We didn’t think this day will come. For the first time we were compelled to leave a negative review for a campground. Sadly, it was a Canadian campground in our home province, Ontario.
We arrived at Falls Reserve Conservation Area on a late Tuesday afternoon after making reservations online for one night. There was no one at the gate to check us in so we proceeded to our campsite. It was a spaciouse site and because there was no one around, it seemed private enough.
There were very few people in the campground, which made for a quiet evening. We had dinner, had a lovely fire and went to bed.
It rained a lot at night and we forgot to put away our camp chairs like we should have. Of course, in the morning we found them completely soaked. We spread the wet stuff on the picnic table to dry and proceeded with our plans for the day. We were off to visit Goderich, the prettiest little town in Canada.
I should back up a bit here and tell you that the cute director chair with a side table was a birthday present for Tony. It is similar to the one below only a pretty sky blue, and yes, it was one of the items on the table.
We returned to find all of our things, including Tony’s new chair, firewood, an axe, and a dishpan: gone. We won’t bore you with the details, but the park manager unhelpful and rather offensive attitude is the reason for our negative review, not the stolen items.
The park itself has an interesting land feature in the form of unusual waterfalls, so if you do decide to go and check these out, keep an eye on your things and avoid the nasty park manager.
We should leave this disappointing experience behind us now and tell you all about Goderich. Until next time, stay safe!
I’m sorry to hear about your bad experience. It’s a shame the manager couldn’t have been more helpful…
Thanks, Jim. Yeah, it’s a shame, but it is what it is and I got it off my chest 🙂
venting helps…
That’s too bad. At least the waterfalls were interesting. And the park manager has gotten a bad review.
Exactly 🙂
It’s so disappointing when a great location with beautiful scenery is tainted by either those who use it or the ones who manage it. I’m sorry you had to experience that.
It really is! Luckily, this doesn’t happen too often!
Sounds like the manager knows something. And except for the chair it doesn’t sound like a typical theft for profit.
Yeah, I am not sure what is going on there…I think someone just saw an empty campsite and took the opportunity because there were no people around in the other campsites either. Oh, well, but it stung because Tony used this chair exactly once.
Sorry to hear about someone stealing your gear. I always think that people using the backcountry are more respectful, but not always.
I think it usually is safe. This park seemed to have a different sort of crowd, mostly anglers and hunters. Not to say that those folks are thieves, there was just a different vibe to the place.
Sorry to hear your belongings got stolen…it’s unbelievable that crooks even exist in nature! The waterfalls are stunning, though, and I hope they made up for the theft and unsavory park manager!
The falls were a nice compensation for an unnecessary experience. The general area is simply beautiful so this was just a bump 🙂
Ugh, sorry to hear that some of your camping gear was stolen (who does that??). That’s terrible that you then had to deal with a rude park manager. How frustrating. Note to self: we’re not camping here this summer!
Thanks. We were so surprised to encounter this. The park is run by the the conservation authority and not part of the provincial parks system, which may explain the different culture. Still, we would like to think that this is not the norm.
Good for you getting that out into the public domain. Sorry to hear about this though.
Thanks, Johnny! It was a bit of a disappointment and we thought we needed to share this.
So disappointing. Both the theft and the manager. Leaves a bad taste on your mouth for sure.
It sure did! We certainly didn’t expect any of this 🙁
Sorry you lost your stuff. That’s so frustrating. I one put a chair out in a campground in California to save my spot while I went to pay and came back, and it was gone. Fortunately, it is the only time this happened to me. Cool water feature
Yeah, it’s annoying, but luckily a rare occurrence!