awenda provincial park

I have enjoyed both summer and winter in Awenda Provincial Park. The hiking trails and beaches are beautiful and the cross country ski trails are well maintained and fun to ski.

Due to our work schedule we had no choice but to go during the week and that was the biggest mistake we made as it was more family oriented. We were not allowed to talk in a normal voice volume after 9 pm and the security guards asked us to go to sleep!!!!!!, couldnt have a big fire, wasnt allowed to play low volume music and the security guards were EXTREMELY rude. I've been to so many different parks for camping but i 've never had a bad experience like i did with this one. The security guards disrespected and harassed us so many times for no reason we canceled our 4 night booking and left the second night. The park attractions werent that great either and their campsites were small. I will NEVER go back to this park and I dont recommend anyone in their 20s wanting to have fun goes here.

I booked this park for four days but I ended up leaving the park on second day because we were being treated like..... If you are young adult and you want to enjoy your camping experience DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY or TIME GOING TO THIS PARK. we were 4 people, we couldn't talk to each other at nights or keep the fire on after 12, we couldn't listen to any music at even low volume. OMG and the security guards were soooo rude and aggressive, they came to our camping site every 10 min, we were threaten of being thrown out of the park because we were talking. well its camping we went all the way to this stupid park to have fun not to be silent 24/7. If you want to have fun go to killbear park. It was amazingggg loved my experience, definitely going back there this summer :)

Awenda Provincial Park is great in the summer time when it is hot and you need lots of shade. BUT not so good in the fall when it is raining and colder. Well treed for the summer heat means dark and dingy in the fall. It has large sites and good restroom areas including great laundry rooms. But will try to avoid this park in the fall. Also if you are in the area to look at the area this park is not that close to the attractions. This park would be great for a family and children in the summer, it has 4 beaches and lots of long and short trails. A park for the true camper.

Stayed here in early September. We stayed in a more remote site, I believe it was Hawk and site 67 or 69, I think 69. It was walking distance to the showers and proper bathrooms as well as equal distance to the outhouses. All other things were a car ride away, like the beaches and trails. There is a one car limit per site that is included in the fee but some sites allow two vehicles to be parked there, which was the case for us....you still have to pay the extra fee for a second vehicle. This park is just beautiful! Acorn trees everywhere, so tall and when the wind blows almost sounds like you are on the water listening to the waves....maybe i've been in an urban city for far too long lol... We had severe weather while we were there and the ranger would come by when it let up to make sure everyone was okay...thought that was nice, maybe it's standard but made me feel safer....we had severe thunderstorms, lightening, hail, crazy winds but thankfully only our first night. Of course, you can't bring your own wood and they charge $6.50 a bag for large pieces of wood. The rest stations were never busy and the showers are free. They warn you about poison ivy, it's everywhere so be sure to keep an eye out! They have a display at check-in to show you what it looks like, pay attention! The beaches are wonderful. Unfortunately it wasn't warm enough for us to go in but we were able to spend a few hours there anyways. The dog beach is very small, so I imagine in prime time might get pretty crowded. We also hiked some trails starting from the beach area parking. They are pretty well maintained. I would definitely go back. It's less than 2 hours from Toronto and in warmer weather, there's lots to do.

We travelled as a couple to Awenda park from Toronto (the route offering views of the fall colours along the way). Since we booked our site (71) for the last couple nights before the park closed for the season, there were very few groups camping in our campground (Hawk) so it was nice and quiet for the duration of our stay. We loved the canopy of trees throughout the park and over our campsite, in addition to providing spectacular scenery, when light rain did come it barely touched our campsite. We biked for hours through the trails around Kettle Lake and along the beaches enjoying the scenic forests and water. I highly recommend camping at Awenda and during this season, it offers some of the best fall colours and a great experience!

Located North of Midland and Penetanguishene, Awenda Park borders Lake Huron in Georgian Bay. It has a camping ground, beautiful beaches and facilities to accomodate families.

This was a beautiful, quiet park. The entire park was extremely clean, staff were friendly, campsites were very private, and everyone was extremely considerate of their neighbours! I would recomend it in a heartbeat!

