Pancake Bay Provincial Park

We’ve had lunch at Batchawana Bay Provincial Park - a day use only park - and camped at Lake Superior Provincial Park... but had not been to Pancake Bay before.

I have no idea how we managed to skip this absolute gem of a park last year.

Located on the eastern shore of Lake Superior - about an hour drive north of Sault Ste Marie - the park is a narrow strip of land between the turquoise waters of Pancake Bay, and the highway.

There’s more than 3 km of beautiful sand beach, waterfront campsites, some amazing hiking... just a really lovely park.

The area is part of a historic paddling route of the voyageurs, signage along the trails tells you of the geologic and natural history of the park lands, and one of the hikes takes you to a view over the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

I mean, you can’t SEE the wreckage, but it’s down there.

Overall, it was just about the perfect place to camp - especially if you have an air conditioner to drown out the highway noise.

Anyway, let us tell you all about our camping experience there!

The Basics:

Campground Name: Pancake Bay Provincial Park
Address: 12729 Hwy 17 North, P.O. Box 61 Batchawana Bay, ON P0S 1A0
Website: https://www.ontarioparks.ca/park/pancakebay
Price: Ontario Provincial Parks uses a pricing matrix across all their parks. See 2024 Camping Fees for more details.
Reservations: Ontario Parks Reservations
Park Classification: Recreational
Season: May 3, 2024 to October 15, 2024

Logistics

Some of the basic park information to help you plan your stay:

Registration and Check In

We booked online, 5 months to the day before we planned to visit. The odds were in our favour - we got a water-adjacent site!

Check in was quick, easy, and friendly as usual. Actually even more friendly than usual - enthusiastically friendly!

Pancake Bay Provincial Park still uses paper permits, so pre-registering online saves a minute or so, but won’t save you a trip to the gatehouse.

As a bonus, though, a paper permit means less hassle if you want to use your daily vehicle permit to visit nearby Batchawana Bay Provincial Park.

Oh, and - unlike at Fairbank Provincial Park - there was trailer parking at the office.

Maps and Signage

The park map is 11 x 17, full colour, and ... kind of intimidating, TBH.

Because it’s such a looooong campground - it takes up a 3 km stretch of Lake Superior - There are 3 maps on the page.

One is the park overview, one is the bulk of the main campground area, and the final one is a bigger view of the Hilltop Campground.

You come in, and either go left for the day use area, or right for the campground area.

For the MOST part, there are road signs that tell you where you need to turn off, to access your section.

This happened to NOT be the case for ours, so - after we almost missed it the first time - we used an upcoming comfort station as our sign to turn.

Waste Services

The trailer sanitation station has a weird setup.

First of all, it’s almost all the way at the far end of the campground from the front gate - you may want to plan around that, if you’re staying near the front gate. The roads can be kind of annoying.

The Poop Loop is set up with what seems to be an obvious entrance and an exit, with a secondary possible entrance from the group camping area.

The thing is, the road signs don’t really tell you where to go - the place that feels like an exit to me could definitely serve as an entrance, but it would get awkward if there are lineups, etc.

So, if you go the way I think you’re supposed to - drive almost to the end of the campground, turn left when you come to the entries to Hilltop and the hiking parking, skirt the beach and turn left onto the second road of the loop - there’s a fill platform and then a dump platform.

Each has one hose - threaded hose on the fill - in the middle of two lanes. Theoretically one of the two lanes could act as a bypass, depending on whether there’s anyone at the other side of the platform.

The dump platform has two sewer intake platforms, so - while you’d share a single hose - two people could be dumping at once.

In addition to the fill platform, there are also potable water taps located throughout the campgrounds... you just can’t fill your trailer at them.

Connectivity

We had decent - or better - cell phone coverage throughout the park, even out on the trail.

At the campsite itself, we had good enough download speeds to be able to stream TV.

Accessibility

This park is a little hit and miss on the accessibility front.

First, the basics: Each of the 3 comfort stations is designated as being barrier-free (we didn’t use them during our short stay, though). There are either 3 or 4 barrier-free campsites, depending on whether you believe the website or the map.

The two yurts are also designated as being barrier-free accommodations.

As soon as we pulled up to the campground, we saw two different all-terrain beach wheelchairs on display in front of the gatehouse - always a good sign, and nice to see.

Then, the garbage disposal / recycling depot is NOT wheelchair accessible. You can access the recycling bins, but the garbage receptacle entrance is up several steps, with no other option.

The good: It’s very close to the central comfort station parking lot, and goes all the way from the road, to into the water.

The not-great: You have to cross a campground road to get from the parking lot to the Mobi-Mat, and that section of road is very uneven, potholey, etc.

Also: The Mobi-Mat really needs some re-grading of the sand under it. As it is, you’ll definitely want some help if you’re wheeling down to the beach, there are some steep ditches under the mat.

