Category: Safety & Regulations

How to plan your visit to Wasaga Beach Provincial Park

Wasaga Beach Provincial Park is the busiest provincial park in the province, receiving over 1.5 million visitors every year!

Home to the world’s longest managed freshwater beach, Wasaga boasts 14 km of pristine sand, which makes it a hot spot for summer activity.

This also means that our park can get extremely busy, and often reaches capacity on hot summer days.

Our park is unique within the provincial park system as it is the only provincial park that is fully integrated within a town. This can be confusing for our visitors.

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How to plan your visit to Presqu’ile

Located on Lake Ontario in Brighton, Presqu’ile Provincial Park is one of our most popular parks in Southeastern Ontario, welcoming thousands of visitors every month.

From the long, sandy beach to beautiful hiking trails to world-class bird migrations, Presqu’ile is a favourite for many.

During the hot summer months, the park can get extremely busy. Presqu’ile often hits capacity — especially on weekends — and can’t welcome any more visitors.

This year, you need to book your day use permit in advance to guarantee entry.

We really hate to turn away visitors, especially knowing many have driven several hours to get here.

Planning a day-trip to Presqu’ile? Here’s what you need to know to have a fun and frustration-free visit:

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It’s June — what are Black Bears up to?

Planning a visit and wondering whether you’ll see a Black Bear? Tune in to our monthly Black Bear feature where our ecologists let you know common bear behaviour for the month or season.

Love is in the air in June for some Black Bears!

It’s mating season, which runs from about mid-May through July.

It’s more important than ever to practice bear safety throughout your visit!

Here’s what our bears are up to this month:

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Campfire safety: If you love Ontario Parks, don’t burn them!

Today’s post comes from Marketing and Communications summer student Mitch Jackson. His campfire talents include cooking stuffed peppers, grilling barbecue chicken, and always managing to forget to pack a lighter. 

For many campers, a fire is a must. Gathering ’round the flames, sharing stories with friends and family, making s’mores, and burning marshmallows are all part of the quintessential camping experience.

While you may have the perfect campfire recipes, or the perfect campfire building technique, you should also be aware of how to keep your campfire perfectly safe.

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Our free PARKsmart PFD Lending Program

While swimming, boating and other water activities are a centrepiece of many Ontario Parks adventures, there are also risks associated with these activities.

We want our visitors to stay safe when they hit the waves.

And that starts with a PFD (personal flotation device)!

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7 things to remember when arriving at the park gatehouse for day use

In today’s post comes from Discovery Leader Matt Cunliffe at MacGregor Point Provincial Park. 

When the big day comes, if you’re like me, all you want to do is get to your site: tent set, chairs out, feet up.

I’ve worked for Ontario Parks since 2006, afnd last year had the opportunity to run a gate house.

This gave me an increased respect for the amazing work our gate staff perform and valuable perspective on just how busy the park can be during check-in time for a long weekend…or any weekend for that matter.

And after a season of answering questions and helping campers, here are a few considerations for this year:

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Find a site that fits your needs using filters

Five months ago, you woke up early, sat down at your computer to book a campsite at your favourite park.

The big day’s finally here, and you load your gear, family, and pets into the trailer. You drive to the park, get to your site and….

…your heart drops.

Your RV is too big for your campsite.

What’s worse: it’s a busy summer weekend, and the park is completely full!

You have no choice, but to turn around and head back home.

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