We recently visited Arrowhead Provincial Park for their Fire and Ice skating nights. What an…read moreamazing experience! The skating trail is a 1.3km loop that goes throughout the forest and is lit at night with tiki torches on both the trail and the paths between the trail and parking. Beautiful surroundings, fire pits to stay warm, storage area for your belongings while you skate. Very family and community friendly. Both bathrooms and change rooms are available, along with skate rentals if needed. You do need to book in advance. Highly recommended!

Arrowhead Provincial Park is a nice medium-sized park with a few hiking trails and a great place to…read morecome see the Fall colors. Entrance into the park is easy to find, but entry is a bit slow because not everyone reserved a day pass and had to turn around. So don't forget to make a reservation ahead of time. Once you're in the park, drive to the visitor's center to get a printout of your day pass. I'm not sure why we're asked to print out the day pass only to also get another copy. The visitor's center is a good place to start as it's close to most place you'll want to see. Within a short distance walk is the Big Bend lookout. There's a small parking lot there, but it was a little flooded and park employees weren't allowing cars through. There isn't any hiking in this area, so snap that photo of the iconic landmark and go on your merry way. The lookout is fairly small and crowded with maskless visitors. On the other side is Stubb's Falls, which is an easy 2.6km loop trail. It's 1.6km to the falls on the side closest to the vistor's center, and 1km on the other side. The 1.6km trail is fairly dry, but the 1km side is very muddy, so make sure to bring waterproof hiking shoes. The falls themselves are very touristy and the majority of people who visit don't wear masks or keep their masks wrapped around their wrists. After the falls, you can head straight across to view a bridge and Arrowhead Lake. The beaches are pretty nice, but there are lots of mosquitoes here, so make sure to pack some repellant. I tried to park in this area to hike parts of the Arrowhead Lake Trail, but was turned away because parking was full. Overall, Arrowhead is a decent park, but there isn't too much to do or see here.

Park is nice, but has signs of overuse. Washrooms are kept…read moreclean. Some people abuse the facilities. I watched a guy come use the restroom, wash his hands and leave not turning the tap off. BEWARE... there is one spot in the park to get potable water, with no signage to tell you so....until you get to the campground and have to turn around go back on the highway to fill, and especially to dump your waste water.AND at the dump station there are only two dumps! We are waiting in a long lineup to dump and some people are very slow at going thru the process. I'm not amazed at any of this as it is run by the government. This is Ontarios premier park and not run very premier ....

Both times we camped there we lost power. The last time we woke up with no heat and it was -3…read more The bathrooms weren't working and the toilets were overflowing. Absolutely disgusting and we won't be back.

It's a pretty place. And they have nice good view for RV parking. I will definitely come to visit…read moreagain in the summer for camping here :)

This is a review for day-use only, as the park is actually closed for camping during this time of…read morethe year. There are a couple of day-use lots on the outside of the actual park for locals to use, I don't believe you can drive into the park proper to use it for day use. At the time we visited, Orillia was close to peak color, so it was a fantastic time. It was a nice day for a hike, and there were quite a few other people using the park as well -- there's a little beach area in the day use part as well as a playground and places for taking your dog on leash. We went and followed the trails in the park, there seems to be a few that can be used, one in the treeline and one along the lake. You can make a decent little loop of a couple of kilometers. There's nothing incredibly challenging about this little hike, to be honest, but the tree colors make for some gorgeous photos. I'll definitely want to come back and visit here and go camping during the season. A really lovely provincial park!

I'm not going to pretend that I am an expert at anything camping. This was a nice Saturday drive,…read moreright up to our reserved spot at Killbear, complete with a designated firepit and list of infractions to keep the place clean and safe. What a beautiful piece of country; Parry Sound and Georgian Bay. Trying to disconnect with the fam and enjoying some homemade burgers and roasting marshmallows, I cannot overstate the tranquility of nature and small slice of Canadiana here. Sure, we shleped to Tim's the next day for coffee and drove back, but enjoyed a long track to Lookout Point, with neither rattlesnake or Bear to be found. I guess it might be considered 'Glamping,' with restrooms and clean showers right across. But its definately a safe place for the kids to bike, hike and enjoy each other's company as a throwback to simpler times. Definately worth the 2 hour drive, but book in advance! -Zuk

From my 2019 review: This is one of my favourite parks, and as a veteran camper, who has many…read morepleasant memories of Killbear, I cannot reduce it's rating. I say this, because we had few unfortunate experiences on our last trip. First, the positives of Killbear: - beautiful, unspoiled, Canadian Shield scenery - spectacular rocky shores, which you can use as a swimming platform, and then you don't get sand in your tent - not one, but two, dog beaches; they love the doggos! - large campsites The downsides - the campsites are large, but choose carefully, as many lack privacy and are very exposed. The old growth forest means that there is little bushy undergrowth to hide you from your neighbours (I like privacy! My dogs need it or they just bark. Then we get in trouble, sometimes) - you can't buy ice in the park, but you have to drive out to get it Update 2020: Killbear is such a beautiful park, AND now you can buy ice there!! This time, we were in Lighthouse A, which I would highly recommend. Close to the beach and nice hiking trails, but choose your site wisely and pay attention to the descriptions on the website when you reserve. If it rates privacy as "poor", then be prepared for a fully exposed site. That said, there are many beautiful sites, and TWO dog beaches. This year, the Anti-Fun, Anti-Noise Police-like Neighbors did not appear (do I sound resentful? You bet I am. Last year we had to leave a day early because of these noise fanatics. Really, they should have gone on a yoga retreat. This is family camping, people, not a monastery. We paid a fee when we reserved; we did not take a vow of silence). OK, I'm done the rant. Now, back to how great this park is. It is simply beautiful. The lake is wonderful: not the Muskoka soggy bottom lake, but nice, hard granite of Georgian Bay. The granite itself is beautiful. We had such a great vacation! Go off the grid! Try it!

