Located just off Highway 11 in South River about 30 minutes south of North Bay you will find Mikisew Provincial Park set on the shores of Eagle Lake, known as a quiet and quaint location that has been a tradition for families since 1964. In this post, I share five reasons we enjoyed family camping at Mikisew Provincial Park this season. 

Five Reasons We Enjoy Family Camping at Mikisew Provincial Park

Clean, private and big sites at Mikisew Provincial Park

When you’re traveling with kids, especially county boys, a must-have for us is a lot of space and private sites. Our site needs to have trees, room for them to play, build, and just be kids. Mikisew Provincial Park has two campgrounds: Hardwoods & Pines, and they have many prime and electrical sites within both sections.  

Hardwoods Campground at Mikisew

The Hardwoods Campground features rolling hills in a mature Maple and Oak forest. The coverage is thick, so the sites seem to have more privacy because of the type of coverage. The Hardwoods Campground is a lot closer to the three beaches, which is a benefit for families with little children. We did find the hardwood campground a little louder, and more popular. During blackfly season it had peskier little buggers since it had less sunlight coming into the sites because of the thick maple and oak forest coverage. 

Pines Campground at Mikisew

The Pines Campground is located in a Red Pine forest a short bike ride to the beach; this is where we stayed, and we were so glad we did. This campsite accommodates most any size camping equipment from tents to RVs, and we found a lot of long-term campers set up here, who were not camping that week. Which means during our time stay in mid-June the Pines Campground was very quiet besides for a few retired couples keeping to themselves. We loved the sunlight coming through the pine trees and the clean pine needles covering the forest floor. 

In addition to large sites, we noticed that most if not all the sites have two picnic tables. This is a huge bonus when camping giving you plenty of space to set up dinner and kids crafts at the same time, especially for a family our size, and we have plenty of space to spread out. 

I also have to add the comfort stations (AKA bathrooms & showers) were incredibly clean. I tend to ride over to comfort stations when nature calls but was presently surprised how spotless the outhouses were kept as well. There is a level of pride and ownership among the staff at Mikisew that I noticed making me one happy customer! 

Dogs Are Welcome 

Our Goldendoodle loves to travel as much as we do, so the fact that Mikisew Provincial Park has an off-leash dog park and dog beach is a bonus! 

The NEW Disc Golf Course at Mikisew Provincial Park

The new disc golf course at Mikisew Provincial Park is an activity the kids were very excited to play. We played disc golf on a course in Vermont last summer, and they have been requesting to play again since. 

The course is set deep in the forest intertwined with spruce, cedar, and balsam. The professional discs and frisbees are available to rent and purchase at the park store. Unfortunately, we arrived in black fly season, and we couldn’t complete the whole 18-hole disc golf course due to those pesky little buggers. However, in the summer, I imagine this spot to be an attraction for all types of travelers. Disc Golf is a newly growing sport, perfect for families to enjoy a little time together, and hey you may find a new game to love. 

You may be interested in reading this article on The Parks Blog: A Hole-In-One at Mikisew 

Stand-Up Paddleboard Rentals

We love getting out on the water as a family, and we’ve spent many of our best moments in a canoe, kayak, boat, or SUP during many of our family travels.

New this year, Mikisew Provincial Park has stand-up paddleboard rentals. We spent a beautiful Monday on our stand-up paddleboard rentals and played on a quiet little island on Eagle Lake in front of Mikisew Provincial Park beach.  

Even our Goldendoodle Mocha enjoyed the ride on the stand-up paddleboard – her new nickname is “Paddle Puppy.” 

Fishing on Eagle Lake 

Hubby and I have never really been big into fishing; I know surprising since we both did it a lot of fishing with our parents as children. But our boys are showing a massive interest in fishing. So this trip we bought the boys a couple of rods and promised them a chance to cast off into Eagle Lake.

Surprisingly, at first cast, they caught a fish and a couple more after that. We safely let the fish go, but the kids still had a blast fishing catch and release. Clearly, Eagle Lake is a great lake to fish on because we aren’t fisherman and they had favorable luck.

There you have it our top five reasons we enjoy family camping at Mikisew Provincial Park this season. The smiles, the memories, the time spent together naturally comes into play when you go camping as a family. Fully indulging into all each campground offers is a great way to try new things and find what you like.

 You may be interested in reading this article on how we found nature's wonderland at Bonnechere Provincial Park!

Tell me one of your favorite memories from an Ontario Park? 

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Thank you, Ontario Parks, for the invite. As always, these are our opinions and this, and all reviews are written with honesty from our heart.