Hi there, I'm heading up to Algonquin in late June for the long weekend for a camping trip with some friends. It'll be our first trip to the park and we were looking for advice on campsites. Judging by past camping experiences elsewhere in Ontario, the parks site isn't the greatest for getting reliable info about the best sites and spots.

Anyway, we're car-camping so we figured on reserving one of the sites along Hwy 60. I've heard Pog Lake and Canisbay Lake are both good - which would you recommend? We're four people, camping in tents, looking for a nice, private campsite (non-electric).

Any insider tips/tricks?

Cheers!

Sarah

I like Canisbay. It's quiet, the sites that I have camped on have been great, lot of privacy.

Thanks What's the best area of the park, in your opinion? Where are the best sites at? Also, any advice on hiking trails would be great.

If you can afford the time and can find the resources, check out some of the crown land that spans Haliburton to Bancroft areas. There's a ton of it out there. Lots of roads leading to unoccupied lakes, many of which are stocked, and completely private. I mention this because there are no fees, no hooligans with loud music (I've heard other users complain about this), etc. There are free topographic maps that list Forest Access roads in these areas, but you'd probably want a recommendation the first time going in. It's easy to take a wrong turn on those roads!

But Algonquin's a great park, too! I just prefer it for Interior trips.

I would suggest Pog as a first choice, but your chances now of getting a good site probably aren't good.

I would have to agree about Pog Lake.

The sites are nice, and the facilities excellent. Unfortunately, the likelyhood of getting a good site now is pretty close to zero. The best sites are the ones in the 400's (my favorites being 435 and 431), with many haveing water access. To give you an idea of the competitive nature of gettiong a prime site, I have #435 booked for a week in July. I made that reservation (and had to pay for it in full) back in February.

Another nice car campground, that is a little less competative would be Mew Lake. The "first come-first served" i.e. non bookable site #123 is really nice if you can get it.

The really nice thing about Algonquin though is that since there is so much to do, even if you have a less then perfect site, it wont really matter, as you'll only use your site to cook and sleep at.

As for trails, my favorites are Big Pines and Lookout. Both, are not that challenging, and fun for kids. As well, the Logging museam trail is really interesting, and acts as a giant outdoor museum that my kids loved.

Good luck, and enjoy the park; like Bo sais, its the best.


Jeff P
http://algonquincanoeing.blogspot.com/

If you are intent on a drive-in campground on the Highway 60 corridor, I heavily recommend Canisbay and Rock Lake. Both are set back from the highway, avoiding the noise of trucks through the night.

Canisbay campground is large. It has some semi-private sites. However, it's sizeable beach faces north and is open to the north wind.

Rock Lake campground is at the end of a sideroad (travel time). It's sites aren't very private, but it's two campgrounds are smaller and "cozier". One beach faces south and the other faces west (more sheltered).

My personal favourite from pre-interior years gone by is Rock Lake's southmost campground .. close to the beach .. not private, but interesting to young kids.

Barry Bridgeford
(central York Region)

When you check in to get your camping permit at whatever campground you chose, they will have information on all the hiking trails within Algonquin.

By the way, like Barry, I too would recommend Canisbay and/or Rock Lake.

Rock Lake campground as a hiking trail within it (Called Booth's Rock trail), at least I think that is what it is called.


Bo

Thanks so much for the advice. I checked and there are still a few sites left in the Pog Lake 400s, though I have to wonder if the ones that are leftover are so for a reason. Are any of the following sites any good: 440, 442, 445, 422, 417, 415, 412, 410, 409, 407, 404, 403, 401? Some of them are listed as "good" by Ontario Parks, but I know that's not always all that accurate.

Alternately, what's the best area of Canisbay campground? Would you recommend that over Pog Lake? Keep in mind we're tent camping.

Thanks!

Hi Coffeeloverfreak ....

Out of the sites you mentioned, in my opinion #440, #442 and #445 would be the better ones. The others tend to be in more open areas and not very private.

At Canisbay, site #222 is nice and private, and #227 has a semi-private beach attached to it, but people sometimes pass through the site to go there which I found annoying at times.

If you are canoeing, the paddle in sites are nice, especially the ones on the far shore.

Good Luck!



Jeff P
http://algonquincanoeing.blogspot.com/

Sarah,

If you're planning on doing alot of canoe exploring, Pog might be the place to go because you can head in two different directions from there either to Lake of Two Rivers or over to Whitefish/Rock Lakes. I personally like Pog for the above reason. There's also volleyball nets there if you and your friends are into that and you're not too far from the Visitor Centre (certainly closer than Canisbay). If you end up with a hankering for ice-cream, you can fishtail on over to the Lake of Two Rivers store - usually a must stop when we're car camping at Pog. In the end, you'll be happy wherever you go because you'll be in the greatest park in Ontario. Have fun!

Harry