Camping at Killbear Provincial Park

Location: Killbear Provincial Park
Ontario, Canada


Last Friday, June 25th, Justin and I loaded up the car, stopped off at the grocery store, and made our way to Killbear Provincial Park in Ontario. At the park entrance we were met by a ranger who gave us a map and booklet of what was to be expected of the park in regards to beaches, trails, and wildlife. We were also informed that there are 11 different species of snakes present in the area which included the Massasauga Rattlesnake, and that we were in "bear country" so to make sure that our site was made bear proof to avoid any visits from one of the many black bears who call the park home. With this information we set off to find our site which was in the Blind Bay Area. Within thirty seconds of driving we had already experienced our first wildlife sighting as we had to pull over to allow a family of deer to cross the street. This was rather special for me as I am from Prince Edward Island and we do not have any deer so it was my first time seeing this animal in its natural habitat. What I did not realize at this time was the abundance of deer present in this area as we were able to see many more by the time we left to go home on Sunday.


When we finally found our campsite we pitched our tent and took off to explore the beaches. We checked out both the Beaver Damn and Kilcoursie beach areas and quickly decided that the Beaver Damn section was our favorite. Here we laid out and enjoyed the sun for a bit and then practiced yoga as well as some Muay Thai. As the sun was setting, we head back to our site to begin our campfire and continued it until it had started to rain quite heavily later that night; at which point we retired to our tiny tent to rest up until the morning.


We awoke to a rainy day so decided to sleep in for a bit to see if it might stop in the meantime. We were delighted to wake up to an absolutely gorgeous day by the time we decided that we should probably get up. We then had a bite to eat and ventured off to explore the lighthouse trail which is only 1 km long and has some absolutely breath taking views of both the 30,000 islands and the abundance of rock formations on the track. This walk ended on a beach where we sat around and enjoyed the sun and brainstormed what we could possibly do for the day. We decided that we would take a drive to check out some of the local stores which included The Detour Store - Justin's favorite (http://www.thedetourstore.ca/) where we rented an open two person kayak which included life jackets as well as an emergency kit to explore some of the 30,000 islands. We also made a wood purchase to ensure we had lots of firewood for that night.


When we got back to the park, we changed into our swim suits and loaded up the kayak with some essentials (mainly bread, Nutella, and a camera). The day had quickly passed as we had visited a few of the islands, had picnics, and just rested while taking in the absolutely gorgeous scenery. Some five hours later we had decided we had seen enough so would return the kayak and go for a drink at the marina.


The marina was absolutely beautiful and looked like something you would see in beer commercial - really though! We had decided that we would each get a beer and split a plate of fries (not the most nutritious weekend - but definitely delicious). After getting our bill we asked the waitress if there was a beer store around. She had told us that there was not and the closest was in Parry Sound roughly a half hour away. A table of three insisted at this point that we join them for a drink on them. We did join them; however, opted to pay our own bill. Through conversation and getting to know the three we had come to realize that we were chatting with the owner of the Marina who had built it entirely with his own two hands. Also with him was a guy named Nick and his friend Lee who had once worked for him as part of the restaurant and gas bar staff.

They had asked us where we were from and when we told them Prince Edward Island and then they had asked if we had ever been to The Split Crow in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Justin replied that yes he did, and that it was one of his favorites. At this point Nick had told us that this is where his parents had met and because of this they had named their absolutely gorgeous sail boat after it. The waitress came out to announce last call and so we went in to pay our bills and upon leaving, Nick and Lee had invited us down to have a few drinks in the Split Crow (sail boat). We decided that we would go and learned about about Nick's parents website (http://splitcrow.ca). I had also told him how I was dieing to see a bear and he told me about his neighbor who has bears in his yard all the time (http://friendsofthebears.ca) and he told us that the next time we were up to visit he would take us by to see them! At this point Lee had mentioned that it was now 10:15pm; Justin remembered that the sign had said that the park closed at 10pm so we made a mad dash for the park to see if we would be able to get back in. If we could not, Nick assured us that we could crash in the boat for the night as there were beds in the cabin. When we got back to the park we were once again greeted by a ranger who informed us that the sign meant that they do not take any new bookings after 10pm and so we were free to come and go as we please.


We decided at this point that it was getting late and we had plenty of wood to burn so we would just go back to our campsite and have a bonfire. During the bonfire we were accompanied by an extremely curious raccoon who wanted nothing more than to be with us. We went to bed that night and woke up early the next morning to pack up our camping gear and to do another hiking trail before we left.


This time we decided to do the Lookout Point Trail. It was very nice on the way up to the Georgian Bay lookout point; there were frogs, deer, and many wildlife to be spotted as well as lots of information on the types of plants and trees that we would be passing on the trail. On the way back however, we were greeted by puddles as far as the eye could see. Although it was inconvenient we both agreed that it made it more fun because it reminded us of when we were kids and use to play games such as "don't touch the ground" as we hopped from rock to rock and balanced our way along any logs that were sticking out of the mud. We both decided that we probably should have anticipated such conditions given the amount of rain Ontario had experienced just days prior.


Looking back, we had a great time and on our drive home received a text message from Nick! We are now making plans to come by and visit and meet his neighbor's bears!