Finally: the two main hiking trails are NOT wheelchair accessible, and I wouldn’t recommend doing either if you’re using any other kind of mobility aid. I’ve done some wild things while in a boot, there’s no way I’d do even the “easy” Nature Trail in one, or if I was having a cane day.

Bruce’s Trail - near the Hilltop comfort station - is only 0.1 km long, flat, easy, and probably wheelchair accessible.

There’s no information about this trail on the website though - see the hiking section, a bit further down in this post.

Pets

Pancake Bay Provincial Park seems like a really pet-friendly park - there are two separate dog exercise areas.

Both are located at the west end of the campground, near the Hilltop Campground.

Pancake Bay Dog Park

First off, there’s a Dog Exercise Area just past the second (West Campground) comfort station, with a small parking lot on the right (highway) side of the road.

The parking lot was mostly blocked off with a large pile of rocks during our stay, but there was one spot till available.

The part is up a short - but quite steep - trail. It’s big and open, we’re not sure if it’s an off-leash park or not.

One word of caution, especially if it IS off-leash: there’s a fence next to the highway. It’s raised up enough off the ground that small dogs could get under it, so watch them closely!

Pancake Bay Dog Beach

There’s also a small dog beach, near the Trailer Sanitation Station. It has a small, dedicated parking lot off the south west side of the West Campground.

Note: Dogs aren’t allowed on any of the other campground beaches... not that anyone followed that rule during our stay.

Parking

There seemed to be plenty of parking available at all the “attraction” areas - the trail head, comfort stations, day use, etc.

Most were pretty wide open during our stay, but then again... we were camping on weekdays during the shoulder season. Not that the campground was anywhere near empty, but it COULD be a different story during summer weekends.

Miscellaneous

Roads: The roads aren’t in GREAT shape, and there are speed bumps.

In terms of sky, the beach is almost directly south facing, and it’s in an area of low light pollution.

We had NO problem seeing the aurora borealis during our stay, but we had to go out on the beach and look back towards the campground.

We actually had quite the show!

On that note: If you have a campsite that’s exposed to the beach, please don’t leave your lights on all night! It messes with vision and photography when it comes to the northern lights.

Campground Amenities & Info

Here’s some basic information on the park amenities at Pancake Bay Provincial Park:

Creature Comforts

There are 3 comfort stations in the campground, in the East Campground, Hilltop Campground, and West Campgrounds.

They’re in wildly different conditions - The East and West Campground comfort stations seem much newer and in better condition than the Hilltop comfort station.

That one looks a bit sketchy, IMHO.

Anyway, there are flush toilets and shower facilities at each of the campgrounds, but only the East and West Campgrounds have laundry facilities - high-efficiency washers and dryers.

In terms of other washroom facilities, there are vault toilets throughout the campgrounds and in the day use area.

Finally, the East Campground comfort station has a playground.

Very cool!

Visitor Centre

There’s no Visitor Center at Pancake Bay Provincial Park.

Park Store

There’s a small park store in the gatehouse. It’s actually far more well stocked than you’d think, for one of the “in the gatehouse” camp stores.

You can get all the usual snack, souvenirs, clothing, camping supplies, and ice cream treats that you’d expect from a slightly larger camp store.

Day Use Area

The day-use area is in the east end of the park, almost completely separate from the campground areas. You can get there via the main campground road, or just walk along the beach.

There’s a picnic shelter - which can be reserved online or by phone - as well as a few picnic tables, park benches, etc.

We’ve seen a few of these now - in Lake Superior Provincial Park, Neys Provincial Park, and - most recently - Chippewa Falls.

I’m surprised we didn’t see one at Onaping Falls, given that the lookout there - A.Y Jackson - is named after one of the founding members of the Group of Seven.

Campsite Details

There are a bunch of camping options, from car camping and tent camping, to group sites and a couple of roofed accommodation options.

Car Camping

The overall campground area is divided into 5 camping areas. From the gatehouse out to the east side of the park, those are:

East Campground: There are some LARGE RV sites, with a section of pull-through sites

East-Central Campground: The smallest, least-densely packed campground, has the nicest comfort station and the accessible beach entrance.

West-Central Campground: Densely packed sites

West Campground: Densely packed sites

There are several hundred campsites in the park, and about half of them are electrical. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit, as usual.

As a note: There is a TON of highway traffic noise in the campground, especially along the road closest to the Trans-Canada Highway. You can see the highway traffic right from the campground road, through those sites.

Personally, I’d avoid all of those if possible. Many are so small, they look like picnic nooks, more than campsites. Also, many of them are in pretty poor condition, from what we could see.

Our Site

Our site - #361 - was perfect! It was a pull through site (not indicated on the map), right next to a beach access point.

