A Wet Week at Pinery Provincial Park (Part 1)

After spending Fathers Day weekend at Pinery in 2007, we decided, since we enjoyed it so much, to spend a week-plus there this year. The only thing we were worried about was the late night noise we experienced last year on the Friday night. The Park Wardens dealt with the noise the next morning, and it didn’t occur on the Saturday night. It turns out that wet weather would be our biggest issue, as it has for most of the summer in Ontario.

Last year we purchased two Coleman 5 day coolers because our ice didn’t seem to be lasting very long. On a nine-day trip such as this one, you can go through a lot of ice. The first day there, we purchased both our ice and wood within the park, paying park prices of almost $3 per bag of ice, and $7 for a bag of wood. I always like to purchase both within the park to help support the park system, but these prices over nine days would really add up. There are wood restrictions within Ontario Parks, and I am very conscious of this, as the Emerald Ash Borer has now found its way into Brampton Ontario, where I live. Outside of the park, there are many vendors selling wood, ice and anything else you might need. We ended up stopping at Shivers & Shakes (on Hwy 21), purchasing 4 bags of wood for $10, and 99-cent bags of ice. We stopped there a few times for wood and ice, and at the end of the week played mini golf (2 play free with a coupon) and had some ice cream. You will find their ad in the Pinery Information Guide.

The beach at Pinery is awesome. It is extremely long (10 km), made up of white sand, backed by high sand dunes. We spent one day at the beach, and one evening, watching the sunset. After 14 (or so) hours of heavy rain Tuesday night, extending well into Wednesday, the beach was posted due to high E.coli readings. The beach in the town of Grand Bend remained open, and we went to that beach 3 times during our vacation. Grand Bend, and its beach, remind me of a mini Ft Lauderdale when I was there in the late 80’s – lots of vendors and activity. The beach itself isn’t as nice as Pinery, it’s a little gravely, but the atmosphere is great.

On the Wednesday, during the rain, we traveled with the other family we were camping with to Goderich, about 30 minutes north of Pinery on Hwy 21. Our kids wanted to go bowling instead of hanging out in the rain for the day. Can’t blame them for that! We went to Goderich Little Bowl, luckily it was Wicked Wednesday, and we got a deal. We took a drive into the downtown, and down to the beach in Goderich. They have a very nice, well-developed waterfront. On the way back we stopped at the park in Bayfield, then took a drive down their main street (my wife and I like to visit main streets in communities – I am always impressed to see main streets that have been maintained and developed…I think it is very telling of the community). Bayfield is one of the nicest small towns I have ever visited…it is definitely worth stopping.

Image courtesy of Ontario Parks

Part 2 coming soon…

Sandbanks for Canada Day - by Kirby the Camper

This has become an annual event for my family and many of my friends and their families. Sandbanks Provincial Park is a beautiful park situated in Prince Edward County on the north shore of Lake Ontario. “The County” is where I grew up, and camping at Sandbanks for the Canada Day Long Weekend now serves as a high school reunion. Most of my friends are renting tent trailers from Bill Camp (613-393-3011), just outside of the park. He brings the trailer into the site you have reserved, sets it up, and then he comes to pick it up at the end of your holiday.

All of us have young children that look forward to this weekend, knowing that they will be camping for a number of days with their best friends. We get together as a group and book a loop of campsites. This allows our children to ride their bikes and walk the paths within “our” loop, and not get lost or worry about thru traffic on the road.

Many of us take our children fishing on the Outlet River, which runs through the baymouth sandbars that form part of Sandbanks Provincial Park. The river connects from Lake Ontario to East Lake, and depending on the winds, which can shift the water levels, the river can flow either into or out of East Lake. In the spring, after the river has been sealed off by the accumulation of sand over the winter months, Lake Ontario breaches the new sandbar, as the Lake Ontario waters rise. We seem to catch mainly sunfish and rock bass, but there are other fish in the river such as pike, and small and largemouth bass. The shoreline nearest our campsite is perfect for kids to fish from. It is constructed by gabion baskets, about 1 ft above the water level, and about 5 ft wide. My 5 yr old son has kept a running total of fish caught over the past 2 yrs camping at Sandbanks, and is up to 15 landed, a number he is very proud of.

