Where to camp in ON, Canada?

[brockthecool2]

Hey Canadians! Me and my family just moved up to Ontario Canada near the Waterloo area. My brother and I are wanting to go backpacking sometime next week. The only thing is we don't know where to go... We are trying to find some good Crown Land somewhere, but haven't found much. We wanted to go to the Bruce Penisula provincial park but costs way to much to go just for a few nights and there are to many rules that you have to go by. So any of y'all know of good places to go???

Thanks,
Brock

[ggreaves]

North Frontenac Parklands would be about 4 hours from there and has some beautiful canoe routes and paddle-in sites. It's crown land but it's managed by the municipality so it's not free.

http://www.northfrontenacparklands.c...wer/index.html

For backpacking, Frontenac Provincial Park has over 160km of trails organized in loops and numerous backcountry sites. In fact, I'm headed in there tonight.

http://frontenacpark.ca/

These are both in eastern Ontario.

[VictoriaGuy]

You won't find a lot of Crown Land where camping is allowed in Southern Ontario.

There are lots of great day-hiking possibilities near you:
Bruce Trail
Grand Valley Trail http://www.gvta.on.ca/


Bruce Trail camping info:
http://brucetrail.org/pages/trail/camping
Buy the Bruce Trail Guidebook if you are going to be in the area a while....

Any decent-length backpacking and camping will require a longer drive.
Bruce Peninsula
Algonquin Park - there are a few hiking loops with camping, though it is really a canoe paradise

[jimmay]

I know some of the people up your way camp at Valens Conservation Area.

http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/v...servation-area

A couple of weeks ago I did a 4 day hike and camp at Frontenac Provincial Park. There is pretty good canoeing here as well.

[Bubba]

Welcome to Ontario!
Algonquin Provincial Park is where I go most of the time. It has 3 backpacking trails and is a canoeist paradise. The 2 closest trails are the Western Uplands Backpacking Trail and the Highlands Backpacking Trail and are about 3.5 to 4 hours away from you. The Eastern Pines backpcking trail is on the eastern side of the park and is a lot longer drive. I've done both the Western Uplands and the Highlands trails and they are quite nice. All the campsites are on lakes.
Kilarney Provincial Park is a little further but I hear more scenic. It also has backpacking and canoeing.

[sturgeon]

Ontario Crown Land Atlas....you'll see Southern Ontario is the worst place to live in that regard...just so densely populated and owned by somebody or other.
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business...DU_137972.html

This video is by a HammockForums member! He explains the process of finding good spots to crownlandcamp on..using the atlas, checking the access roads, etc.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=snbMdL0ZK1M

[keg]

I know people stealth camp along the Bruce Trail but much of it is technically private land.

There are also a couple 'non-operating' parks where you can LNT camp with no fee. I hiked in the Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands just north of Orillia earlier this summer. It is part of the Ganaraska trail network and has a few established camp sites but you can LNT camp pretty much anywhere except at the access points. Be warned though that there hunting permits issued in the park so you might want to check what is in season and wear something bright.

If you don't need an actual trail, the links sturgeon posted are useful.

[Jayson]

If you just want to camp and not hike. I have access to several blocks of private bush that we can camp on. I am about an hour west of you...Goderich area.

[brockthecool2]

Hey guys thanks for all the help guys!

Jayson, thanks for the offer but we are kinda wanting to hike a little... I might take you up on that someday, though!