In a previous post, I discussed road traffic noise at campgrounds. Few readers commented on train noise as worse than road traffic buzz. Here I estimate rail noise at 62 Canadian campgrounds. In Ontario, the pattern emerges in two groups:

Lake Superior campgrounds — Neys, Rainbow Falls, Kakabeka Falls — sit on the transcontinental line along the north shore. Fewer trains, but very close, and Neys at 68 metres is the closest camping to an active railway anywhere in the Ontario system.

Windsor–Toronto–Montreal corridor campgrounds — Darlington, Bronte Creek, Komoka — are the opposite: further from the track, but on the busiest passenger and freight corridor in the country, where 40 to 46 trains a day is normal. Darlington's Hilltop campground manages both problems at once: 324 metres from a line carrying 40 trains daily, and 400 metres from Highway 401. It is the noisiest combination in the province by our estimates.

See my full blog here for more data and tips on getting a quiet campsite for your next trip: campaid.ca/blog/train-noise-canadian-campgrounds/

Went on a father daughter camping trip with my dad (and his cat, pictured in the slideshow) to Killbear in June and ripped a roll of film. Here are some of my faves!

Does anyone know of a company that rents canoes and kayaks for backcountry camping in the Georgian Bay Islands National Park area and has a drop-off service? We are hoping to leave from Honey Harbour at the end of August.

I have tried Swift and that did not work out. They do not deliver on the weekend I need them to.

I live near Toronto and ive been so a lot of research about going backpacking and camping. Have been solo camping before in provincial parks but Im coming to realize i have a lot to learn.

In the interest of not dying in the woods. Im wondering maybe there are camping communities or clubs of people who go camping together and i can learn a few things from experienced people.

I posted OntarioCamps here a couple of months ago and got a ton of useful feedback. A lot of you liked the idea, but the mobile experience was pretty rough. The search took up most of the screen, some inputs were clunky, and finding parks by name did not work as well as it should have.

The mobile layout is much cleaner, search is faster, the filters are easier to use, and park names now show up properly. I also added better campsite filters, availability calendars, site details, reviews, and maps that let you go from the full park down to a specific campground and campsite.

The main idea is still the same. Instead of searching Ontario Parks, Parks Canada, and a bunch of conservation authority websites separately, you can search them all in one place:

https://www.ontariocamps.app

It is free, there is no account required, and booking still happens through the official park websites.

If you are planning any camping trips this year, give it a try. I would love to hear what works, what is still annoying, and what I should build next.

I would absolutely love to have people write a quick review of parks or specific campsites they have been to!

Someone here described camping next to a beautiful lake and only discovering the highway across it after dark. That stuck with me, so I tried to measure it. There were a few errors in my process, so I revised my map of every Ontario provincial park campground against the nearest highway to estimate traffic noise level. Findings:

• 1 in 6 campgrounds rates "likely noisy"
• The loudest, Marten River's Assinika B, is 7 metres from the highway
• There is a quiet option usually in the same park. Marten River goes from 74 dB at Assinika B to 59 dB at Chicot — same gate, same beach, same booking page
• Only 23% have no major road within 2 km
• The full post and my corrections are here https://www.campaid.ca/blog/quietest-and-loudest-campgrounds-ontario/

Got laid off a bit ago and decided to build something I'd actually wanted to exist for years!

[**campgrounder.io**](http://campgrounder.io) is a free campground finder with thousands of curated sites across the US and Canada. No account, no ads. 🏕️

Unique design, real descriptions, honest amenity info, direct booking links to [recreation.gov](http://recreation.gov) for federal sites and the right provincial system for each Canadian province.

Recent additions that I'm proud of: tent-only filter, dark sky filter, and a full Canada section covering every region from Pacific Rim BC to Kluane in the Yukon.

It's a single HTML file. Loads fast, works offline once cached. I built it because campground research was always 6 tabs and a guess.

Still figuring out monetization that doesn't ruin the thing. For now it's just useful and free.

