Campsites will be hard to come by this summer. The booking system for provincial parks is open, and available campsites are disappearing before our eyes. As many Ontarians realize that camping is a safer vacation alternative during a pandemic, demand may exceed the supply. Below are 17 Ways to Find a Campsite in Ontario.
In 2020 bookings of provincial parks sites nearly doubled, and there is every indication that the same will occur this year. So what to do if you can’t find a vacant campsite at a provincial park?
Below are some tools that will allow you to find a book a camping site. Some are free, while others require a one time payment, donation, or subscription. Some may be exclusive for those with self-contained campers, yet others may work for tents as well. Hopefully, one of these will work for you.
1. NAB A CAMPSITE
- This subscription site will let you know when a campsite is cancelled in any park you are interested in.
- You can purchase a monthly or yearly subscription, or pay per scan.
- Nab A Campsite is a great option for those looking for a site in a specific sold-out campground.
- This website’s software continuously scans for cancelled sites. Once a site in your campground of choice becomes available, you will be notified and will be able to book it.
2. Ontario Provincial Parks – the other options
- You may still be able to find a campsite by rechecking the booking site, especially if you have flexible dates.
- Some provincial parks offer first come, first serve sites that cannot be reserved ahead of time.
- This changed with COVID restrictions, but may be back so check ahead with the park that you are interested in and arrive early.
- It may be easier to snag a spot on Sunday or Monday when many people are leaving the campground.
- You may have better luck booking a backcountry site if you are equipped for it.
- Join the Facebook group Ontario Parks Cancellations to see if any sites become available.
- You may have better luck booking at one of the less popular/known parks. It may be a great time to discover a new favourit park!
3. Private campgrounds and RV Parks
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- There are thousands of campgrounds in Ontario! You can book a site through the Ontario Private Campground Association,
- Searching locations online will give you additional options for campsites that are not members of the association.
4. National Parks
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- Some of our best camping experiences were at national parks across the country. They will probably be booked at capacity for this season as well, but they are worth a try.
- Some parks offer first come, first serve sites if you are willing to take the chance; arrive early for best picking!
- The reservation system will open up in April.
5. Conservation Authorities Campground
- There are about 300 conservation areas in Ontario, some offer camping.
- Many are located in scenic areas, in most cases near water.
- Prices vary greatly, by they tend to be a bit cheaper than provincial parks.
- This link takes you to a list of all of the campgrounds, and this is the general site for booking.
- You will need to look for reservations system in each conservation authority’s website (there 36 of them throughout Ontario), so find the area that you are interested in and go from there.
6. HIPCAMP
- Part of the sharing community with a mission to connect people with nature, Hipcamp allows you to tap into a database of campsites, some are in campgrounds, but most are on private land or farms.
- There is no fee to join the service.
- Prices of campsites vary, but they have an amazing filter system that will allow you to narrow down your search based on cost and other criteria.
7. Boondocking
- Ontario residents can camp for free on crown land for up to 21 days in any calendar year.
- Most of this land is in Northern Ontario.
- We had a few posts about boondocking and how to find a site on crown land using the land use atlas.
- You will need to find your sites on your own and make sure that camping is allowed in these areas.
- Most are wilderness camping, so do not expect any amenities. The hard work has an amazing payoff though as some of these sites are in stunning locations.
8. Boondockers Welcome
- This site offers a yearly subscription to free overnight camping on private properties.
- You can sign up to host for free and that will qualify you to a 50% discount on a guest membership. In addition you will receive a free three months guest subscription every time you host someone on your property.
- You must have a self-contained unit to stay as a guest.
9. Harvest Hosts
- Harvest hosts requires a yearly subscription, however, your stay in any of the locations is free.
- There is an expectation that you will purchase some of the products that are offered in the hosts establishment.
- It’s a great option if you know you’ll be using it more than once and we had great experiences staying in some of the locations.
- You must have a self-contained unit with a toilet, water tank, and indoors cooking facilities, and there are no tents allowed.
- You can use this link for a 15% discount.
10. Terego – Canada’s answer to harvest host
- Terego is similar to Harvest hosts and geared towards those travelling in self-contained campers (power, water, toilet, grey and black water tanks). These are not campgrounds, but a place to do “boondocking” or dry camping.
- The site requires a subscription and there is an option of a pricy three days pass as well.
- As with Harvest Host, camping is free but there is an expectation that you will purchase their products.
11. Pitched
- Pitched is a camping booking website.
- There is a variety of sites, mostly on private land.
- It is free to join either as a host or a camper.
- There are lots of sites to choose from in Ontario and prices vary.
12. Campertunity
- Campertunity is another sharing community camping booking website.
- It is free to join either as a host or a camper.
- There are lots of sites to choose from in Ontario and prices vary.
13. Pitchup
- This is a UK based booking website with limited sites in Canada, but worth checking out.
- It’s free to join either as a camper or a host.
14. AirBnB Camping
- A lot of airbnb location that offer camping!
- You cannot search within the site for campsites, instead, Google “Airbnb Camping” to find locations that offer camping. Add a specific area to your search if you want to narrow it down.
- Prices vary greatly, but it’s free to join.