It's got a lot going on! Music on the barge, car shows, boat races. A baseball diamond, a tee-ball…read morediamond, a playground, volleyball net, beach, grass, food. It's everything you'd want in a park!

Gull lake Park is awesome. Lots of stuff to do, swim, walk, fish, watch sunsets, listen to music on…read morethe barge, movies on Thursdays (summertime) Baseball diamond, bike paths, snack bar! Its cleaner now since they got the business with the dog to chase away the ducks, and clean the duck poop away.

Had a great stay. Sites were big and clean and very well spaced apart. Didn't see the neighbors if…read moreyou didn't want to.

Only $30CAN per night! Rolled up on a beautiful Thursday at 9pm, just trying to get a bite and…read moresome smoked salmon/trout for breakfast the next morning, but the place was so nice, we rested our bones there instead of the other campsite we had planned to stay at. For $30 we got a spot 10' off the lake! Tons of room. Enough space for 3 tents. Had a table and fire pit built in. People seemed cool. Only there one night, and something bear-ish definitely crept past our tent and went for a midnight swim (loudly). The fishing was STRAIGHT. Caught a walleye after only 4 casts. Shoulda' ate it... The skeeters are why I have to withhold a star. Those Canadian mosquitoes are easily the most aggressive insects I've ever encountered. They didn't always bite you or leave you itching, but when they swarm, mahfucka's will LAND ON YOUR EYEBALL. No joke. I definitely huffed a few while smoking a jack too... The food at the front of the campsite (we got fish and chips) was only OK. The poutine style fries (covered in gravy and shredded cheese) were only OK too. The general store sold fishing/camping gear as well as limited groceries and such. Well, they also sold the best smoked salmon I've ever had. I bought rainbow trout, coho salmon, and atlantic salmon. The atlantic salmon, probably caught nearby and dated only 3 days prior, was drip down your forearm oily (which is a good thing when dealing with an oily fish-and besides, fish oil is about the healthiest thing in the world outside of blueberries). The coho and trout were tasty but nearly as good.

It's a beautiful day to spend at Awenda Provincial Park!…read more We walked while others were biking the trails enjoying the outdoors while not having to wear a mask but social distancing when encountering others. Remember to pay and display your park use permit on your vehicle dash; strictly enforced or you can pay a $30 parking ticket. The machine accepts cash or credit card. It was a $15.50 charge for day use since the machine didn't allow an hourly selection. Gorgeous and tranquil nature along the shores of Georgian Bay.

I pulled a 'walk in' at Awenda park last weekend (July 1st long weekend). Have never been to Awenda…read morebefore, but read stellar reviews so my friends and I thought we'd give it a try. I knew we could only get walk in, but I didn't realize that if they have sites available, you can only have it for one night. They keep approx 60 sites each night for walk ins. Since we wanted to stay for two nights, we had to put our name on a 'roll call' list for the 2nd night. We also had to be at the office for 1pm SHARP and if our name was called, we got a 2nd night. I don't understand how, if they have 60 sites on Friday, they don't have 60 sites on Sat, since you can only stay for one night without getting on the list. But the next day they only had 5 sites available. Luckily we got there early enough and we got 2nd on the list, and got a site across the road (still in Turtle). A short move. The park itself is huge. There are 5 campgrounds in the park I believe. We chose Turtle. There are also 4 beaches, one dedicated to the fury friends. YOU WILL NEED TO DRIVE TO ALL THE BEACHES. If you try and walk, be ready for 45 minor 1.5 hr walk. They are not close. If you have bikes, the ride is nice, but also a bit far... and there's a steep hill on the way to the beaches so be ready to walk or I hope you're cardio is good :) I can only speak for Turtle... it was lovely, sites spaced far apart and heavily shielded above from the sun. Large, tall hardwood trees cover the park. There is warning of lots of poison ivy. Even though they have a plant at the office, I still couldn't spot it in the forest. Thankfully I didn't run into any. Bathrooms were relatively clean, till of course the next morning when there's flies and moths flying about. They close the bathrooms from 11:50-12:10 daily to clean them. The beaches are ROCKY. VERY VERY ROCKY. On beach 1 there is a sandy part on the FAR left (when looking at the water) that has been cleaned up a bit so you can walk on the sand. Otherwise, if you try to walk out in the middle, you will be stepping on rocks and it friggin hurts. Ladies: do not get a pedicure before you go to the beach. You'll be severly p-o'd if you did. I never do, but just a word of advice. I would definitely go back, try the other campgrounds. I hear there are some nice trails for hiking... the road to the beach is a hike itself.. It's nice and only 2hrs from Toronto. Great getaway!

This is one of the most beautiful Provincial Parks I've been too. Great staff, very clean campsites…read morewith good amenities that are all close. The beaches are very clean as well and gorgeous views! I'd recommend Silent Lake to everyone. Keep up the great work :D

I absolutely love this Provincial Park! The lake is beautiful and so quiet without having the…read moremotor boats on it. If you love to camp and love a quiet place this one of the best parks to go to!!