Cheap and Free Backpacking In Ontario (Possibly Crown Land)

I’m tired of paying $65 for 3 days in Algonquin.

I dare say I am just an ignorant Australian, but since when do you have to pay $65 just to go walking????? The mind boggles.

Chers

I bought the Nova Scotia Atlas that shows all the Crown Land here. Ontario must have similar, a quick google search gave me this:

https://www.ontario.ca/page/crown-land-use-policy-atlas

I hate the high Algonquin/Tobermory backcountry campsite fees.  Plus the weekends that I am able to go are usually very popular, so I always have to reserve way in advance.  :(

I head to New York/Pennsylvania for quick backpacking trips on the North Country Trail.  The driving time from my home (Kitchener) is 3 hours to Allegany State Park.

How about driving to Lake Superior provincial park (not sure on the distance from Toronto)

Just checked and its 7 hours.

I live in Chelsea QC (near Ottawa), and I have given up on $$$ backpacking in (eastern) Canada.  When I want to go on a multi-day trip I drive down to the Adirondacks and hike/camp to my heart’s content.  The Northville-Placid Trail is roughly 200km of lovely trail through wilderness areas…  Crown land may work, but I haven’t had much luck yet stringing together long multi-day hikes (admittedly, it’s so lovely exploring the trails in the Adirondacks and camping for free that I have not expended much effort to string something together in ON/QC)  And I HATE paying to camp in a micro-garbage-strewn site guaranteed to be swarmed by raccoons as soon as darkness falls (the hazard of well-established sites in ON/QC parks).

So maybe drive south?

Cheers,

Kim

Unless you are Canadian you will need a non-resident camping permit to camp on Crown land north of the French and Mattawa rivers or in a conservation reserve anywhere in the Ontario province, unless otherwise prohibited.  The only way I have found to avoid paying a fee is by traveling into the far, far northern reaches of Ontario and use the services of an outfitter and rent something.  The outfitter will give you a receipt to show the authorities if questioned.  I know of no other way of becoming exempt from paying the Crown in Ontario.

You are not required to pay the Crown in Manitoba.  The only time I have been required to pay a camping fee in Manitoba’s provincial parks was when we drove in and stayed at a established campground.

Thanks for the replies. I am Canadian so the only problem with crown land is finding viable hiking trails. I am often envious when I see youtubers hiking freely on trails in the states. I hate all of the restrictions here. Looks like I’ll have to get my passport renewed after all.

There are a couple up near Sudbury. You could do ishpatina ridge which is the highest point in Ontario. That is either an overnight or two night trip depending on how you want to do it 35km or so round trip

There is also heavens gate trail to the west of Sudbury running from south of Massey over to highway 6 just north of whitefish falls. That is a 4 day trip 45km

Couple more that have been on my list but have not done is the Ottawa-Temiskaming Highland Trail up in temagami which is around 100km and the voyager trail which is 600+km running from Massey area over to salut st Marie and then north from there

I do parts of the bruce trail every year.  As long as you do real LNT stealth camping I have never had any problems.   The best parts are north of Owen Sound.

That’s ok, Rog, we’ll use small words.
:)
Toronto is in the middle of Canada’s thin urbanized strip along it’s southeastern border with the US. It’s tucked in among Detroit, Buffalo, Ottawa and Montreal. So, asking for free camping within 3 hours is like asking for free camping within 3 hours of, say, Baltimore. Heck, even Sudbury is over 4 hours away. I can’t give you an Australian equivalent because you folks don’t have large conurbations like we do in North America- you have lots of wonderful public land close to everywhere. In that way (and many others) you’re more like the American west. Algonquin is the OP’s only real option for a long hike on public land that close without leaving the country, and it requires camping fees.

Move west?

we’ll use small words.
:)

Conurbation is a small word?  I must have been reassigned to the long bus without realizing it!  (he-he)

Ottawa TemisKaming Highland trail (will do it this year)

Free. and 100km long.

http://www.ottertooth.com/Temagami/Sites/ottawa-temiskaming-highland-trail.htm

only about 5 hours from Toronto.

Closer to GTA:  Queen Elizabeth Wildlands Provincial Park.

As well there is a guy who has put together a site on camping on crown land in Ontario – I think it has been linked to on BPL before but for sure it is on MyCCR so check there.

Seems that there is quite a broad swath of crown land on the west side of Alqonguin between Kearney and the Rain Lake Trail head.