Blue Lake Provincial Park

Blue Lake Provincial Park was to be the fourth stop in our tour of Northwestern Ontario provincial parks this spring.

Located in the community of Vermilion Bay, it was only about an hour up the Trans-Canada Highway from our last stop, Rushing River Provincial Park.

If you’ve been following along though, you know that things didn’t quite work out as (meticulously!) planned.

If you’re new here, a quick recap: We had planned a loop through the northwestern Ontario Provincial Parks, spending a few nights in each.

Then we blew out 2 tires at Caliper Lake Provincial Park, had to go into Kenora to order a new one, then we were stranded at Rushing River Provincial Park for over a week, waiting for the ordered tire to arrive.

Also? Wildfire smoke got really bad in the area, driving us to have to reschedule AND shorten a bunch of our plans in the area.

Anyway, on the Thursday at the end of that delivery window, we called Canadian Tire for an update and were told it wouldn’t be in until Monday.

I was already super stressed out about all the changes - and losing so much work time. So, the next day, Porter suggested that we take a day trip up to Blue Lake to check it out.

The weather was more or less nice (just really smoky), so I could get my photos and info, and at least be able to work on a review. It wouldn’t be an actual STAY in the park - we’d lost too much time waiting for the tire - but we could definitely *do* the park.

Of course, on the way home after a long, full day of driving and exploring... the tire came in. So, we had to change plans once again, racing to go pick it up before closing - it would be closed over the weekend.

Anyway, now that you’re all caught up on the situation, let’s tell you all about Blue Lake Provincial Park!

The Basics:

Campground Name: Blue Lake Provincial Park
Address: 1722 ON-647, Vermilion Bay, ON P0V 2V0
Website: https://www.ontarioparks.ca/park/bluelake
Price: Ontario Provincial Parks uses a pricing matrix across all their parks. See 2025 Camping Fees for more details.
Reservations: Ontario Parks Reservations
Park Classification: Natural Environment
Season: May 16, 2025 to September 29, 2025

Logistics

Some basic information to help you plan your stay at Blue Lake Provincial Park:

Registration and Check In

Originally, I had booked our campsite reservations 5 months ahead of time, right at 7am.

As it turns out, that was completely unnecessary. Not only did we end up cancelling - and visiting on a day pass - the park wasn’t even half full, when we did visit!

We signed in at the Blue Lake Park office, and that was quick, easy, and friendly as usual.

Maps and Signage

Some basic info to help you get around Blue Lake Provincial park

Park Map

At first, my only quibble with the map was that I didn’t see any parking spaces listed. I guess I should have consulted the legend - there were actually a TON of parking areas indicated on the map.

They just didn’t use the “P” that most maps do - parking was indicated by brown coloured areas on the map.

I actually like this better than just the “P” - the way Blue Lake Provincial Park’s map does it, you actually have some sort of idea about how big the parking area is.

Overall, it’s a great map. My only complaint, in the end, is that they use the wheelchair symbol for “Accessible Facilities / Parking”, but don’t actually specify what each use of it will be.

One use might be an accessible washroom, another might be the Mobi-Mat (actually, I don’t think that one was actually on the map at all), and another was a sidewalk out to a wheelchair accessible picnic table on the beach.

Also, it would have been nice to have trail information on the map. The trails are all off to the outer edges of the park, and only indicated vaguely.

The only trails map we saw was at the parking for the boardwalk trail, and that was a sign.

Signage

The signage could be a bit better. It started off kind of weird - as soon as you pass the office, there’s a sign directing you to the right for the boat launch.

If you go to the right at that point, you’ll end up in an employees only area. So, pull ahead, THEN turn right!

Beyond that, the one-way roads - per the map - weren’t labeled as such in person, some areas only had directional signage facing one direction (not on one-ways), etc.

The signage that IS there is mostly decent - high contrast, pictorial, etc.

Waste and Water Services

The trailer sanitation station loop has a bit of a weird set up.

It starts as a single lane, then splits into 2 lanes - a dump platform on the left, a fill on the right lane... with no bypass.

The platforms are across from each other, so if you need to use both, you’d use one, then do a second loop and take the other lane on the next pass.

