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Camping Around Georgian Bay

Jeepymom
Explorer
Explorer
My husband and I want to plan a trip to the Georgian Bay area in late May/early June in our travel trailer, staying there about two weeks. We would like to make it a fairly restful trip, staying at one or two RV parks for multiple nights and unhooking for some easy day trips.We prefer nature,quiet, quaint places, maybe some small local museums or attractions rather than big city pursuits. My husband especially likes trains, local history, and classic cars.We will be coming from North Carolina. I'd appreciate any advice on where to make our base of operations in the Georgian Bay area and what to see. We are thinking about taking US15-15N up and maybe returning by a different route through West Virginia.I hear Toronto is to be avoided both for traffic and an expensive toll road. We'd also like a short visit to Niagara Falls either going or returning (we've been before to both US and Canadian Falls). For multiple nights, we'd want full hookups.For one night, we wouldn't mind trying free boon-docking at a Walmart or Crackerbarrel or the like.Thank you.
7 REPLIES 7

Jebby14
Explorer
Explorer
killbear is a great provincial park. a 30000 island boat tour is cool. go to the dumps at night and watch the bears eat. if you make it as far as Sault Ste. Marie check out the agawa canyon train tour.

lots of great lake trout fishing too
Q: Whats brown and sticky???

A: A Stick....

hclark
Explorer
Explorer
Somewhat train related : Tours of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Keewatin in Port McNicoll are interesting, especially the engine room. https://sskeewatin.com . This ship was run by the Canadian Pacific Railway
Great Lakes Steamship fleet across Lake Superior to Thunder Bay. Pretty neat tour. There is a small campground right in Port McNicoll

swimmer_spe
Explorer
Explorer
Jeepymom wrote:
My husband and I want to plan a trip to the Georgian Bay area in late May/early June in our travel trailer, staying there about two weeks. We would like to make it a fairly restful trip, staying at one or two RV parks for multiple nights and unhooking for some easy day trips.We prefer nature,quiet, quaint places, maybe some small local museums or attractions rather than big city pursuits. My husband especially likes trains, local history, and classic cars.We will be coming from North Carolina. I'd appreciate any advice on where to make our base of operations in the Georgian Bay area and what to see. We are thinking about taking US15-15N up and maybe returning by a different route through West Virginia.I hear Toronto is to be avoided both for traffic and an expensive toll road. We'd also like a short visit to Niagara Falls either going or returning (we've been before to both US and Canadian Falls). For multiple nights, we'd want full hookups.For one night, we wouldn't mind trying free boon-docking at a Walmart or Crackerbarrel or the like.Thank you.


Georgian Bay is about the same size as Connecticut and New Jersey.

https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/tobermory/South+Baymouth,+Ontario+P0P+1Z0/@45.4275016,-81.9497275,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x4d2d0ba9fb4f9461:0x3b2e70b0e46a3526!2m2!1d-81.6645411!2d45.2533625!1m5!1m1!1s0x4d3275c774cb293d:0xb86006aa36c247f!2m2!1d-82.009988!2d45.560137?hl=en

That is the highways that ring the Bay. 667km or about 415 miles. That is like going from Raleigh to Philadelphia.

Generally speaking, to get to anywhere on there, you will go through Toronto. Accept it, or you will be driving on back roads and adding hours to your trip. The 407 is the only highway that is toll, except for the boarder crossings. It is completely avoidable. However, driving on it would shave time off, especially in heavy traffic as it usually doesn't slow down much.

https://www.407etr.com/en/tolls/tolls/toll-calculator.html

Along the route above are many great Provincial Parks.
https://www.ontarioparks.com/en
You can book sites there. They usually have electricity and water hook ups but usually no sewer hook up. Some only have electric sites. They usually have a dumping station.

There are not many railroad museums near Georgian Bay, but here are a few that I would suggest:

http://m0h.b5d.mwp.accessdomain.com/
This is a train museum up near Sudbury in Capreol.

http://ecrm5700.org/
Elgin County Railway Museum in St Thomas.

https://www.haldimandcounty.ca/grand-trunk-railway-station/
caledonia station museum

https://hcry.org/
Halton County Radial Railway

http://www.palmerstonrailwaymuseum.ca/
Palmerston Railway Heritage Museum

And of course, if you do decide to enter Toronto:
https://www.trha.ca/johnstreet.html
John Street Roundhouse

Hope this helps you plan things better.

moonstone
Explorer
Explorer
You don't need to take the toll road (#407) across Toronto, there are many other roads to use. You can take the QEW Hwy from the Niagara Region to Hwy 401 to Hwy 400 to go north. Many of the smaller Provincial Hwys are also good, although probably not as good as the US State Hwys. They are not divided highways.
In the Georgian Bay area there is Awenda Provincial park (book early) or further east Six Mile lake Provincial Park. The Ontario Camping guide (pick up at a tourist info ctr) will list many private campgrounds.

Fizz
Explorer
Explorer
A reminder you could hit Black Fly season at it's worst. Bring DEET and prepare for the worst.
We spend 5 months at the cottage and try to avoid that time. Mind you we are way to the east but on the same Latitude so the season varies.

Veebyes
Explorer II
Explorer II
You are looking at a huge area that really does not have that many roads. A boat trip around the islands is a must. Many lovely cottages perched on the boulders. Stop at The Big Chute & watch a few cycles of it transporting boats from one level across the road to another level. Don't know about vintage cars in the area but you may come across some vintage boats.

We stayed at a PP near The Big Chute.
Boat: 32' 1996 Albin 32+2, single Cummins 315hp
40+ night per year overnighter

2007 Alpenlite 34RLR
2006 Chevy 3500 LT, CC,LB 6.6L Diesel

Ham Radio: VP9KL, IRLP node 7995

MDKMDK
Explorer
Explorer
Yes, to avoid Toronto.
Not sure what route you're planning. US15 sort of dead ends in NY State on my maps.
After that, you're going to head west towards Queenston/Niagara Falls/Buffalo, to cross the border.

If you cross in the Niagara region of Ontario, and head west towards Hamilton, then take Hwy 6 north towards Guelph, and then stay on Hwy 6 northwards again towards Owen Sound, you could sort of start there, and either keep going up to Tobermory for a day/night, then work your way back down and around the Bay over the next few days. Or, just head east and start a tour around the Bay. No idea about classic cars, there might be some museums along the shore, and there's a rail line on the Trent Severn waterway that transported boats overland instead of by a typical locks system. You'll see more shipyards than train stations along the shore as you circle the bay.
Here's a google search link to some of the camping available around the area....
https://www.google.com/search?q=georgian+bay+rv+camping&npsic=0&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=44724097,-80107...
Here's one for touristy stuff.....
https://www.google.com/maps/search/Tourist+Attraction/@44.880712,-80.2238799,9z

Georgian Bay is about the size of Lake Ontario, so it's not small.
It's not an easy question to answer because of the size of the bay.
Mike. Comments are anecdotal or personal opinions, and worth what you paid for them.
2018 (2017 Sprinter Cab Chassis) Navion24V + 2016 Wrangler JKU (sold @ ????)
2016 Sunstar 26HE, V10, 3V, 6 Speed (sold @ 4600 miles)
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