Craigleith Provincial Park (& Wasaga Prov Park)

Craigleith is a small park along Hwy 26 at the southern end of Georgian Bay, between Collingwood and Meaford. This is it's biggest selling point really. The park itself is just enough space for campsites, and a few small spaces for frisbee and a play area. There is very little green area, but there is a great shale beach with excellent fossils (swimming is apparently 'discouraged'.)
Other than that, it's a great jumping off point for many local attractions. There are 4 other provincial 'parks' or nature reserves with trails to explore along the Bruce Trail nearby. Get a trail guide before you go if you can because we found it tough to get accurate information, but there is a sign about the trails in the park, if you can find it. 

It's also close to Wasaga Beach where you can access many park entrances to get to the huge beautiful beach there. That way you don't have to swim near downtown where most people are. Take time to visit the historical Nancy Island in downtown Wasaga as well. It's a very interesting part of the war of 1812 and the guides were very helpful as well. Reenactments happen sometimes there as well (maybe mid August?)

Back around Craigleith, we took in a local cave/tree-top/zip line tour that was interesting through the 'Scenic Caves Eco-Tour', and spent some time in Owen Sound at Summerfolk Fest. Both were excellent!

Overall the park is not great, with gravel ground cover, little privacy, few trees and a nearby highway, but it's a good spot to call home base for many other local treats.

Grundy Lake Provincial Park

Grundy Lake is an awesome park - in our top 5 likely. We were lucky enough to camp there in August when there are few bugs, and warm water. It was also just after the forest fire was under control (Parry Sound 2018) and the park had been closed for a while. When we were there the park was likely only 25% full so it was very quiet and there was lots of space available. Overall though the sites over decent privacy and there are composting toilets a-plenty. The beaches are wonderful sand, with brown tannin water, but there are also many spots where rocks provide great jumping locations, or even some sliding slopes.
The trails are interesting as well. There are only 3 and two are not very long, but they are very beautiful. There are lots of spots to sit for a bit and admire the lakes, or dip your toes in the water. The rocks and trees of the Canadian shield is definitely a highlight of this area. There were no trail maps in any of the trail entrances though so we didn't get to enjoy the 'points of interest' as much as we could have.

This isn't a large park but it's big enough that bikes would help you explore the various camp areas and reach all the trails and beaches (8 beaches?). A canoe would also be great to help you explore some of the lakes and other swimming areas they would bring. There are a few back country sites as well that would be nice to canoe into. Canoes can be rented from the Grundy Supply store just outside the gates if you need them (or anything else.) Fishing is big here, and 'Learn to Fish' programs were regular events when we were there. There is not much else around the park, so this is a self-contained little gem of a place just off Hwy 69.

Springwater Provincial Park

This park was deemed non-operational in 2012, but it's still open to the public. It looks like it may have had camping before but now it's just day use. It's a beautiful little gem just north-west of Barrie. It has many trails and several large structures that are great for picnics or larger groups eg: family reunions. It's self serve to pay to enter the park, but the bathrooms were still very clean!
Don't just show up without doing some research though. We didn't see any signs to help us navigate the park, except for where to park. So here are some photos of the small signs we found at the old park office (closed now I think.)

Arrowhead Provincial Park

"Such a sturdy sign," she said.

Arrowhead is just east of Algonquin and right along Hwy 11. We were surprised by how sandy by how sandy the park was overall. The campsites are fairly standard, though lots of large ones available. Hiking was certainly enjoyable here as there are lots of trails and some nice destinations including river crossings and a waterfall. Above average everything here!

It’s a favourite for winter as well as they over skating through the forest on the trails! Skating! There's great cross-country skiing too!

Some sand there...

Can also walk along this river...

  

Oxtongue River - Ragged Falls

This is a beautiful little park, day-use only, hiding just south of the behemoth of Algonquin. It’s a short distance from Arrowhead Provincial Park and the falls are extremely impressive. Not a long hike and more just a gorgeous stop for contemplation by the falls, or a chance to stretch your legs along Hwy 60. Small, but a gem of a visit.

White water swimming? NOT!

Windy Lake Provincial Park

Interestingly we camped here the night they had the biggest wind storms in the last 20 years in the north shore region. “Wow, this park really is windy!” (before we knew how bad the wind storms really were.) Nice swimming on a small lake and good campsites. A nice little campground that’s just a short jaunt west of Sudbury. Sorry, I can't say more - it was more than 10 years ago.. should have started this blog earlier in the process. :-/

Hey, they have all-season yurts too - can't beat that!

See those waves?!
Kidding, the wind was in our faces so they got bigger on the other side of the lake..

Oastler Provincial Park

We went 10 years ago so, man, are we young! And memory is a bit cloudy... 

Oastler is right next to Hwy 400 just south of Parry Sound on a small bit of land amongst lakes and bays. It is very pretty but campsites and facilities are closely arranged, and there isn't a lot of privacy between sites. It has a small beach but excellent swimming, and seems like there is likely good fishing too. A bit of a drawback is that trains go by sometimes, including through the night and they can be quite loud. This park also coordinates camping for The Massassauga Provincial Park which is back country camping towards Georgian Bay.