The fill hose is threaded, though. Also, there are a LOT of water taps and garbage bins around the campground, and they’re all indicated on the map.

Connectivity

On Rogers Wireless, we did NOT have much cellular reception at Blue Lake Provincial Park.

I was able to get a bit of signal by the boat launch, that's about it.

Accessibility

A bit of a mixed bag in terms of accessibility at Blue Lake Provincial Park, but I’ll start off by saying that they absolutely get points for actually trying.

It’s just that the execution could maybe use a little fine-tuning, and a lot of that just comes down to presentation and availability of information.

A few notes:

1. They have an all-terrain beach wheelchair available to borrow, but this is not mentioned on the park’s site.

2. Not all of the parking lots have accessible parking , and the ones that do, don’t have it indicated on the map.

3. There are a LOT of accessibility icons on the map - great! - but the map doesn’t actually specify what each accessible facility represented actually is.

4. There’s a Mobi-Mat - not mentioned on the park’s website or specified on the map. The mat itself is in good shape, but there are some significant dips under it, especially closer to the water line. It could definitely use some grading under it.

5. There are two barrier-free campsites - 206e and 207e. They’re located across from a barrier-free toilet, and just a few campsites down the road from a barrier-free comfort station.

6. On that note, both comfort stations offer barrier-free access.

7. The Blue Lake Provincial Park website mentions having a wheelchair ramp at the day use area. I didn’t notice one - I wonder if that’s supposed to be the Mobi-Mat?

8. The Spruce Fen Boardwalk Trail is designated as being wheelchair accessible - it’s a boardwalk the whole way. The boardwalk is definitely wonky in places, with some loose boards, waving, and some places with fairly significant spaces between boards, though - so brace yourself for a possibly bumpy ride!

9. The accessible spot on the map - next to the fish cleaning station- is a sidewalk out to a wheelchair accessible picnic table on the beach. It’s not quite where the Mobi-Mat is, and there’s no access to it from there.

10. For those with mobility issues that don’t use a wheelchair, the day use area is actually VERY walkable. It’s not paved, but the ground is very well packed, with very few roots or other obstacles. I was shocked how easy it was, on a day I could barely walk!

Pets

Pets aren’t allowed on the beach, or in the boat launch area.

Also, there’s some weirdness about an off-leash pet exercise area. It’s mentioned as being past the park emergency exit road... but that area of road is marked (in person) as being an employees-only area.

Weirdly, there’s a parking area before there, that would absolutely make sense as a dog park parking lot. We didn’t see any signage indicating where this dog park could possibly have been, though.

Beyond that, all the standard rules apply - dogs have to be leashed and supervised at all times. They’re not allowed to make excess noise or harass campers or wildlife, and must be picked up after.

Parking

Most of the campsites seem plenty big to handle an extra vehicle or two.

That said, there are a TON of parking areas at Blue Lake Provincial Park. You’re never more than maybe 5 campsites away from some sort of parking lot.

There’s not a lot of parking at the boat launch, and we couldn’t tell where you’re supposed to park your truck/trailer while boating, aside from there. Could be a problem if it gets busy.

Also, the parking situation for the main trail head is weird.

You have to drive through the middle of the larger group camp site to get to the nature trails and beaver pond area.

When you get there, you’re at an area that’s not marked on the map at all. It looks to be a grassy parking lot... but there aren’t any signs specifying it to be as such.

People were definitely parking there, though, so we took our chances. We’re just nervous parking somewhere that doesn’t explicitly state - in person - that it’s a parking spot.

We once parked somewhere that wasn’t signed as such in person, but looked to be the spot designated as parking on that campground’s map... and got ticketed for it!

Miscellaneous

A few random things to note:

1. The letters on the map for the campground road names, not parking lots. We’d initially thought that the parking lots might have been marked by the letters, but they actually aren’t named/labeled/etc at all.

2. There are interesting wood carvings in several areas of the park - I think we saw 3 or 4, and I’m sure we missed some.

3. The beach is more or less north facing - especially closer to the fish cleaning building - and Blue Lake Provincial Park is in an area of very low light pollution.

If the weather and geomagnetic activity lines up during your stay - and you’re not under a blanket of forest fire smoke, as we were during our trip - this would be an excellent place for northern lights viewing.

