Ontario Provincial parks

[Mike the Pike]

Has anyone ever tried to book a campsite at an Ontario Provincial Park.What a night mare its like trying to win the lottery.I planned well in advance ,what site what date for Sandbanks Provincial Park.Go online to book this morning and the website barely moved because of too many people on the site .Forget the Phone busy busy and busy.After one hour I try to book my chosen site and yup all booked ,gone .Thats the system its liketrying to win the lottery.Well I will try and change the date for August.Thats my Rant for today the system sucks.MTP

Edited March 1, 2007 by Mike the Pike

[Mike Pike]

Goodluck and keep at it Mike. Sandbanks is one of my favourites too and I always try for a site along the river. Love fishing the river and have caught pike, walleye and bass depending on the season and year.

 

Now if I'm not mistaken, one year( about 6 years ago )I was able to book a site a week BEFORE they had the park opened officially. In otherwords, no staff or services. Hardly any other campers there too so I had my choice of sites! It was awesome!

 

I don't know if they still do that but you may wanna ask 'em if you were thinking of an early spring date.

 

Cheers!

[Mike the Pike]

Exactly Mike I am trying to book a spot on the outlet River which goes up to East Lake .I love this location I bring my 12 foot tinny on top of my tent trailer .I have access to my boat right from my water site.Its going to have to be August.MTP

[tonyb]

You gotta book the first day the system accepts bookings for the year or you could have difficulty at some of the more popular parks.

 

I have been there before my friend

 

Tony

[TennesseeGuy]

Mike, I suggest you make a dozen more attempts at booking. With high activity on the site there's a good chance that spots appeared to be booked, but were not actually finalized. Usually they're held for a few minutes while people try to make up their mind.

 

Look for availabilities around 4:30 a.m.a couple of times and you might be rewarded. Be ready to grab a cancellation.

[knotaclue]

Don't wait till you wake up,12.01 pm could help

[Entropy]

It's a 24 hr service, in the past I have called in after 2:30am. No Problem.

[lew]

Didn't they change the system a couple years back, where you now call one central number to book for all the campsites in the province ??

 

I remember reading about how backed up the system was trying to keep up with all the requests.

[Frankypro]

Hey MTP

 

Sandbanks and Kilbear are the two most popular Provincial Parks in Ontario. In order to get in I've had success calling the 800 number the day I was eligable to book (so many months in advance) RIGHT AT 7AM!!!! They are pretty good there about telling you availablity for that second but your better off using the site for the map and campsite numbers so you can have that info ready for the phone call.

 

It's a challenge to say the least.

[Tacklebuster]

I agree, I booked a site last year at Six Mile. I must say that their system leaves much to be desired, you practically have to be a pro in order to navigate the site, not vey user friendly that for sure.

[irishfield]

The real pisser with the reservation system is when you try to get a week..you find you can't because someone reserved ONE DAY for a Tueday.

[duber]

I feel for you.I tried to book a site at Bon Echo last week that we picked out last year.We had 6 sites picked out and when the day to book came there was 1 of those sites left.After working till 4:30 am I got back up at 6:50 and got the site up and ready.When my computere truned 7:00 am I started the process to book the site we wanted.Because I'm on dial-up by the time I got the info threw the site was gone.There were 2 other sites in the area we wanted.Again by the time the info went threw both were gone. I then booked the only site left in the other area of the park were we didn't want to be.Atleast we did get a site but it is listed as a poor site with poor privicy.I'm not sure how they could make it anybetter when there is so much demand.

[1leggedangler]

Sorry to hear about what an ordeal it is to book a campsite so far in advance. Not much of a camper myself and I guess the reason they get booked is because they are easy to get to and family friendly. Wouldn't it be easier to reserve a spot in one on the smaller parks a little further north to beat the crowds? Not trying to be a wiseguy.lol Good luck with it.

 

Cheers,

1leg

[Garyv]

email Dalton and David Ramsey and tell them what you think. It probably won't do much good but you'll feel better..actually mention the next election coming up this year and how you'll vote if they can get you a spot.

[steelhunter]

dont forget that with most of the parks if not all you can only book 4 onths in advance so if you are trying to book later then that it will show that all sites are booked. I could be wrong but i know that this iwas the case last year when i booked at arrowhead.

 

Tight lines

[setomonkey]

Sorry to hear you had a frustrating experience.

 

I guess I've been lucky in the past b/c I've never had problems booking provincial park sites in Bruce Peninsula, Bon Echo, or Frontenac. I try to book the maximum time in advance, and usually call first thing in the morning.

 

Mike