There was a creek running behind our site - between us and the beach - and we saw a Great Blue Heron there on our first morning. In the afternoon, there were songbirds chirping away in the pine trees back there.

It was nice to be walking distance from a beach, and that proximity REALLY came in handy during the Northern Lights shows during our stay!

Group Camping

There are a few group camping sites on the far west end of the campground.

They all seem smaller than I’d expect for a group campsite, but the site says they accommodate 15-40 people. We saw one family with just single RV and dining tent in one of them.

That’s one way to get some extra privacy!

Anyway, each of the group campsites were across the road from their own beach access point.

Roofed Accommodation

There are two options for roofed accommodations at Pancake Bay Provincial Park: Rustic Cabins and Yurts.

There are 3 cabins - one at the west end of the park - in with the group campsites - and two more at the far east end of the park, just past the day-use area.

The park also has 2 “Soft-Sided Shelters” - yurts. One is in the East Campground, and the other is in the West-Central Campground. They are apparently barrier-free.

Entertainment and Activity

Some information on the various recreational activities available at Pancake Bay Provincial Park:

Hiking

There are 3 hiking trails in Pancake Bay Provincial Park, though only two are listed on the website. To be fair, the third is an incredibly short walk.

Anyway, here’s what you need to know:

Bruce’s Trail - 0.1 km, Easy.

This is more of a lookout than an actual trail, as it’s incredibly short. It IS very accessible though - Flat, well-packed gravel, slow and easy slope, with a smooth transition onto the viewing platform.

This is a memorial lookout, dedicated to Bruce Stubbs - a Ministry and Natural Resources employee.

In 2003, he and his colleges - Chantelle Walkey, Mike Maguire, and Walter Ceolin - were doing an aerial moose survey when their helicopter went down. All were lost in the tragedy.

The platform looks out over the wetland area - a fen - that the Nature Trail boardwalk goes through.

Pancake Bay Nature Trail - 3.5 km, Easy

First off - it’s listed as being 3.5 km long and easy. It’s actually 3.8 km long, and more of a moderate trail. Longish sections of it are easy, but overall... yeah, it’s a moderate.

Both ends of the trail - in the parking lot, and on the campground road nearby - are marked as the trail being closed. We called the office our first night of the stay to ask about that.

They said that it’s officially closed, but that people can walk the trail at their own risk. The boardwalk was down for repairs, so you could only go part way and would have to turn back.

I asked how far out the boardwalk was down, she said it was about ¾ of the way, when leaving from the parking lot.

So, we decided to do it the next morning, we’d just go partway and turn around.

... we never did figure out which part was the “boardwalk was out”. There were so many different boardwalks, and then areas with just planks across muddy areas, etc. We ended up doing the whole trail, start to finish.

Well, I guess finish-to-start, anyway.

From there, it was along a creek, up some steep inclines, out across a marshy wetland area via a LOOOONG boardwalk, into some rocky areas - including past a billion year-old conglomerate boulder (it looked like concrete!), and more.

It was VERY ADHD friendly, with all of the ever-changing environments along the trail, and informational signage along the way.

Probably one of my favourite interpretive trails to date.

... just be sure to bring some bug spray!

Edmund Fitzgerald Lookout Trail - 14 km, Moderate

This trail is located a short drive from the campground / across the highway, and is basically a ladder of 3 possible trails, depending on how adventurous you’re feeling.

The first section is the most popular: the Yellow Trail / Lookout Trail, 5.6 km round trip and moderate difficulty. Porter did this on our last day at the park (more on that in a minute).

The other two sections (when combined with Yellow, and/or each other, as applicable) are:

Blue Trail / Pancake Falls Trail, 10.5 km, Moderate

Orange Trail / Tower Trail, 13.8 km), Difficult.

This trail is said to be one of the best areas for viewing wildlife - including moose! - and involves lookout platforms with a panoramic lake view.

Lookout Trail

I’ll let him tell you about his experience:

“It ended up being about 6.5 km, from the parking lot / trail head to the lookout platforms and back.”

The last leg to the outlook is difficult, as you face 119 stairs, then meet more moderate to steep inclines. The view is amazing though, totally worth it if you can make it!”

TONS of work to get to the lookouts, but it’s a really amazing view. Loved this hike - the whole thing was enjoyable!”

Biking

We didn’t see anyone cycling during our stay, though I suppose the campground roads would be suitable enough.

The Lookout Trail allows for mountain biking, with the caveat that it is *rugged*, and you should really wear a helmet and other safety equipment, as necessary.

Tribag Mine Road is also nearby, and a popular route for mountain biking and ATV use. It takes you up to Batchawana Falls.

Swimming

The Pancake Bay Beach is GORGEOUS - definitely one of the best beaches we’ve seen this year.

It’s over 3 km of sandy beach - pale, fine, soft sand - with clear, shallow waters that go pretty far out.