If you’re interested in possibly seeing the northern lights, check out our posts: Aurora Hunting, How to Photograph the Northern Lights, Can I See the Northern Lights Tonight?, and Where to See Northern Lights in Ontario.

Campground Amenities & Info

Some basic info on the amenities available at Blue Lake Provincial Park:

Creature Comforts

The park site mentions having two comfort stations, but that’s... not quite the case.

There are two big, standard comfort stations, and there’s a building that’s marked as being a shower building, across from campground road D.

That building is marked as just having showers, but it also has laundry - not indicated on the map. The comfort station a block away (between E and F roads) also has laundry facilities.

We forgot to see if the other building - between roads C & B on that same road - also has laundry.

Either way, the comfort stations have flush toilets and showers as well. It’s a little weird that the only 3 showed buildings in the park are so close to each other, IMHO. You’d think they’d space them out a bit!

Anyway, out front of at least two of those buildings, there’s a little stand with a backpack water pump, for fire emergencies. I think that’s the first time we’ve seen one of those in campgrounds.

Visitor Centre

There is no visitor centre at Blue Lake Provincial Park.

Park Store

The Blue Lake Provincial Park store is located in the gatehouse, and it’s super cute!

Great selection, too - Ontario Parks souvenirs and clothing, books, a huge selection of salty AND sweet snacks, ice cream, and more.

The park’s website says that you can get ice and groceries in Vermilion Bay (back down on the Trans Canada Highway), but there were a couple of retail ice freezers at the park entrance, right across from the store/office.

Rentals

The park rents out canoes and kayaks. You can also borrow a life jacket / Personal Flotation Device / PFD. Those just have a $25 refundable deposit involved.

Day Use Area

The sprawling day-use area at Blue Lake Provincial Park is super cute!

They’ve got about 1 km of beach front, with picnic tables, benches, playgrounds, and other areas of interest scattered up the whole length of it.

The playground by group campsite 501e even has a little log cabin type play structure.

There’s a really cute picnic shelter (first-come, first served) right next to the beach, a change house, an amphitheatre, and more.

The best thing is that it’s all very walkable. I can’t personally handle walking on sand - the whole day use area is on kind of a forest floor, next to the sandy beach. Very compacted, flat and even ground - love it!

Campsite Details

There are 3 main ways you can camp at Blue Lake Provincial Park: at an individual site with your own equipment, at a group campsite, or renting a trailer equipped site.

Here’s what we can tell you:

Car Camping

There looked to be maybe 200 or so campsites at Blue Lake Provincial Park, and about half of them have electrical hook-ups.

There’s at least one section of pull-through sites that had kind of an RV park vibe, as well as some sites with a bit more privacy. There are also a few sites that are just HUGE - definitely check the descriptions when you’re booking.

Anyway, all the camp sites are close to some form of washroom, and there are water taps pretty much everywhere.

Group Camping

There are two group campsites at Blue Lake Provincial Park, both with electrical hookups and washrooms:

Site # 501e is next to the boat launch, and can apparently accommodate 40 people. It’s kind of in a weird spot - kind of a corner site next to the beach and parking lot.

On one hand, you’ve got easy access to the beach. On the other... I would expect random people would walk through the site, not necessarily realizing it’s a group site.

Site #502 e is definitely one of the nicer group camp sites we’ve seen. It can accommodate up to 140 people, has its own picnic shelter, and even has its own private swimming area, separated from the main beach area.

The only downside to this one is that the main campground road runs right through the middle of it, and is the only way for other campers to reach the park’s main hiking trail system.

Roofed Accommodations

While “roofed accommodations” usually means rental cabins, at Blue Lake Provincial Park they’re actually trailer equipped sites!

There are 5 of them in the park, and each sleeps 6 people.

There are minimum stays in place - 2 nights, 3 if a long weekend - and pets / smoking are not permitted.

Seems like fun option to see how you like RV camping, before actually buying one!

Entertainment and Activity

Blue Lake Provincial Park offers a nice range of recreational activities, and ways you can explore the wilds of northern Ontario:

Hiking

All told, there are 4 hiking trails at Blue Lake Provincial Park - a mix of interpretive trails, and longer day hikes. Due to the variety of environments you’ll be exploring, we definitely recommend having appropriate foot wear!