15. FAITHFULL PARKING
Yes, our prayers were answered and now we can join Faithful Parking that will allow us to park overnight at participating churches. This may not be an end-destination solution, unless the church is in a place that you can find some vacation stuff to do. We couldn’t find a Canadian equivalent, but nothing is stopping you from asking at the church if it’s okay to park there overnight. Just try not to do this when they have their Sunday service.
16. Mobile APPS
- There are lots of apps out there with boondocking and camping resources that will help you plan a trip and find a site.
- Here is a list of free apps that have some Canadian content (some of them have a premium option that unlocks extra features): iOverlander, park4night, Campendium, and FreeRoam.
17. Driveway Surfing and backyard tenting
- Camp in relatives and friends’ driveways
- Any friends that live in an interesting area or near a beach? Camp in their backyard and return the favour at your place.
So there you have it. Lots of options to choose from. Hopefully this list will allow you to book a fantastic campsite. Good luck with your search!
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Wow. So informative. I am no longer a camper. Haven’t camped in many many years. Long gone are the days when you could head out without any advanced planning and stop and pitch your tent. Or at least it appears that way.
Thanks! I am not a fan of planned trips. I am hoping that it is still doable. At least there are some options out there to help with this. Last summer most parks we stopped at were fully booked.
Very informative!! I think you’ve answered every possible question. It seems you may be getting boondocking fever!?
Yup. Very much so 🙂
One of the associated problems created with Covid. In relative terms, it’s not that serious, but it could lead to some challenges for those who like to camp. My wife says our camping days are done. On the other hand, if there were a grandchild involved, I bet our attitude would be different.
Yeah, there are all sorts of impacts that we don’t even think about. It’s great for the parks and campgrounds though as they are operating at full capacity! And yes, camping with potential grandchildren would be nice, wouldn’t it?
such a clever and comprehensive list, I like the driveway surfing…
I hope you get to camp at your desired location…
Thanks! I hope it will help some desperate folks out there as well!
I’m sure it will; seems like this post should be shared on a variety of camping web sites…
Yeah, I hope it will be shared. It may be useful!
Thanks Margie! We have found that we can no longer travel and camp like we used to. The reservation crowd has literally booked everyone of our normal parks solid in the last couple of years. It is sad for us, but the new programmable generation has prevailed and we will have to spend time online trying to line up a getaway like everyone else.
It’s certainly a lot harder to be spontaneous! The pandemic just added an extra layer of complications because a lot more people are trying to camp now. Hopefully this will be a bit helpful.
The last time I camped in Ontario was in the year, 1976. At that time I had driven up Queens Highway out of Windsor on the way to WaWa and when I wanted to sleep, I found that you could pull off the road along the shore of Lake Superior and camp in what appeared to be a beach area. There were receptacles hanging on the gate to these places where a person could deposit cash donations on the honor system.
There are still places you can camp for free and without reservation on crown land in Canada. Kind of like the BLM in the States. Things have changed a bit in Canada since 1976 🙂
I remember I loved the utter cleanliness of Canada. I was so impressed that I put every scrap of my refuse in a bag and brought it back to The United States for disposal. I was not going to do anything at all to spoil any of that pristine beauty in Canada.
That’s fantastic , John! It’s still fairly clean, although trash on crown land is certainly an issue. I wish everyone did what you did…I don’t mean that everyone should take their trash to the States, just to the nearest trash can 🙂
Even the parking lots looked as if they had been swept and mopped. Compared to Detroit, it was surreal how clean the Canadian side was! I did learn some new things too! I learned to order “Oofs” for breakfast!
That’s too funny!
I still can’t get over at how competitive booking a campsite has become. I was planning on going another road trip across Northern Ontario in August, but have had to postpone it to September when it will (hopefully) be less busy. I’ve never heard of many of these options before, but I’ll have to check them out. The Nab a Campsite seems promising.
I know! It’s doable if you are looking to get away for a few days or a week, but if you are going on a road trip, things get a bit more complicated because it’s not so easy to plan ahead. September is a fantastic time to travel though. Maybe not as hot, but so much quieter!
Quite detailed and informative post. I long for camping and wish the pandemic gets over soon so that I can become a wanderer again.
Thank you! Yes, hopefully this will end soon so that we can travel again!
This is an amazing camping resource, and not just for Ontario. Thank you! We predominantly use iOverlander for all our camping options. In the US, we always boondock and camp for free, but in Baja these last two months, we have splurged a bit at $10 campgrounds and beaches. 🙂
We met a lot of European RVers who swear by Park4night in Europe. We will have to check that one out, one day. Visiting friends and family is always good to recharge the batteries, take hot showers, and get some laundry done. Whenever this is possible again…
Thank you! And thank you for adding more to this. I can’t wait to be able to travel “normally again” 🙂 I will take boondocking over traditional camping any time and not just because it’s free. There’s a reason why they call it freedom camping in Australia!
This will be useful whenever I make it to Canada. So Americans can’t Boondock for free for 21 days?
I hope this will help! You are correct, non-Canadian residents needs to get a permit (similar to the BLM system) at a cost of about $10 a night. Here is a link to some of the caveats and how to do it. https://www.ontario.ca/page/recreational-activities-on-crown-land#section-1
Oh thanks. I didn’t know that (even about blm)
It’s a bit easier to get a BLM permit 🙂 https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/permits-and-fees