Bonnechere Provincial Park — Attraction in Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards

Mon-Wed stay at this park. Self check in by phone was super helpful. Paid for second vehicle to park in visitor's area. Campsites were NOT all full. Most sites were fairly large and private, treed and sandy lots. Our site was large enough for three large (2× queen size) tents plus a portable bathroom tent and would have fit more if allowed. Each site seemed to have 2 picnic tables each. Animal presence seemed significantly less than at other parks - chipmunks, squirrels and a family of ducks visited us every day. No raccoons partied on our stuff overnight, surprisingly. Outhouses are nearer than the comfort stations and equipped with sinks and sanitizer. They are DARK inside though so dont wear your sunglasses inside (my mistake) or bring a flashlight. Walkable to the beach and full-service comfort station from most of the campground, I think (as someone who is unable to walk long distances) - no more than 10mins MAX. Plentiful picnic tables and shade near/on beach. Beach was gorgeous, lots of sand. Shallow and walkable sandy bottom out until the floating barrier. Im 5'4" and past the barrier the water was still below my shoulders. There is a bit of bark-like junk on the bottom a few feet in but it is passed over quickly. Busier Monday than the other days. Tons of space to be socially distant. Volleyball court right there, book library built into a tree, water spout to wash off sandy feet. Huge play structure for kids. Camp store open until 9pm offers ice, firewood, assorted toiletries and camping supplies like sunscreen, AfterBite, earplugs, nail clippers; also souvenirs, freezies and ice cream; snacks like candy and potato chips. You can rent extension cords for about $5 per day; also canoes/kayaks (unsure pricing). There is a boat launch on one side of the beach. Masks are required inside the camp store and comfort stations. Hand sanitizer is provided/required before entering the former. Comfort stations also limit the number of people inside at a time to 2 individuals or 1 family. They are deep cleaned twice per day and seemed in good shape any time I visited. ACCESSIBILITY NOTE: blue "ramps" across beach and into the water for disabled people /wheelchair users. Looked like you can borrow/rent wheeled cart contraptions that can roll into the water as well, specifically made to enable disabled individualsto enjoy the water. Overall, the park was very beautiful and quiet, co-campers were respectful (except for maybe some yelling and talking on the phone?? on the beach), there were more ammenities than expected (I did not make the booking so had done no research) and things were as Covid-consious as possible. Phone/internet signal was VERY patchy and usually weak. I received notifications but could never log in to read more. Some of my site-mates had better luck but not by much. I advise to expect you will be phone/internet free at the campsite. There was a guy using a laptop at the beach ?? but I cant speak for whether or not the internet was working for him. There was a branded gas station about 30mins NW? of the park, off the highway to...

This is a wonderful provincial park. This was the cleanest, best managed provincial park we’ve been to in Ontario.

It’s quite small but the sites are great quality. You have your choice of three different loops. One is radio free (Sandy Flats) and the others are a bit more crowded.

You can paddle from some of the sites which is a lovely experience.

The comfort stations are well-equipped and located within easy walking distance of the campsites.

No campsite is more than a 10 minute walk from the big, sandy beach. The water is fairly shallow which makes it very kid friendly, but we (adults) enjoyed snorkelling in the crystal clear water.

You can rent canoes, tandem kayaks and solo kayaks from the park store and the prices are very reasonable. The Bonnechere River has easy and safe paddling, plus you can go out in the lake too!

Fishing- Seems to be mostly small pan fish. Pumpkinseeds etc. Wasn’t an awesome fishing spot but you can buy worms in the Park Store.

This is not the most equipped Park Store, but there’s a good convenience store about 1km away across the street from a food truck.

Accessibility: this is an accessible park. They have accessible campsites and washrooms. Best of all the beach is accessible too and you can borrow an all-terrain floating wheelchair to enjoy the water. They have mats going across the sand into the lake for those who need to use walkers too! It’s not just for wheelchairs. Now that’s barrier free!

Conclusion: this is the provincial park for everyone. Bring the whole family, go outdoors...

The park was clean and pretty well organized. Sites were level and had plenty of room for our 21' trailer. The park was nice and the walking trails were enjoyable. The beach was nice sand, but the water had about 30' of black silt and sticks before you reached clearer water. That's too be expected, but thought I'd mention it poorly as an FYI.

Only reason for the loss of stars was because when we pulled in at check-in time on the long weekend (Sept 1, 2018), they had closed the entry side of the road with pylons. That was perfectly ok, but the pylons were only at the end of the entrance driveway once you had reached the office (but couldn't pass). This meant that we'd have to back out the driveway to enter the oncoming traffic lane, or make a 130 degree turn into the turnaround for the exiting traffic, but also not hit the post on the corner. We went inside to ask why the road was closed and they said it was because of road painting that morning. They radio'd to a supervisor who said it wasn't dry. So, we had to turn around into the 130 degree corner and made it ok. By the time we finished checking in, they had opened the road not even 10 minutes later. I'm certain the paint that was put on that morning didn't finish setting in the time it took us to check in.

I suggested that they should consider putting the pylons at the start of the driveway so people didn't get cornered like us. The young girl looked at me like I was from another planet and replaced the cones exactly where they were when...