We didn’t spend much time on the trails, on account of the terrible air quality that day. We did explore on of them, though!

As mentioned previously, the parking situation for the hiking trails is a bit odd.

Once you get to the main trailhead though - past the 502e campsite, off the map - there’s a trail sign with a clear map of the campground hiking trails.

As a note: Two of the trails - Goblin Lake and Rock Point - split off from the Spruce Fen trail. That split isn’t marked, it’s just a rough trail off to the side of the actual boardwalk.

Anyway, here’s what we can tell you about the trails at Blue Lake Provincial Park:

Boulder Ridge Trail: 1 km, Easy

This trail is actually on the other side of highway 647 from the campground, and is only vaguely indicated on the map.

We didn’t notice it on the way in or out of the campground, but we didn’t know to be looking for it there, either - so, I’m not sure what the parking situation is.

Anyway, this trail is described as:

“ Walk through a forest created by fire, onto a ridge made by ice and over sands carried by rivers now dry. The Boulder Ridge Trail mixes past and present into a fascinating half hour stroll ".

Sounds fun! Wish we could have checked it out that day!

Goblin Lake Trail: 11 km, Moderate (Full Day)

This trail diverges off the Spruce Fen Boardwalk Trail, taking you along Blue Lake - I’d imagine with some nice views of the lake - to Goblin Lake.

It follows the edge of Goblin Lake for a bit, then cuts over to Corner Lake, before re-joining the path out.

Rock Point Trail: 4km, Moderate

This trail has two access points - one from M Road (Near the trailer sanitation station), and also via the Spruce Fen boardwalk trail, where it follows the Goblin Lake trail for a bit, before splitting off to the left.

This one says it takes you through different forest types, and starts out at a beaver pond.

Spruce Fen Boardwalk Trail:1 km Loop, Easy (Barrier-Free)

This trail is boardwalk the entire way, taking you through a Black Spruce Fen.

Along the trail, there are a few interpretive signs that tell you a bit about the natural features and different environments.

We really enjoyed this one. We love seeing boreal forest plant life, and we even saw a few Lady Slipper orchids on the side of this trail.

The walk is actually shorter than states, coming in at only 0.86km from the car and back.

As mentioned previously, the boardwalk is a little wonky in spots - still a enjoyable walk, though!

Biking

There aren’t any dedicated bike trails at Blue Lake Provincial Park, and you’re not allowed to bring them on any of the hiking trails.

The park invites people to go cycling on the park roads though, and it does seem like a good place for that. The roads are generally pretty wide, and in decent enough shape.

Swimming

If you’ve been following us for a while, you know I’m a bit of a priss when it comes to campground beaches.

I am generally not a fan of small, inland lake beaches, as I generally find them gross. The sand is usually sensory hell - a mix of sand, gravel, and mud... the water is usually murky, tends to involve some sort of slime, maybe plant matter brushing against you, etc. Not my bag!

Blue Lake Provincial Park has a legitimately beautiful beach!

It’s a long sandy beach with crystal clear waters. I didn’t see any plant matter or slime at all, just a whole lot of very homogeneous sand!

It was honestly kind of breathtaking, and it wasn’t even a sunny day! Was NOT expecting that!

The whole beach area is nice, and has a completely different vibe than pretty much any Provincial Park beach I can think of. It’s a bit of a weird contrast to have the super clear, clean water... just a few metres away from pine forests! I dig it!

Anyway, the swimming area is sectioned off with buoyed ropes, and there are no life guards on duty.

Birding, Wildlife, and Nature

While we did have the opportunity to do a bit of bird watching during our visit, the conditions weren’t great for actually photographing them.

There were plenty of song birds out an about, but they mostly stayed really high up in the trees. We’d see brief glimpses of them, but didn’t get a lot of great photos.

Overall, we heard and/or saw:

American Robin, Bay-Breasted Warbler, Black-Backed Woodpecker, Blackburnian Warbler, Blue-Headed Vireo, Blue Jay, Cedar Waxwing, Chipping Sparrow, Common Grackle, Common Loon, Common Raven, Dark-Eyed Junco, Hermit Thrush, Magnolia Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Red-Eyed Vireo, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Swainson’s Thrush, Yellow-Rumped Warbler.

