Bon Echo Provincial Park

 Bon Echo Provincial Park is located in southeastern Ontario. It is about an hour and a half drive northwest of the city of Kingston.

Bon Echo Provincial Park is consistently rated as one of the most popular Ontario parks. The park itself is relatively small compared to some of the others in the Ontario Parks system but don’t let that dissuade you, this park does not disappoint. Mazinaw Rock stands 100 metres high and dominates the landscape of Bon Echo.

It is along this impressive rockface, near the waterline, that you will find more than 260 pictographs, some dating back hundreds of years ago. The red ochre images depict animal and human figures, as well as abstract and geometric symbols.

Site Review:

Bon Echo Provincial Park offers RV camping in 2 campgrounds:

• Mazinaw Lake
• Hardwood Hill

The Mazinaw Lake Campground:

There are 3 camping loops:

• Sawmill Bay
• Midway
• Fairway

Within each campground loop, there are even more loops for the sites. It is confusing. Pay attention to the directional signs and you will be fine.

All the sites in the Mazinaw Lake campground at Bon Echo are in a forest setting and can accommodate equipment ranging from tents only to large trailers and motorhomes.

There are electric and non-electric sites available. Privacy varies with some sites being very private.and some sites that are not very private at all. Pay attention to the site description, particularly the pad slope, when booking your site as many of the sites are not very level and the campground itself is quite hilly.

There is a comfort station with flush toilets and free hot showers in each campground loop. There are several vault toilets spread out among the camping areas as well. The Midway camping loop in the Mazinaw Lake campground is radio-free.

Hardwood Hill Campground:

The Hardwood Hill campground can accommodate tents and tent trailers. NO LARGE EQUIPMENT. No sites have electrical service and all sites are radio-free.

To access the Hardwood Hill Campground camping area you have to travel at least 3 km on a loose gravel road.

We stayed on campsite #170 in the Midway camping loop. and on site #131 in the Sawmill Bay camping loop during our visit. Sometimes, especially during the peak season, it is extremely difficult to book the desired number of days you wish to visit all at one site. We wanted to book 5 consecutive days but there were no single sites with that availability so we booked 2 different sites and moved our camp to another site in the middle of our stay. This worked out for us. We went to the trailer dump station as part of this relocation, as well as refilled with potable water. The move probably took us about an hour so it was only a minor inconvenience and we were able to visit for our desired number of days.

Activities:

Biking:

Biking is permitted on the camp roads. I found biking the camp roads to be not particularly fun. The roads are hilly and to bike out to the Hardwood Hills campground was even less fun because the road was gravel and in poor condition. If biking is a main activity that you like to enjoy while camping, Bon Echo Provincial Park is not the place to come to.

Swimming:

Mazinaw Lake is divided into Upper Mazinaw Lake and Lower Mazinaw Lake and is divided at the narrows. There are 3 natural beaches marked off for swimming.

Main Beach:

Main Beach is located on lower Mazinaw Lake. It is buoyed off in 2 sections (shallow and deeper). It is not recommended to swim past the buoy lines as it gets weedy and significantly deeper. Note: Mazinaw Lake is the 7th deepest lake in Ontario with a maximum depth of 145m.

There is a roomy parking lot and picnic tables  adjacent to the Main Beach swimming area

North Beach:

This beach is on upper Mazinaw Lake and can be accessed from the Sawmill Bay campground.

South Beach:

The South Beach is in the Day Use area. There isn’t much of a beach. The grass just kind of stops and the water begins. It is sandy once you get in. The Day Use area itself is much more open with less in the way of shade.

Hiking:

Abes and Essons:

The Abes and Essens trail features three loops; one of 4, 9 and 17 km. Many make this an overnight hike and camp at one of the five campsites along the trail. It is considered to be moderate to difficult.

Shield Trail:

Access to the Shield Trail is from the gravel road on the way to the Hardwood Hill campground. It is 4.8 km in length and rated as a moderate degree of difficulty.

Clifftop Trail:

You can only access this trail from the water. The Clifftop Trail starts at the base of Bon Echo Rock on the access dock served by the Mugwump Ferry. This trail involves steep climbs, and although short, may not be suitable for everyone. The reward is the view from the crest of Bon Echo Rock. Picture credit from Flikr

I ventured over to the dock in my kayak, and quite frankly, I found the dock to be inaccessible. The dock is too high making getting in and out of the kayak treacherous. It would be fine from a motorized boat or probably even a canoe because it’s a bit more stable but a kayak is very difficult.

High Pines Trail:

High Pines trail is a popular trail near the campgrounds. It is 1.7 km in length and is considered moderately difficult.

Bon Echo Creek Trail:

The Bon Echo Creek Trail follows along the side of the road toward South Beach. It is a 1 km walking path.

Pet Exercise Trail:

There is a 1.4 km trail designated as an off-leash pet trail. It is located near South Beach. There is also a pet beach where your pets can swim off-leash as well.

Canoe/Kayak/SUP:

There are canoe, kayak and SUP rentals available at the Canoe Rental Centre located at the lagoon. Canoeing and kayaking are popular activities at Bon Echo Provincial Park. The only way to see the pictographs along Mazinaw Rock is from the water. Kayaking/canoeing around the lake is otherwise underwhelming. Mazinaw Lake is large and basically just open water. Once you get past the park boundary all there is to see are people’s cottages and boat docks.

There is a canoe route- Kishkebus Canoe Route- that is partially within the park. It is a loop route and is about 21 km long in total. To access it from the far end of Mazinaw Rock you would first have to do a 1.5 km portage. The estimated time to complete the entire route is 4-6 hours.

Boating:

Motorized boats are allowed on Mazinaw Lake. There are 3 boat launches within the park with parking nearby.

Fishing:

Mazinaw Lake is popular for Lake Trout, Pickerel, Small and Large Mouth Bass, Lake Whitefish and Northern Pike. Fishing licenses are required and need to be obtained prior to coming to the park as Bon Echo does not issue fishing licenses.

Visitor Centre:

By the end of the 1800s, pioneer society was changing. Increased prosperity led to a growing interest in summer resorts like Lakeshore Lodge (Sandbanks PP) or Bartlett Lodge (Algonquin Park). Over 100 years ago Bon Echo Provincial Park became home to the ultimate summer recreation destination: the Bon Echo Inn.

The Inn, unfortunately, burned down in the mid-1930s when it was struck by lightning. Today, three buildings from the Bon Echo Inn era are all that remain: Dollywood which is now home to the Visitor Centre, Greystones (now the Friends of Bon Echo Gift Shoppe and Café), and Cabin on the Hill.

The Visitor Centre houses touch displays and lots of interesting information about the pictographs. Beside the Visitor Centre are the gift shop and a small snack bar.

Things to Know at Bon Echo:

• There is a tour boat, that for a fee, you can board that will take you along Mazinaw Rock to observe the pictographs. It will also shuttle you to the Clifftop Trail dock.
• Wood and ice are available for sale.
• The small store at the park is mostly souvenirs. There is nothing in the way of forgotten items or supplies.
• The park is not home to much wildlife- some squirrels, chipmunks, grackles, robins and seagulls.
• There are laundry facilities.
• If Bon Echo is full, Charleston Lake Provincial Park is nearby and may be an option.
  

  IMO:

Bon Echo Provincial Park is one of the top 5 parks in the Ontario Parks system for a reason. It has all the amenities you find at provincial parks. The campsites are good and Mazinaw Lake with the sheer rock face and pictographs is beautiful and easy to enjoy. I would recommend BonEcho Provincial Park as an RV Place to Go!