tanjian

I'm looking out the window salivating at the coming patio and camping season... oh yeahhhhh!!!

I usually start booking in Jan and Feb, because its tough to get the good camping sites for the appropriate weekends.

I've been trying to hit Killbear for the long weekend for three years now... and again no spots (I tried booking 12 hours after it opened for certain dates and they had no spots left... pisses me off). Who the heck are these losers who stay up all night just to get these spots (aside me offcourse)???

1) Just wondering... where are your favourits camp grounds?

I usually hit grand bend on Canada Day (pinery)

other than that...

Sandbanks, Six mile lake (the sites right beside the lakes), Tobermory - cyprus lake, algonquin's Mew, opeongo sites...

2) anyone know of last minute camping spots that are good, with no reservations needed (not the party ones with drugged out, drunk kiddies)?

rjngo

we have been going to algonquin park, KOA, tobermory and more...

i don't think you can just camp without reservations...not sure if there's any campgrounds that permits this

coreyhayman

try bon echo, that place is beautiful! there tons of trails and huge cliffs along the water

tanjian

Been to Bon Echo... or was was it Bonnecher... actually both a while ago... is bon Echo the one with the big rock face you climb on?

Someone posted North Sauble camp ground (no reservations needed), wouldn't mind trying it out... though it sounds more party place than camping... and just getting too old for that...

Not too impressed with the KOAs...

by far Six Mile, and Sandbanks seems to have the best sites (select primo ones)... had a site once that had its own driveway... wickedness....

Opeongo has got sites where you have the entire island to yourself, private beach... offcourse its more portaging... and you've got to the environmentally friendly packing...

Brett

Rockwood has nice camping and not to far from the GTA.

imported_viper_2_4

J-SKI

grand bend, six mile lake, sand banks are all great spots. I'm going to three mile lake this year in aug for the second year in a row. here's a lil tip on gettin gthe spot you want: people aren't booking as soon as the "polls open up" like you tried, they're booking spots when they're going home from the previous trip. pre-book the year before bro! as for last minute ideas, sorry i don't have any but try checking ontarioparks.com

tanjian

JSKI... thanks for the tip bro... didn't know you could do that...

from what I've read of the policies... you can only prebook 5 months from the date.

Apprarently, the province is tryin to crack down on the rollover bookers (people who'd book a site for a month then cancel the entire month except for 3 days...) which was common practice two years ago...

will check into this...

Cynikal.Mindset

killbear or whatever is nice but I prefer my backyard...I can run an extension cord so I have electricty for my beer cooler and tv

J-SKI

Ha-Ha! tis funny no?

tanjian

He he... true enough...

but they have electric equiped sites now dude... so you never have to worry about the age old problem of warm beer!!! There shall be no tragic events tolerated...

You remind me of a buddy of mine who brought a DVD/TV and an XBOX.... to his site...

it was surreal playing XBOX while camping...

went camping in a coworker huge trailer once... now that was pimpin!!!... damn thing expands while parked...

TranceaddicT

cyprus lake campsite is my fav. great hike to stone beach.
grand bend is great too.. duuuunes!

shlammed

long point

Gallagher

- Portabackyarda



But on a good note, go to Glen Echo. I find it really good there cuz I fit right in

marker

Well, almost all require reservations to guarantee there will be a site for when you arrive. The provincial parks keep a few sites open and "not reservable" to serve people who show up at the gate without reservations, but in summer you almost have abetter chance at winning the lottery than getting one of these sites.

There are some exceptions... the Mew Lake campground in Algonquin Park almost always has open sites between late October and early April. You may need to bring a snow shovel during some of that time. Same goes for Bronte Creek, McGregor Point, The Pinery, and one other I can't recall at he moment.

Mew Lake is good though. You can drive in and have access within steps to bike trails, hiking trails, canoeing, fishing, swimming.

Best part of off-season camping is - no biting insects, fewer screaming kids, less of the camping in a Walmart parking lot effect.

DumbasSi

I always liked Elora Gorge. The Pinery is nice and I camped on an island at Honey Harbour once that is part of the Georgian Bay Islands National Park.

Leaf93

Across the border but finger lakes is sweet :-)

tanjian

My coworker lovers longpoint too... that's the only place she goes. Never been there but I think I'll try and hit it this year.

Finger lakes I hear is really nice. Passed by one time going to Philly. I got roasted by mosquitoes... seems like there was just so many of them down there.

imported_2join performance

Elora gorge is beautiful, and they have the best ice cream shop up there.
My favourite spot for camping has got to be pinery though, like you mentioned. Although I don't go camping often.

lowprofile

gooood ideas, i want to go to Bon Echo. Cliffs and other interesting hiking sights are good.

I haven't been many places camping yet, just McGregor Point and some crown land... the site we (me and my gf) had at McGregor Point wasn't that great, basically just a parking spot off a driveway with a small fire pit, maybe 10 metres from other sites that were the same.

Are all places like that, or do some actually give you an acre of relatively unmolested land?