Charleston Lake Provincial Park — Attraction in Leeds and the Thousand Islands

It's my favorite provicial park, and...what can I say?

It's the park I grew up in, camping with my family through many a hot summer. My parents with loud bickering 3 kids; me (the annoying younger brother) and my 2 older half sisters (both of which normally lived in other households with their other parents) and a dog named Aztec. How they managed to squeeze all of us into a vehicle I'll never know.

We also weny cross country skiing through the coldest of winters. My parents thought that I, even at the age of 3 could handle a 10km ski trail, if I could remember more of the grueling trek I'm sure if still be bitter. What I do remember is stopping in a small cabin, half way through the trail, to take a break and decompress with a sit down and some snacks. To entertain us kids my dad invented the booger game. He found the remnants of a hand drawn board game board in the cabin, found us some "game pieces" to use, and planted a big juicy booger on one of the squares. I don't remember the rules per say, but I remember that was the square you DIDNT want to land on. Luckily it was my sister that did. The punishment was to eat the booger, this was of course a joke, but teasing my sister about not doing it was more fun than it happening regardless.

Now that dog, Aztek, used to love Charleston Lake more than any other creature probably has or even COULD. Every time we'd pack up to go, he'd know where we were headed. You could see it in his wide eyes and permenant grin. He would always start flipping out and whining and begging to be let outside as soon we were within even 20 minutes of the park entrance. He just knew, and WE knew he could never contain himself, though it was never annoying as loud as he was. How could you ever not love a dog that happy.

Sadly Aztec has passed now, as have a few of our other family dogs. A few of which have even had their ashes spread along thier favorite trails, and honestly I can't think of any more beautiful resting place for each of them. It may be the only thing to make me sad about the lake, but it's a bitter sweet thing, just like all the other really good things in life.

Nowadays its the park I make sure to go back to for at least one week every year, to go camping with my girlfriend and our new dog. To decompress, and feel human again, away from work stress and technology. We even have our our regular campsite up on an elevated rock formation in Shady Ridge (I'd say the lot number if I could remember it, but the girlfriend is better with remembering that sort of thing). By the way, my current dog Rogan loves it just as much as Aztec ever did, and I can't tell you how happy that makes me.

In the future, well I imagine it will still be one of my favorite places to go on this green earth. And even as much as the idea of fatherhood scares me, I honestly just can't wait to bring my future kid there too. To show them this magical place that has meant so...SO much to me over the entirety of my life and hopefully make it a lasting memory for them too.

Its beautiful there, I promise. Just... Well, just go there and see for yourself. Have a hike. Go camping. Meet some people on the trail and make a friend for the day. And while you're out there, say hi to Aztec for me, he was...

I recently booked a group site at this park for an annual camping trip with over 20 friends. While the park itself is beautiful, our experience was significantly marred by unfair treatment from the staff and issues with other visitors.

1st Night: Despite paying $400 for a group site, we were informed that we couldn’t make any noise after 10pm. On our arrival night, park ranger Swinton approached us, claiming we were too loud. We complied by quieting down, but within 10 minutes, the same ranger returned and issued a $180 ticket, suggesting we “split into little groups to talk.” To make matters worse, the group site next to us complained about the noise, despite their group not meeting the minimum number of people required for a group site. Yet, they were still allowed to book the space.

2nd Day/Night: The next day, rangers patrolled our site multiple times. When we went to the beach, a woman harassed us, claiming dogs weren’t allowed, despite a sign indicating they were. After she left, she called patrol on us. Patrol arrived, kicked us off the beach, and directed us to another beach where dogs were supposedly allowed (though the sign there said otherwise).

At the new beach, patrol approached us again after 20 minutes and told us to turn off our music because we were disrupting others. Despite being deep in the bushes to avoid harassment, we were threatened with eviction if we were approached again. Additionally, another group site arrived on the same day (across from us) and made as much noise as us the first night, but they were never issued a ticket. The inconsistency in enforcement was baffling.

3rd Day/Night: Heavy rain caused some of our friends’ tents to end up in puddles. We asked the rangers/manager for help, hoping they could bring some gravel or woodchips to address the issue. They informed us they had none and mentioned that other sites around the camp were also underwater. One ranger also thought it helpful to explain basic science about how rain works, as if we were children. They provided no real solution, only handed us some shovels, and left. This did nothing to alleviate the problem.

Overall, the park’s beauty is overshadowed by poor management, inconsistent rule enforcement, and other visitors that cannot mind their own business. I won’t be returning and wouldn’t recommend this park for group camping if you want a hassle-free and enjoyable experience...

Great park for some outdoor activities!

Site: We stayed on site 124 in the meadowlands section. The site was spacious and shaded with a little bit of sun. We had more than enough room for our kitchen tent as well as our tent trailer. Privacy was good compared to other sites. Fire pit was in a good spot. Proximity to water and the comfort station was a big advantage. There was poison ivy around the site, which I think is common for this park. It was a cause for concern having young children, but not a dealbreaker.

Park amenities: Ice and wood are available at the main gate. Not much else is available at the park. In comparison to other provincial parks, which offer a park store with basic food options and some camping basics, sometimes even an ice cream counter. Granted, these are all luxuries, but are sometimes handy to have access to. Discovery center is interesting, yet small and underwhelming compared to presqu’ile provincial park. Many activities are available to children with weekly activities. We didn’t participate in any of these, therefore I will refrain from comments. There is a play structure for kids, which is accessible by foot from meadowlands and bayside campgrounds. Definitely a hiking, biking, paddling and bisecting destination. Kayaks and canoes are available for rent at reasonable prices (beginning at 18$/4hrs to 40$/ 24 hrs). We tried the sandstone island trail and it was fantastic. I wouldn’t recommend it with young children because there are some challenging stretches.

Beaches: Campers beach is clean and picturesque, sand is a bit hard. Swimming area is spacious and well identified with a gradual slope which is great for kids. There are changing rooms at this beach, no outhouses are directly at the beach and weren’t the closest ones weren’t the cleanest.

Overall impression: Definitely a great park to visit with many different activities to do. Having two children (3&2) it met all of our needs. I would definitely return and make sure to take advantage of some paddling next...