It wasn’t the “Caribbean blue waters” mentioned on the site, but it DID feel pretty tropical when we were sprawled out on the beach on a hot and sunny day.

In mid September... In Northern Ontario!

Unlike some other beaches along Lake Superior, the beach at Pancake Bay continues to be sandy - glorious little ripples of sand - pretty far out. You’ll find an odd rock here and there, but by and large - it’s just sand.

Love it!

Birding, Wildlife, and Nature

The park’s website mentions a giant laundry list of animals you may see, including:

Bald Eagles, Black Bears, Cedar Waxwings, Chipmunks, Common Loons, Flycatchers, Moose, Red Fox, Sandhill Cranes, Squirrels, Wolves, Woodpeckers, etc.

Aside from squirrels and chipmunks, and a woodpecker ... we saw almost NONE of those listed!

I DID have a Great Blue Heron fly up next to me on the beach, and we did see and/or hear several bird species that were NOT listed.

Overall, we saw: American Crow, Black-Capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Common Yellowthroat, Golden-Crowned Kinglet, Great Blue Heron, Northern Flicker, Northern Harrier, Pileated Woodpecker, Ring-Billed Gull, Savannah Sparrow, White-Throated Sparrow.

... and we heard: Black-and-White Warbler, Black-Throated Blue Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet.

Boating

There’s no actual boat launch in the park - you’ll have to go to the mouth of the Batchawana River, 11 km south for that.

That said, it’s known as an excellent place for canoeing, kayaking, and paddle boarding. There’s easy access to launch small water craft all along the beach.

Just a heads up, though. Pancake Bay itself is pretty sheltered, but the area of Lake Superior known as “The Graveyard of the Great Lakes” is pretty close by.

Those sudden weather changes and large waves that have sunk a ton of Great Lakes ships? Definitely something to be mindful of, if you journey out from the bay itself - unless you want to join the SS Edmund Fitzgerald down there!

Fishing

With Lake Superior being the largest fresh water lake in the world, it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s a popular fishing destination.

You can fish out on the open lake itself, or from shore along Pancake River, Batchawana River, Carp River, or some other small rivers in the area.

Depending on the season, the area is known for Brook Trout, Lake Trout, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout, Salmon, Smallmouth Bass, and Walleye.

Discovery Program

We visited Pancake Bay in September, so it was outside their Discovery Programming season of July and August. By the time we arrived, there weren’t even any older calendar posters up, to give us an idea of what kind of programs they had been running.

The downside of a well-maintained park, I guess!

Anyway, sounds like they do the usual Exploration Station and Discovery Activity Book thing, at the very least. There’s a gorgeous amphitheatre, so we assume there’s some kind of live programs as well.

Niantic Games

There are a fair amount of Niantic game stops in Pancake Bay - Pokestops, Ingress Portals, Gyms, etc - as well as a ton of spawn points / energy on the ground.

Also: we have good enough cell phone service to access the games all over the park!

Final Thoughts

Pancake Bay Provincial Park is a beautiful area, with an especially gorgeous beach.

We wish it was a bit further from the highway - you’re going to want to be OK with some highway noise, and/or have a hefty air conditioner on the go.

But overall, we loved our stay. We could hear the sound of the waves as we went to bed, then woke up to step just outside of our site to take in an amazing show of the aurora borealis.

The Nature Trail was a VERY ADHD friendly trail, while not being overly difficult.

Loads of things going for this park - we’ll definitely be back!

More Provincial Park Campground Reviews

Want to read some more of what we have to say about the campgrounds we've stayed at? Here are some more reviews!

Agawa Bay, Lake Superior Provincial Park
Arrowhead Provincial Park
Awenda Provincial Park
Balsam Lake Provincial Park
Bass Lake Provincial Park
Bon Echo Provincial Park
Bonnechere Provincial Park
Bronte Creek Provincial Park
Canisbay Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park
Chutes Provincial Park
Darlington Provincial Park
Driftwood Provincial Park
Earl Rowe Provincial Park
Emily Provincial Park
Fairbank Provincial Park
Ferris Provincial Park
Grundy Lake Provincial Park
Inverhuron Provincial Park
Killbear Provincial Park
Long Point Provincial Park
MacGregor Point Provincial Park
MacLeod Provincial Park
Mara Provincial Park
McRae Point Provincial Park
Neys Provincial Park
Pinery Provincial Park
Point Farms Provincial Park
Port Burwell Provincial Park
Quetico Provincial Park
Rideau River Provincial Park
Rock Point Provincial Park
Rondeau Provincial Park
Sauble Falls Provincial Park
Selkirk Provincial Park
Sibbald Point Provincial Park
Sleeping Giant Provincial Park
Turkey Point Provincial Park
Wheatley Provincial Park