Our original plan was to stay in Wasaga Beach, but we decided to keep going and check out Awenda. We're glad we did. We stayed from Wednesday 'till Friday in the Snake (radio/pet free) campground. The peace and quiet was great, with the exception of one idiot who figured everyone would appreciate his "WOO HOO" at 2 am, but as with any campground, the morons go with the territory. The sites are quite large and, while you can see your neighbours through the trees, they're far enough away that you can't hear them. The washrooms were clean and functional and the showers were better than some hotels we've seen. They were clean and had their own private change area. On Thursday we went down to Beach 1 which was rocky in some spots, but had plenty of sand also to lay out your blankets. The water had a smooth sand bottom in some places and was rocky in others. All in all, we had a great stay and plan to stay longer next year and to bring our bikes to check out the trails.

Just finished unloading the car after another fantastic week in Awenda. For the past three years we (family of four) have finished off our summer with a week in this great park. It's a 4 hour drive for us but it's one we're willing make. We stay in Turtle and love the room and privacy of the campsites.The washrooms/showers are cleaned at least three times a day by a great cleaning crew and for the most part, remain nice and tidy in between cleanings. The fire pits are made of a heavy metal and offer ample space to sit around or cook over.The trails are awesome and the beaches are great too. Beach four is a bit of a walk, but well worth it. The dog beach is a lot of fun for canine campers too. The park always has participatory programs or educational events to help campers learn more about the park, the animals and the environment. The park is also close enough to Midland and Penetang if you're looking for something to do outside of the park (boat cruises, shopping, movie theatre, etc.) or you forgot to pack something (Walmart, Canadian Tire, Superstore, Food Basics, etc.)This park offers campers a natural setting that leads to an exhale of contentment. Sad to have left but we'll be back again next year!

The great thing about this park as many reviewers have mentioned is it's close proximity to Toronto, and how easy it is to drive to. It was only an hour an a half drive home with no traffic. When you get there you check in, buy your firewood (I bought 1 bag of kindling and 1 bag of wood for each night which was about $9.50 a night and lasted about 2 and a half hours). I checked into the park with my girlfriend on Friday around 6pm and we had about 2 hours to set up camp and cook dinner before it was dark which was just enough time. The first thing I noticed when I arrived was how close all the campsites are together, there really is no privacy no matter where your campsite is located (Each site is separated by around 100-150ft). This was a little disappointing but I didn't find it to be a problem as we were in the radio-free Bear campground and everyone stayed fairly quiet. I couldn't believe how extravagant some of the camps were, people really went all out on the car camping gear, all I had was a small 3 person tent and a table cloth. I didn't need to use the tarp because it didn't rain but I would recommend bringing one.Surprisingly the mosquito's in the campground area were not bad...We kept a fire and some coils to repel them at night, but in the morning I had no mosquito repellent whatsoever and I walked to and from the washroom in shorts without getting swarmed. The only time I got eaten by mosquitos was on the Kettle's Lake trail. It's a 5km trail around the whole lake, it took about 2 hours at a solid walking pace and there was some amazing viewpoints with benches situated by the lake. What was also good about this trail is we only saw about 5 other people over the entire 2 hour walk, it was the most isolation we had the entire trip. There were also a few people out on the lake with rental canoe's. I also highly recommend visiting Beach 1...I know everyone says how it's so busy and you should walk down to the other beaches but I thought it was a great beach and there was privacy to be found if you wanted it. The main area of the beach was busy and full of sand for swimming but if you venture out to the north side you can climb over some big rocks which isn't too difficult and be in complete privacy. We sat out here on the rocks and just put our feet in the water and enjoyed the sun.All in all was a really good trip but next time I go camping I will be looking to go in the back country where it's less crowded...maybe Algonquin.

Situated only about an hour and a half from Toronto on beautiful Georgian Bay, Awenda has something for everyone, whether you plan to camp or just take a day trip. We rented a cottage at nearby Thunder Beach (10 minute drive) and came to the park for the day ($14 day pass). Even just driving into the park o the canopied roads is spectular - we even saw a deer close up on the way in. We hiked the Beach trail (took about one hour and twenty minutes and offered beautiful views of the bay and some wonderful inland hiking. We then spent the afternoon on First Beach - lovely sandy beach (although the water itself is quite rocky). There are a number of other paths that we intend to walk in the future. Great experience.

