVINCIAL PARK.

Traveling north on Hwy 17, the next campground is Obatanga Provincial Park is about 20 mile southeast of White River but it has been closed as of this year. White Lake Provincial Park located about 20 miles west of White River is the next campground. White Lake has electrical sites available. This campground may be the easiest to get into. The next park is Neyes Provincial Park. It's located on Lake Superior about 20 miles west of Marathon. This a very popular park, so the availability of electrical sites may be limited. As you drive west, Rainbow Falls Provincial Park is the next campground. I can't comment on it, other than it has some electrical sites. The next park is Sibley Provincial Park. It is located off Hwy 17. I can't comment on this park.

All Ontario Provincial Parks offer minimal services. The conveniences will include a central comfort facility with flush toilets, shower and laundry facilities. As well, there are water spigots and pit toilets located throughout the campground. If you decide to take an electrical site, make sure that you have several 30A extension cables because the electrical posts can be up to a 100 feet from you trailer. The electrical posts provide 15 and 30 amp service only. There are no water or sewer hookups. Each campsite is buffered from the adjoining sites with trees and vegetation so that you can have a wilderness like experience. That is part of the reason for the need for the 30A extension cords.

If it has not already added, here is the link to ONTARIO PARKS for more information.

Because Lake Superior is a cold water lake, the weather around it, is not typical for the latitude and has a Sub-Arctic climate. It means that the weather can be quite variable on very short notice. Especially along the lake, the weather can be sunny and warm and within an hour can change to foggy, wet and cold. It would be adviseable to have the appropriate clothing available for just such an event.

[Jpjlauer]

All the comments and experiences are appreciated.
More are very welcome. I'm making notes for the trip as your help comes in.

[hone_eagle]

dieharder wrote:
I have a suspicion that, without reservations, you'll more than likely be wally-docking on weekends. You would have to be pretty lucky to get there at the right time with one of the walk-in vacancies available for a weekend. I would also believe that there is a very good possibility that those sites reserved for walk-in's will not be some of the best in the bunch and might not be suitable for you, depending on the size of your setup.

North of superior you can shoot a gun off and not hit a thing in PP campgrounds ,they are mostly or at least 1/2 empty.
Hard to believe for a camper used to SW ontario.We usally are allowed to drive around and 'come back and tell us which site you picked'

[dieharder]

I have a suspicion that, without reservations, you'll more than likely be wally-docking on weekends. You would have to be pretty lucky to get there at the right time with one of the walk-in vacancies available for a weekend. I would also believe that there is a very good possibility that those sites reserved for walk-in's will not be some of the best in the bunch and might not be suitable for you, depending on the size of your setup.

[hone_eagle]

PP have a few (10%-20% cant remember) that are unreservable and allocated on a first come first served basis.In the far north parks have closed because of underuse .(so figure it out) 🙂
Suggest a day trip to the national park in the area,Pukaskwa has limited camping ,but fabulous short hikes, nearby is the town of Marathon with a nice and mostly empty town owned park, big sites and water /electric.

[Mvander]

We have camped almost exclusivley at ont pp's and are quite happy withe the accomodations
If you plan on arriving through the week mon-thurs i have found most parks have vacancies withe the exception of the busier parks. Reservations adds about $9 to your fee regardless of your stay. i wouldrecomend reserving if you know when you will be arriving.

[michelb]

Unfortunately, according to a park employee at the gate at Sandbanks, Ontario Parks has reduced the number of sites they reserve for 'walk-ups' from 15% to 10% so it's become harder to get sites without reservations.

As mentioned, they don't have overflow and they do not usually allow overnighting in parking lots.

[CoMoCo]

Bear in mind that if you use a date range of 7 days, for example, if the site is reserved for only 1 of those days the site will show as not available for your entire date range.

[Jack_Diane_Free]

Ontario Provincial Parks do not have overflow overnight dry camping and you will be travelling in 'high season' so you may want to rethink your reservation plans. Also if you have a large RV you will need an XL site and these disappear very fast. During the week you might get lucky but weekends are probably already reserved. You can go onto the Ontario Parks site and check out how full they are right now if you want to. If you put in your date range it will tell you what is left available by each park.