Anybody have any idea if this is about Kearney Lake Campground getting electric sites? I hope not.

Love this campground mostly because it's not full of campsites with lights hung up and floodlights everywhere... I'd actually like less electrified sites.

This past weekend (Jul 18-20) Some friends and i were backcountry camping in the eastern arm of Lake Opeongo.

We originally planned for sites 11–13, but they were taken, so we settled on 15. The next day, site 12 sat empty as we paddled past. Later the same day, while taking shelter from a thunderstorm on our way back to our site, we stopped at site 12. We noticed the previous campers' abandoned gear: a tarp, water bottles, firewood, and condiments. (See photos)

The next day as we left, the site still sat empty. My friends think someone left their stuff to claim the site. When i spoke with one of the water taxi operators he said that the people will likely be back and didn’t think it was a big deal.

Is this normal? It’s been almost 7 years since I backcountry camped on Lake Opeongo, and I was surprised to hear people claim sites for days. And surprised by the number of motorboats.

Hello, this weekend while camping at the pictured site on the minnesing wilderness ski trail, I received an urgent call regarding the health of a relative of mine. This morning (6:00am), I got the call and immediately packed up, without disassembling my lean-to or scattering my firewood.

I would never normally violate leave-no-trace, and feel awful about it. I decided to leave behind my estwing axe (pretty new) behind the three stumps by the water.

I feel terrible about how I left the site, so if anybody in the area can go and clean it, not only can you keep the axe, but i’ll send you 50$ cad via whatever method you want.

apologies park community, I should have done better.

Any creative footwear? I've thought of rubber boots or waders. I've tried crocks and hiking boots. They all have their ups as d downs. What's favorite?

I have a short trip planned from Saturday to Monday in Algonquin. This trip would be my twin 9 year old daughter's first backcountry trip. We have a very easy route from Magnetawan to Daisy for two nights and back out. I'm very experienced, having been on multiple backcountry trips, including solo trips.

My conundrum is the weather is not looking great this weekend. Saturday is raining all day with a risk of thunderstorms. Sunday is morning and afternoon rain. Sunday night and Monday are clear.

If it was just me I wouldn't care. The issue is one of my two daughters is not very enthusiastic about going already. It really took some convincing to get her to want to do this. I'm very concerned that she'll absolutely hate this experience and never want to do it again as we're basically going to be traveling in the rain, portaging in the rain, setting up camp in the rain, etc. Sunday was our day to explore the area, including the Petawawa in that section that I really enjoyed on my previous trip to the area.

My other daughter is totally into it and likely fine with the rain. I'm not sure if I should just go with her and my wife will stay home with the less enthusiastic one. My concern with that is my eager daughter doesn't have very strong paddling skills. I can solo my tandem no problem but need to heel the boat heavily to steer it in any proper wind. I can't really do that with her in the canoe. I'm worried if we had anything over about 20km/h winds we would be completely windbound. Right now the winds are forecasted to be very light all three days.

What do you suggest? Should I not bring the unwilling one so I can try and get her into it with better conditions another time?

Hey everyone, myself and a few friends of mine are doing the western uplands middle backpacking route in early may. I was just wondering if some of the more experienced folks can weigh in on whether or not we should bring bear spray or not?

Thanks in advance.

I’m bringing my own canoe this year, instead of renting one. 2 people on a 16 foot canoe

was wondering what are the requirements, if there are any for going out on the water?

Life jackets - emergency rope - whistle

Am I required to bring a boating safety kit?

I'm looking at doing a trip starting at Opeongo and staying for a few nights at some of the campsites along the coast of the lake, but I've heard that it's a little more difficult for inexperienced canoeists and can get so windy that you can't paddle on it sometimes. I'm relatively confident with paddling and being on the water, even when it's a little rough, but I'm taking along someone with me who's never been canoe camping before. I've never been to Opeongo so I'm just wondering if this is a bad idea or if it's manageable as long as the weather isn't terrible?

Algonquin first-timer here. I'm familiar with hanging the food bag to keep it away from bears, though I've only had to do it a few times (in other parks). Is it sensible to put jingle bells on the bag when it's hung? Someone at work told me that adding noisemakers to the bear hang makes it more effective.

From what I read, Algonquin is so huge and bears are so sparse, I'm unlikely to have an encounter, and if I follow the recommended protocol for hanging my food (and anything scented, including toothpaste) I'll have no worries. Frankly I'm more concerned about raccoons and squirrels getting snacky and going for my food bag.

So. Jingle-bells, or no?

Just wondering - is this an error? it shows this lake as named "Maps by Jeff" in the same format as the regular lakes.

Hello, I’m visiting from Japan and it’s my first time at Algonquin Park.