Boating

There’s a very small boat launch, into VERY shallow water. There’s a lofted metal dock right next to the launch.

I was surprised at how sandy the water was. I guess I’m used to most boat launches being over gravel and such - I wonder if that ends up being an issue, with how shallow it is?

If we had to launch our little 18' motor boat there, we’d probably have to drive our truck all the way into the water to do so. There was a metal grate that extended into the water for a bit, but it was still pretty shallow by the time it ended.

Maybe the water levels were low at the time of our visit, but it’s worth noting, either way!

Anyway, power boats are allowed, but need to steer clear of non-motorized boats like canoes and kayaks. Also, there are canoe routes you can explore - I’d ask for details at the office, if you’re interested.

As a note, there was a sign at the boat launch indicating that it is an offense:

- To operate a boat or water ski in a dangerous manner

- To tow a water skier without a second responsible person on board watching the water skier.

- To water ski between one hour after sunset to sunrise.

- To operate a boat while impaired by alcohol or a drug.

- To fail to remain at the scene of an accident.

Fishing & Hunting

Being so close to the Lake of the Woods region, fishing is - unsurprisingly - a popular activity at Blue Lake Provincial Park.

Lake Trout, Northern Pike, and Smallmouth Bass are all potentially on the menu, along with the remote possibility of Muskie and Walleye.

Also, heads up: They allow hunting in certain areas of the park.

After morning after morning waking up to the sound of echoing gunfire at during our stay at Rideau River Provincial Park ... I’d definitely keep that in mind when booking during hunting season!

Discovery Program

As with most Ontario Provincial Parks, the Discovery programming at Blue Lake Provincial Park is limited to the months of July and August - so we missed it by several weeks!

It sounds like they have a fun lineup - campfire presentations, guided nature hikes, etc.

Niantic Games

There are six Ingress game points (Pokestop/ Gym / Ingress Portal/etc) in the park.

They’re located at the highway sign, both playgrounds, and the amphitheatre. You can get a little reception there at times, but the overall lack of cell reception in the park could definitely be an issue for game play.

Final Thoughts

Blue Lake Provincial Park is a cute campground, but pretty rustic. I really dig the vibe of the beach area - the open pine tree area right next to one of the cleanest sand beaches and clearest water we’ve seen in a while was striking!

I could see this park being really good for families with young kids - the beach is really walkable, and there's just a ton of stuff to do if you're a kid. SO many playgrounds, and it’s all just very open and it feels very safe.

The campsites themselves are kind of meh, but probably worth it for the beach there.

We feel like we could definitely have enjoyed staying there for a few days, enjoying the trails and such. The lack of internet's kind of a deal breaker for us, in terms of longer stops - being able to work is how we’re able to do the camping trips!

If you’re a family with the little kids, though... I could absolutely see Blue Lake Provincial Park being an outstanding destination for you. Definitely check it out!

More Northern Ontario Provincial Parks & Places to See

Want to read some more about the parks we've camped and at places we've seen in Northern Ontario? Here are some more posts!

Northern Ontario Campground Reviews:

Agawa Bay Campground, Lake Superior Provincial Park
Caliper Lake Provincial Park
Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park
MacLeod Provincial Park
Neys Provincial Park
Pancake Bay Provincial Park
Pukaskwa National Park
Quetico Provincial Park
Rabbit Blanket Lake, Lake Superior Provincial Park
Rainbow Falls Provincial Park
Rushing River Provincial Park
Sioux Narrows Provincial Park
Sleeping Giant Provincial Park
White Lake Provincial Park

Northern Ontario Places to See:

Aguasabon Falls & Gorge
Amethyst Mine Panorama
Batchawana Bay
Chippewa Falls
Kakabeka Falls
Mink Creek Falls
Old Woman Bay
Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park
Sand River Falls
Scenic High Falls
Temagami Fire Tower
Terrace Bay Beach

Want to explore beyond Northern Ontario? Check out our full list of Campground Reviews, Ontario Waterfalls, and other Places to See.

We also have a ton of Camping Recipes to cook up, while on your adventures!