Visited Awenda Provincial Park for 3 days and 2 nights at the end of August. Main attraction is that this is a beautiful park not too far from Toronto. The first thing you do when you visit the park is to register at the park office. Remember you are NOT allowed to bring in outside wood to burn so you must purchase wood and kindling from the registration office. They work on a token system so you buy what you want at the registration office, if you buy too many remember to keep your token because you can get a refund on anything not used. There is also a convenience store by the registration office that carries many of the necessities of the city. In fact, my partner said that he found some things in the store that were cheaper than what the stores outside of the park were selling for.After registration, we went to our site. Most of the sites are situated deep in the forest below well shaded tall maple and oak trees. Each site has a fire pit with a grill and 2 picnic tables. The sites are quite spacious with some being able to fit 2 big tents, a dining tent and a van (our neighbour had all that on their site). If you want to sit in the sun or near the water, this is not for you. In fact, their beach is quite some distance away and requires a car or a bike to get to. It rained most of the time that I was there so we did not enjoy any sun at all. We did go to the beach for 1 day, but it was not swimming weather so we just enjoyed the water. There are 4 beaches along the strip with the 2nd beach being dog specific. The 1st, 3rd and 4th beaches prohibit dogs. We walked all the way to the 4th beach, which is about 15 to 20 minutes. We thought the 1st and the 3rd beaches were the nicest and the most crowded. The 4th beach had a lot of grass growing out of it, but people were swimming there. A note of caution, there is no life guard present, so swim at your own risk.This park is well equipped with a comfort station (showers and flush toilets) at each of their 4 car camping campgrounds. It seems quite family friendly as there are also laundry facilities and a small children's playground. In addition to the comfort stations, there are also out houses and water taps throughout the campgrounds. In the 3 days that I was here I got over 10 mosquito bites, but I did not use that much Deet so it was my own fault and it rained A LOT! My partner used more Deet and did not get as many mosquito bites as I did.My preference is that I would not return to this park unless I wanted to go somewhere close to Toronto. Not that the park is bad, but because I like to camp closer to water.

A great thing about this park is that it's only two hours north of Toronto. We were able to leave home at a decent time and arrive at a decent time to set up. The comfort stations were the cleanest I've experienced in a Provincial Park! I could of walked in without flipflops and had no worries. Mosquitos were moderate but everything bites me, so I'm not a good gauge. The sites here are really great. We stayed in Hawk. The sites are clean, relatively flat, and run deep from the main drive / road so it doesn't feel like you're roadside camping. They are also situated far neighbouring sites such that your they aren't even visible from your own site. Pitch black and quiet at night! Lots of tall trees make it even better. I appreciated the 'no noise' policy in our area as well. There were a lot of trailers in the sites around us but there was no high traffic or motors running so it wasn't a problem at all. The trails around the park are nice. The beaches are not so wide but they are clean, sandy and not rocky on the shore. There is however, only one parking lot to all 4 beaches so be prepared to walk. I regretted not wearing sneakers for the walk. Next time we will bring our bikes for the trails and the long walk to the beaches to explore farther. However, the leisurely walk is quaint and nice. I'd definitely return to Awenda.

A park close by with something for everyone. Dunes,beaches,trails,fishing, kayaking. It's on Georgian Bay so there are some wonderful beaches...2 for people and 2 for dogs. Beach 4 is the best but a longer walk for the little ones. Kettle's Lake is in the interior so safer for kayaking/canoeing when it is windy. The only con about the park is that the beaches and lake are best reached by driving. It is a little far for recreational bicyclers. A gentle slope down, then a steep hairpin gets you over the bluff to the beach...drive first to see if it's something you can handle on your bike. We had no problem with critters. Only saw 3 chipmunks and a giant millipede. The campsites are very dark as there is a good canopy of trees, great for when it's really hot. Not to bad for poison ivy in the campgrounds (too dark) but along the trails and down by the beach,beware.