Going with 4 stars on this one because that's what it deserves, but honestly for me it was a 3 star…read moreexperience. If you DO have a dog (and u r bringing ur furchild with u) and/or if u DONT have a boat...then likely u will find this a 3 star experience as well, if not less.
Location: 4h from Montreal, a super easy drive straight through Ottawa to the end of the 417 then off on some county roads. Easy peasey. Once you get to the county roads it's beautiful hills of forests with lakes and ponds that appear out of nowhere. Quite pretty. This campground is not even 1 hour away from Algonquin Provincial Park so that's why we chose it (Algonquin was fully booked, this was our 2nd choice).
Campsites: Oh boy. Warning: objects in photos on the reservation site appear larger than they are in real life! We chose site 62 thinking its' marsh led into Bonnechere River, this was not the case. The marshes do NOT lead to the river so if you want a water front site (which I highly recommend) you're going to have to pick one that specifies RIVER ACCESS. (Basically you want sites: 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 83, 85, 87, 88, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97 or 99. Only some of these options are perfect, but hey, for direct river access it's worth it). The campsites are large enough for tents and/or trailer combinations with shelters, have 2 picnic tables which are movable and a decent short iron firepit with grill. You'll be pitching your tent on sand, so easy to peg.
Scenery: the beautiful lake at this campground was stunning! Typical Ontario forestry in the valley of the mountains. The variety of trees at our campsite alone was awesome.
Weather: It rained for a whole day and night but other than that we were pretty lucky, not too cold. Weather is more predictable here than other mountainous territory, so using your weather app is a good idea to prepare. Build a rain shelter stat. You'll thank me.
Commodities/Accommodations:
- DOGS ALLOWED! ***However you cannot bring your dog anywhere close to the gorgeous beach. That sucks and severely limits the areas you can enjoy if you don't have a waterfront site. (We spent all our time fishing off a boat launch area in between sites 91 and 93 'cuz that's as close as we could get to the water with Irie).
- Several comfort stations all with flush toilets and showers, a few with laundry machines too.
- Dry vaults with sinks to wash your hands, evenly spaced in the loops, quite stinky but did the trick.
- Park store with variety of food, supplies, wood (2/12$, 5$ kindling), ice (3.50$), worms(4$), gifts etc. They even have wagons you can borrow to trek your wood to your car.
- Kayaks and canoes rental (35$/d 8$/h)
- A few rustic cabins to rent off in the trails with river access at some of them
- The only sites with electrical access do not have access to the river (which is fine for me but I mention it for those who require outlets)
- Very VERY well kept clean park with amazing friendly staff (even reimbursed 100% of one of our nights due to a family emergency)
Activities:
The "FIT trail" at Bonnechere Campground is much, much smaller than it looks on the map and while it's pretty and simple, if you don't happen to do this trail while here, trust me it's no big deal.
GO TO ALGONQUIN PROVINCIAL PARK! Not an option, you cannot come to this campground and not go take advantage of the hiking trails at Algonquin for 17$ for everyone in your car to have access. It's an hour away down the 60 and my gawd! You have to do this!
Wildlife: apparently there was an "Active Bear in Campground" for most of the days we stayed but we never ran into him/her. Plenty of adorable, obviously hand fed, chipmunks (they came right up to our feet without anything in our hand to offer them). Even saw some kool turtles basking on the fallen logs in the marsh behind our site. Plenty of different birds, friendly blue jays, even saw a Pied King Fisher!! Also saw a coupla turkey vultures chilling on posts on the roads. Tons of frogs and toads of all sizes. Caught plenty and plenty of pumpkinseed sunfish, someone else caught a pike n someone else caught a large mouth bass.
Overall if your goal is Algonquin and you waited too long to book your site there...go ahead and come here but still plan your days to go to Algonquin. Otherwise, if you have a boat or don't have a dog you will seriously love this place!
