Camping in Frontenac

Jul 02, 2020

Leave your sound machine at home and let a symphony of frogs serenade you to sleep. Forget the alarm clock and wake up to the ratatat of a woodpecker getting breakfast. Avoid generic motel rooms and complete your Frontenac adventure by camping under the stars. “Backcountry” or “interior” camp­ing involves carrying everything you need on your back and hiking or paddling to a secluded campsite. “Car camping” involves pitching your tent very close to your parked vehicle, usually with other campers nearby. For the uninitiated, car camping can be a wonderful nature experience with a few creature comforts – like running water and flush toilets – nearby. Whichever style you prefer, there are lots of options for camping in Frontenac.

Bon Echo Provincial Park
16151 Hwy. 41, Cloyne, Ontario
K0H 1K0 (613) 336-2228
www.ontarioparks.com/park/bonecho

Frontenac Parklands
Crown Land Stewardship Program
Phone: 613-479-2231 Ext. 233
Fax: 613-479-2352
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.northfrontenacparklands.ca

Frontenac Provincial Park
6700 Salmon Lake Rd
Sydenham K0H 2T0 613-376-3489
www.ontarioparks.com/park/frontenac

Sharbot Lake Provincial Park
25467 Hwy 7, Sharbot Lake
K0H 2P0 613-335-2814
www.ontarioparks.com/park/sharbotlake

Frontenac Parklands

The campsites and roadways that make up Frontenac Parklands provide unique opportunities for wilderness camping, week-long canoe-kayak trips, family picnics, fishing expeditions, and much more. The Parklands are managed and maintained by North Frontenac Township on provincially administered crown lands. They have been enjoyed by nature enthusiasts for decades.

Early in the 2000’s the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources decided they no longer wanted to manage the 58 kilometres of roadway that provide access to the 184 campsites on 12 linked Canadian Shield Lakes on the Mississippi River headwaters that make up this wilderness playground. They offered it up to North Frontenac Township to manage.
The township wanted to ensure that some of the most accessible backcountry opportunities in Eastern Ontario were available to their own residents and visitors, and needing to generate revenue to cover the maintenance costs, they set up Frontenac Parklands and began collecting nominal road and camping fees for the Parklands. Campsites cost $22.50 per night for up to 6 people, and the access road fee ($9.50 for one day) is included.

In 2007, a summer resident of the township proposed setting up an online booking system to make the sites easier to access for everyone, and also suggested that a name change for the program, which was then called the Crown Land Access Program, would be beneficial.

Frontenac Parklands was born.

Corey Klatt manages the parklands for the township, and he keeps a close eye on the bookings, which have grown steadily over the years.

“Booking for the season starts on November 1st. That's always a busy day because people who are familiar with the sites want to snap up their favourites right away, especially for summer weekends, but there are always spots available at northfrontenacparklands.com."

One of spectacular sections of the parklands includes: Schooner Lake, Fortune Lake, and Round Schooner Lake.

Visitors to these lakes soon realize they are in the highlands. They feature sheer granite cliffs, and clear, deep lakes that are home to a variety of fish species including lake trout. The landscape is unusual and rare enough to have been identified as an area of natural and scientific interest by the Province of Ontario.

In fact, one enthusiatic blogger says that their idea of a prime Frontenac Parklands site includes privacy, enough open space for a good breeze, and the essential element, a good diving rock into the clear water of the lake.

In addition to paddling, fishing, and swimming, there is a hiking trail. The Schooner Trail is a newly marked hiking trail through natural forests, featuring many large boulders, a high elevation scenic jaunt, and a steep limestone hillside, all on the west shore of Long Schooner Lake.

The trail heads north from the end of Schooner Road, then zig-zags northwest up the "The Climb", and swings back east along the "Upper Ridge Walk" toward Long Schooner Lake.

The trail finishes with a quick and steep descent to a nice mellow lakeside walk along Long Schooner Lake, and it then meets back at the beginning of the trail. The entire loop is approximately 3 kilometers, and covers just over 100 meters of elevation.