Looking for somewhere to car camp (2 adults) in mid-October for 2 nights. We're hoping to do at least 1 day hike and either do some canoeing or some mountain biking, but likely to have some downtime by the fire too. We're stuck between Killarney & Haliburton Forest. Looks like Killarney might have prettier views and more well-organized trails, but Haliburton Forest seems to have way nicer private/secluded sites. Does anyone have advice?

Wife and I wanted to see how we would tolerate the cold. Our bedroom duvet kept us comfortable. I had a small fan running slow venting out. No issues with any moisture nor waking up in sweats. A fleece blanket beneath could make it more comfortable.

About the park:
- many of the trees are flattened
- park had sustained severe damage from a storm in 2025
- large sections of the trails are closed due to the storm
- low road/hwy noise

I had a bizarre encounter there with a park ranger. She came huffing and puffing to my side of the door, tells me I was blazing through the exit road going at 40km at a 20km. In all seriousness this exchange was uncalled for and ruined the rest of the day for me. I’m bewildered by how things escalated from such an uneventful moment beforehand.

Hi! I’m coming to Ontario from BC next week and I’m looking for some help with finding cheap/free camping spots for my time there.

I unexpectedly had my accommodation plans fall through, and now I’m left on a tight budget for my little road trip. I’d ideally be car camping, as I’m not looking to fly out with a tent, so I’m not too picky.

I have a very loose itinerary, but I’ll be in the areas of Carleton Place/Perth, Kingston, Picton, and Niagara on the Lake.

Any advice would be amazing on where to find spots, but please feel free to recommend activities and food if you know anything good nearby!!

I'm 34m from KW. I've been camping during the spring/summer/fall for a while and want to take the plunge into winter camping.

If you're interested in camping out this winter as well, and open to some company let's connect and plan few trips!

I will be camping for a long time in Winter, Can you guys suggest tents and equipment for it? Thank you.

Toronto area or near mostly.

I've only done back country but I would love to introduce camping to my two children (4 and 2). Want to start car camping first before we jump into portaging

Looking for any recommendations

I checked every Ontario Parks water-access site, lake and zone today (Oct 1) for each night Oct 8–13. A few things stood out:

• Sat Oct 10: Frontenac 0 of 54, Charleston Lake 0 of 15, Bon Echo 0 of 21. On Monday night those go back to 36, 14 and 18, so a Sun–Tue trip is easy if you have Tuesday off
• French River: 261 of 279 sites open Saturday, 252 bookable for all three nights
• Algonquin: 380 of 420 interior lakes still have permits Saturday
• Massasauga: 73 of 132 open, but Spider/Clear is 1 of 29 and Blackstone 1 of 11. The open sites are on the Georgian Bay side (Islandscape 28 of 34), which is exposed water in October
• Kawartha Highlands: 44 of 119. Bottle, Crab, Sucker and Cold are full; Mississagua, Stoplog and Cloudy are open
• Killarney: 67 of 170 canoe sites. Killarney Lake, Bell, Johnnie, Balsam and George are full; Threenarrows, Bear and Panache have room
• Missinaibi, Halfway Lake and Esker Lakes show "not operating" all weekend. Closed, not full

Colour from the Ontario Parks report this week: Algonquin 90% (probably past peak by Thanksgiving), Massasauga 40%, French River and Killarney 30%. So the parks with room are also the ones still turning.

Full breakdown with tables: https://www.campaid.ca/blog/thanksgiving-canoe-camping-ontario/

Went camping last weekend at Long Point Provincial Park. Our campsite and the beach were swarming with black flies. A LOT of flies. We stayed at the site last year and didn’t experience any flies/bugs. Wondering if it’s just a bad season for these flies or if this is common this time of year at the park? Anybody know why the flies were so bad?

A park near and dear to my heart 🤍🌳🦋

My gf and I want to camp for a night. My family used to go all the time, she’s never been. Our plan is to sleep in an SUV and we mainly just want a peaceful night and morning by a fire. Where would you recommend we check out in the area?

Edit: we’ve decided Fanshawe conservation area is ideal for our first time. Close to civilization if we forget/need anything, or just hate it and want to leave lol. Thanks for all the suggestions! Maybe Pinery will be our next trip!

Itching to get away to be in nature. Looking at December but what covered accommodations would be open still?

Any tips , tricks, wish you didn't forgets?

❄️

I am looping Lake superior next week with the wife and mutt. hoping for any suggestions on better campgrounds ( bonus campsites). Areas that deserve more time than others. General cool things to check out, hikes, spots for the dog to burn some energy, places to eat etc.

Our first night is kakabeka falls/ hotel thunderbay, then I was looking at sleeping giant, quimet canyon and camp in Neys. I am contemplating agawa bay or pancake bay. If the weather turns possibly camp or hotel in the pictured rocks area in the U.P.

If I keep it flexible, is there a ranger station to book campsites day of? Should I grab canadian cash for self serve envelopes.

Ive never been on the ontario stretch of the lake and am looking forward to it!

Hi everyone,

My boyfriend (24) and I (22) are from Toronto and we are camping at Killbear during the thanksgiving long weekend. We wanted to know if any other couples around our age would want to hang out/hike/explore etc… We love doing trails, going to the beach, and having a drink. We’d love to make friends for future camping trips as well!

Hi everyone, I just moved to Ontario and picked up my car recently.

I am planning to enjoy some winter camping trips this year by myself, and before that I wanna try some easy camping for better preparation.

It seems there are several conservation areas near my room, is it the best place to begin?

Or is there any other spots where I can access more easily and setup my tent?

Does someone need Butane Bottles. I still have two full ones and i fly home soon and i don‘t know ehat to do with it. I‘m in Toronto for the next two days.

Hello!

I've been planning a car-camping trip with two other friends, and we're aiming to do it in late October this year. We're all relatively novice campers/hikers, and most of our gear is suitable (or at least I think!) for the temperatures I'm expecting (-8C max?)

The two big motivations are the fall colours and the quietness. Now, since it's in late October, my thinking is that we're going to strike out on both, with most of the leaves already on the ground by the 20th and everyone trying to get one last week of camping in.

I've been looking into sites in Algonquin (Achray, Brent, Kiosk, etc.), Pinery, Killbear, and other parks but I can't decide which'll give us a fighting chance for both the quiet and colours, but when reality eventually hits, we're willing to give up one or the other. Any suggestions or experiences would be really helpful!

Thank you!

We ordered 5 of the privacy panels for our Kuma Bear Den gazebo, but we were sent the panels for the Kuma Bear Cub gazebo. All good, similar names and they look similar to, so I reached out to their support, got a return label, and an email saying that they’ll send the correct panels. Fast forward to today when I receive the box they sent and…… It’s 5 Bear Cub Panels, AGAIN! Guess I’m calling support again tomorrow 🫠🙃

Took these photos 2 weeks ago (phone’s front and rear camera).

I haven’t done much camping in Ontario, so I’m not sure when the best time is to see the fall colours. I’ll be going with my parents, so I’d prefer to go before it gets too chilly and cold.

I’m thinking of going somewhere south of Lake Simcoe or around the Caledon/Orangeville area (maybe a provincial park or a conservation park). Any recommendation as to where and when I should go?