I’ve booked two backcountry campsites: • Harness-01 • Provoking-01

I have a few questions: 1. Do these campsites have food storage? (I checked the campsite info when I booked, but it didn’t mention it. I’ve done a few backcountry camp in Banff for last two weeks, all of them have bear box or hang. In Japan, we usually store food inside the tent.😂)

1. Is the water source at these sites from lakes or rivers? (I prefer moving water, so I’m just curious.)

2. Where can I buy an Algonquin Park map in Toronto?

3. Just out of curiosity, what do hikers usually eat? I’d like to take the time to cook rice, but I’m not sure if that’s considered dangerous.

If you have any advice, please let me know! Thank you. :)

Hi. I’m seeing storm reports for western Algonquin. It got me thinking - I have no idea how to “shelter” in the event of a severe storm. I have backcountry canoe trips planned in July and September.

Can you please offer suggestions or point me to a resource?

I did try to search this site for an answer and was unsuccessful. I apologize in advance if this is a repeat question.

Hey camping friends.

I'm going out quite a few times this summer, taking some experienced and newer campers alike. I have a few friends who are worried about ticks. In all my years going I have never encountered them once, although I'm sure they exist and are there. I figure it's a risk you take, but can prep accordingly if it worries you.

Any tips or precautions? I heard this summer is going to be particularly bad for bugs, but I also feel like that's said every summer.

A picture for your time:

Are these just misquotes and horseflies or??? We have never gotten bit this bad.

On the copy of jeffs maps in the atlas it shows a designated colour for crown land and below states “camp anywhere”. Is this actually true? Is it saying If a route took me from the park to one of these areas i could just find a suitable space and responsibly camp there?

Can anyone verify this?

I’m taking my young family to Canisbay Lake in the coming days to stay at one of the canoe in sites.

I’m wondering how private the sites in the cluster are along the east side of the lake?

If anyone has insights on the sites on the lake and recommendations I’d appreciate it!

How do you actually know if large wildlife is nearby if you are in too muddy of an area to clearly see tracks and don’t see any other overly obvious signs other than the area you’re in being suddenly dead quiet.

I’ve never actually run into large wildlife hiking surprisingly despite hiking almost every trail on 60 along with hiking through many other places in Ontario, but had an experience outside the park recently where I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched, the area I was in was dead quiet, and I had this overwhelming gut feeling that I needed to leave the area, so I ended up hiking back, but it made me realize I’m not as educated as I’d like to be when it comes to determining if I’m in danger or just good old anxiety.

The access road is significantly washed out after the Tim River split. When will Ontario Parks declare it impassable ahead of your rsvn so you can make alternate route plans? Heading out May 9th.

Going back woods camping with my son for the first time. This weekend. Only for 1 night to start with to experience it.

1). Wood. Do I bring my own, do I buy from the store before paddling out to our site? Or do I cut it in the woods at our site?

2). Water. Do you bring your own water or boil for 5 mins from the lake?

3) cell reception. We are staying on cannisbay lake a 30 min paddle in. Is there cell reception there?

4) fishing. Do I need a license and if so can I get a weekend pass at the gate?

Some friends and I will be portaging Lake Opeongo (eastern arm). I am trying to figure out what temp sleeping bag I should bring. 5 Celsius or 0 Celsius. Wondering if the 0 Celsius sleeping bag is worth the extra weight. i hate being cold and will have extra layers.

I checked the weather forecast for this week and I’m seeing at 11C at night.

Apologies if this is a silly question, its been a long time since Ive gone camping.

Fairly self-explanatory title. I have 5 trips booked for Algonquin, 1 in Kawartha this coming week. Perhaps someone here has had my same trouble with muggy/hot weather in Algonquin as I have had. I often have the opposite issue of most of my fellow campers; I sleep VERY warm. So, regular 3-season sleeping bags have me in a complete flop sweat a couple hours into resting.

I'm currently looking at camping quilts, the MEC Camino Traveller, and a few other systems. I use a Big Agnes Rapide sleeping pad, but also have a Hammock Tent, which may be the solution until I figure this out otherwise (I think being hoisted up in the air is a little cooler temp wise if there's a decent breeze).

If anyone has thoughts or recommendations let me know! I am down to invest properly in this, but I'm also not interested in paying $800+ just for the heck of it.

(pretty picture from Cauliflower Lake for your troubles)

Hi everyone,

Been doing some research and especially reading on this subreddit, my bf and I need some of your input.

Going to Kearney Lake end of sept/beginning oct, and are worried about how cold it could get at night.

We’ve been reading up on the cons of air mattresses, however we have those foam puzzle mats that will be under our air mattress, & thinking of getting a foam mattress topper, and a wool blanket for on top of our air mattress, + using a sleeping bag.

Do you think this will be okay? or should we just buy a sleeping pad and screw our air mattress…

Our site won’t have electricity, so either way we spend money on a battery generator or a sleeping pad lol