This year was an extremely wet few days of camping, last year we had below average temperatures. Both, I hope and believe, are oddities. Neither year was ideal for taking advantage of the parks best asset; kilometers of fine sand beach. We did walk to the beach a couple of times this year, but in a perfect vacation world, we would have been at the beach every day, spending long hours in the water, and building sand castles. Instead we watch storm clouds build, and wondered whether we had zipped up all the windows in our tents and trailers.

I’m sure we will spend Canada Day at Sandbanks again next year. I hope the weather cooperates and our biggest issues are staying hydrated and applying enough sunscreen while relaxing at the beach.

See Sandbanks on a Map

Read Campsite Reviews for Sandbanks Provincial Park

- Kirby the Camper

First of the Season

The first long weekend of the camping season is over, and we hope that everyone had a safe and fun time.

Feel free to email us your camping stories and pictures - we'll post them on our blog for everyone to enjoy!

Don't forget to add a review for a campsite or campground that you stayed at this past Victoria Day Long Weekend (Canada) and those of you in the United States - we're looking forward to your campsite reviews after your Memorial Day Long Weekend.

Remember, you can also add a review for a campground or campsite that you stayed at last year, or the year before that.. and so on!

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We appreciate everyone's contributions - thank you.

Matthew
myCampsiteReview.com

Add Your Campsite Review

Hi Everyone,

We have finally enabled the, 'Add a Review' function, although we are still working out some of the kinks...

In the meantime, please feel free to add a review for an existing campsite/campground using the website, and email us a campsite photo to info@mycampsitereview.com - we'll make sure that the photo gets posted with your review. To get started, visit http://www.mycampsitereview.com/, find the campground with a campsite you have stayed at, and click the 'Add Your Campsite Review' link in the campground description.

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myCampsiteReview.com

Winter Camping?

Has anyone else out there had enough snow for this season? Winter is great and all, but don't you think that when you adjust your clocks for Daylight Savings time, or "Spring Ahead" that you should actually see some signs of Spring?

I think that next year I'll just have to give in and resort to Winter Camping.

Camping Food

Something you may or may not want to try on your next camping or hiking trip.... Canned Cheeseburger.

CLICK FOR LINK

The Warm Weather Is Coming

A couple of weeks back, we here in Brampton Ontario went through a January thaw. Temperatures were warm, the snow had melted, the birds were chirping. It was great!

One morning before school, my son, who will be 5 at the end of March, asked, “When are we going camping?” It’s a nice feeling to know that my son and I (and my wife) share a love of camping. Benjamin’s first camping trip was to Wheatley Provincial Park in southern Ontario when he was 5 months old.

It was an amazing experience for our new family, adjusting to parenthood in the great outdoors, while dealing with issues such as teething. Hopefully our neighbours weren’t bothered too much.

This spring, baby #2 will be experiencing camping at 5 weeks instead of 5 months, as we are booked into Sandbanks Provincial Park for Canada Day weekend in July. It should be another interesting week of camping.

Kirby the Camper

Searchable Campground Maps

We have updated the map page with many of the public, provincial parks in Canada. Soon you will be able to search the map for specific campgrounds and click them to display reviews and campground information.

We will be updating the map soon with campgrounds across the United States as well as many other countries.

Click here to view the map page: Campground Maps

What this is all about..

MyCampsiteReview.com is where campers can review and write reviews for campgrounds and more specifically, individual campsites.

How many times have you reserved a campsite at a campground you're unfamiliear with and upon arrival, find out that it's directly across from the garbage bins, or beside a mosquito infested swamp?

This site will allow users to view pictures and be informed on the campsite that they wish to stay at, and allow them to let other campers know of any issues with a site.

We'll be able to monitor the quality of campsites and if a particular site, or campground continually recieves poor ratings, we can contact them,allowing them improve their product.

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