Happy to answer questions about the build. Would love feedback on what's missing!

[campgrounder.io](https://campgrounder.io/)

Come join us and you can get one too!

https://choleena.com/the-farm/games-gatherings/

Wondering how the mosquitoes and flies are currently? Heading there in a few days.

Tom Hudson is a New Zealander sailor who had never paddled before, and decided to paddle across Canada. His channel got me through the dark days of winter and made me appreciate this country so incredibly much and to fall in love with awesome folks that share our lakes and rivers with us. It took him 2 summers to get from the Rockies to Sault Ste. Marie and this summer he thinks he will get to Montreal by mid August. Just wanted to share his channel, he is my favorite trip reporter. And say,

if yall see him on the water say hello and help him portage?? His camera gear makes our home territory look like heaven on earth.

I esp appreciate him because he isn't trying to make it look like he is all alone in remote wilderness. He celebrates the people and settlements he encounters along the lakes and rivers, he tells their unique stories, he is doing local folk history.

He is apparently still on the fence about whether to take the route along the French river/Mattawa river/Ottawa river or the Trent/Severn. I think it's coz he got slammed with portages up in Quetico after traveling so many hundred km on just the Winnepeg river. But I'd take the Mattawa/Ottawa 10/10 times in a canoe. Keep an eye out for him in our locals waters and follow him on YouTube to catch sights of our beautiful camping territory. 🩵💙🧜‍♀️🦦

https://youtu.be/VzEp3gk21q0?si=_vkue8u7C1PaXQsf

Going camping this weekend in southern Ontario and have not been camping as an adult. We got all the basics like tent, bugspray, sleeping pad, firewood etc. Are there any random items or unconventional things I should bring? Like things you wouldnt think about but end up needing or being useful? Thanks

Ive been camping in ontarios provincial parks for a while now. I believe im ready for the real deal.

I have done my research about the laws and the equipment i will need to safely enjoy my stay at these places.

However what im really struggling to figure out where these locations are, how i can get to them and where im allowed to park before heading into the woods.

Unfortunately no one i know has a lot of experience camping. So im mostly on my own figurimg these things out as i go. So any advice and insight is greatly appreciated.

I would typically bring Korean bbq short ribs since it’s quick to cook. On my last trip I also brought salmon, steak, and chicken. The cooler was pretty packed.

Next trip I want to carry a lot less so now I’m thinking of just buying food at a local grocery store by the campsite rather than hauling everything from home which is hours away.

Curious if anyone else does this?

I love camping in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park. There are not that many campsites per lake, so you don't encounter that many people. Most of the sites are quite good and spacious. Some of them have a private beach and swimming is great. One of my favourite provincial parks.

I've been looking at the western part of Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands and am interested in going to the Victoria Falls access point, but I've read reviews that the access road is really bad. So I wanted to get some input from this community. Is it really that bad? Should I avoid going there in my small car?

Pics from when I camped on Sheldon Lake a couple years ago.

Looking to upgrade my sleeping bag for something that will be warm enough on cool summer nights and ideally good enough for some fall and spring camping.
The price point is right for me so looking to see if anyone had experience with it

My friends and I are going up to awenda this weekend for some car camping. None of us have been up that way before and we were wondering if we’d be allowed to keep my 14’ aluminum boat and motor on our site to do some fishing while we’re up there. Thanks everyone

Does anyone have any tips or advice for travelling with car seats in a class c motorhome?

Thanks!

Are there any camping groups that I can join? Looking for a co-ed group in 20s and 30s. I'm a male solo camper, wanting to try camping in Algonquin or some place similar. Camp, hike, play (may be drink?) etc.

If there are no such groups, folks here game to start one? Thinking of planning for early September.

Going to the pinery beaches tomorrow but I’ll be going with someone who’ll have a hard time walking over the sand dunes. Is there a place to get access to the service road that runs parallel to the beach so I could do a pick up and drop off?

How is the air quality? We are supposed to arrive tomorrow. Tent campers so no escaping it. Anyone having issues?