Pinery Provincial Park is open year round, but it has a COMPLETELY different vibe in the winter months. Here's our guide to winter camping there!
We’d already been to winter camping at MacGregor Point Provincial Park a few times, and had yet to check out Pinery at ALL.
We knew it was a super popular park during the main season, and that it was a relatively short drive from both home AND MacGregor Point, right on the south shores of Lake Huron.
Plus, it was one of only a small handful of Provincial Parks in Southwestern Ontario that are open through the winter, so it seemed like a good place to check out.
The thing is, winter never really happened that year. We visited in February, it looked and felt like October. The closest we got to winter was a bit of ice washed up on the lovely beaches that Pinery is known for!
Earlier this year, I called the park to ask an employee for the 411. When were they usually active during the winter months, is one month more likely to see the trails open than others, etc.
The reply wasn’t encouraging - she said that they really don’t get winter conditions there anymore.
I mentioned our trip last year, asking if they’d ended up opening the ski trails. She said that she couldn’t remember, but if they had, it would have been short lived.
This past holiday season, Grand Bend got some snow while we were staying nearby at MacGregor. So, we finally booked a last minute, actual WINTER trip tp Pinery Provincial Park, to see what we could see.
As a spoiler... the ski trails didn’t end up opening after all, and probably got rained out the day we left / after we left.
We did manage to mostly have a good time, even as fleeting as that bit of winter ended up being.
So, in case you’re able to time things right to get to visit Pinery during a rare bit of winter, here’s what you’ll want to know:
The Basics:
Campground Name: Pinery Provincial Park
Address: 9526 Lakeshore Road RR2, Grand Bend ON N0M 1T0
Website: https://www.ontarioparks.ca/park/pinery/
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: January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025
Logistics
As we mentioned in our on-season review of Pinery Provincial Park, Pinery is a logistical nightmare, on several different levels.
Thankfully, most of those issues don’t really seem to apply in the winter. Between most of the park being gated off - including the vast majority of the campsites - and the low level of traffic, it’s a LOT calmer and easier to get around in the winter months.
Anyway, here’s some logistics information that’s more specific to the winter season, to help you plan your winter camping trip to Pinery Provincial Park:
Registration and Check In
Booking our campsite - on all three occasions - was quick and easy on the Ontario Parks website. Due to the seasonality, there was no “7 am Hunger Games” aspect to booking the winter stays.
In fact, we booked our January 2025 stay the same morning - we tacked it on the end of our MacGregor Point trip, spur of the moment.
Registration at the park office is done via window service from your car.
The last two times have been a bit weird, the park employees (for the most part) that we’ve encountered at Pinery don’t seem to be as welcoming and friendly as pretty much every other Ontario Provincial Park we’ve been to.
Maps and Signage
The main sources of information were overwhelming, and tended to be at odds with each other.
One thing that didn’t help is that they apparently don’t print copies of the winter trail maps, so they give you the summer map when you sign in.
The thing is, the summer map doesn’t indicate ANYTHING about winter on it - like the fact that the bulk of the main park road is barricaded off for the season, that only one beach access is open, or that not all the trails are open year-round
Park Map
You’re given a LOT of map, btw, especially considering that most of it doesn’t apply - 2 double-sided 11 x 17 sheets. One has a main map - 2 sided, with one side being an overview map, and the other side being park information.
This map is mostly decent *for the main season*, especially given the size of the area it’s covering, and the amount of information included.
Then, there’s a second map for the campground you’re in, with the various sub-campgrounds listed all over it. In this case, Riverside - the only campground available year-round - has 4 sections, but only 1 appears to be open for booking.
On our first winter trip, we got a THIRD sheet - the winter map. 3 maps is a LOT to juggle, especially when most of it doesn’t even apply.
That said, it’s really disappointing to show up for a winter camping trip, to have an employee get annoyed at you for asking about the winter map (that we’d gotten the year before!), and barking at you that you have to get it online.
Signage
The signage situation is pretty bad, in a few ways.
For one, there’s no indication that certain areas are gated off. As you come to the traffic circle, there’s the sign telling you about the beach and such being off to the right... but if you turn down there, it’s gated just a little way down the road - and before any of the attractions the signage was pointing you to.
If you’re in a trailer, just know that there really isn’t much room to turn around, if you were to find that out too late!
The signage in the campground is really small and sometimes you can’t see it until you’re right on top of it - specifically about the little signs letting you know which campsites are down which rows.
We drove past the sign for our row of campsites on the first trip, because we couldn’t see it at all.
Then, there’s the matter of winter signage. Everything is really vague, and will more or less take you to the general area of the park, then stop directing you once you get near the place you’re looking for.
When you’re coming over the bridge - from the Visitor Centre, towards Riverside - a road sign says that the toboggan run is to the left - and points the same way as the park store, which is *right there*.
There’s no other signage in the area that mentions the toboggan hill, so I’ve always kind of assumed it was nestled off that parking lot, somehow.
No, I happened across it clear at the other end of the park, in the general area of the trailer sanitation station.
One sign there does indicate the toboggan run being in that parking lot, the other sign there does not. Once in that lot, you have to kind of go looking for it - it’s in an offshoot lot to the right, with NO sign pointing that way.
It’s the same with the trailer sanitation station - you’ll get pointed to the general area, but then there’s no directional signage. This is even worse in the winter, as they take out the hose post - so you don’t even have that visual indicator of where the platform is.
(You have to go through the lot, to the back, then keep to the right - it’ll loop to the left).
There’s also not much in the way of signage indicating where the ski trail heads are - that winter map would really be handy!
Website
On our first trip, only 2 hiking trails were open, and this wasn’t noted on the site. Kind of an unpleasant surprise, as we’d been looking forward to checking most of them out! There was NO snow at the time, so hiking was really our only option!
On the second winter trip, 3 were now open, but the site had absolutely no information about the 3rd trail - Sassafrass Trail - which is across from the dump station.
There’s a full trail head and everything - as there was back in May - so I’m not sure why they never bothered to add the info to the site?
As noted in our earlier review, the trail distances don't all match between website and map - and sometimes, neither of them match up with actual walked distance, per MapMyWalk!
Also, I really think that if you’re going to offer winter camping, the site should include relevant info - what the dump station situation is like in the winter (no mention of there not being water, or that only one is open), which trails are open, etc.
It’s sloppy.
Water & Waste Services
During our winter visits, only one dump station was open - the one at the front.
This is a single platform dump station, with no operational water hoses to rinse - or to fill your tank.
As mentioned earlier, they take the hose posts right out, so it can be hard to see where the dump platform even is - I’m not sure we would have found it, had we not been to Pinery before.
The second dump station in the park - near the Riverside campground - is gated off, in an area re-purposed for (in theory, anyway!) ski trails, and there is no access to that trailer sanitation station during the winter months.
Potable water for filling your RV tank is available via a tap on the outside of the comfort station in Riverside, so be sure to bring a jug or something, if you’re going to need a water fill.
Personally, I think it’s a good idea to just bring your own water if possible, given the setup.
Finally, there’s a decent sized garbage and recycling depot just beside the entrance to Riverside Campground.
Snow Removal, Etc
The snow removal at Pinery is pretty abysmal. We saw a single plow during our second winter stay (there was no snow during the first one) - it was doing the Park Store parking lot.
The campground roads DEFINITELY did not see a plow during our stay.
I’m sure we provided quite the show for people standing at one of the Yurts as our car struggled to get up a slight incline on a campground road.
I don’t know when they were last plowed, but it certainly wasn’t that day, and there hadn’t been any snow that morning, either. This was just ... neglect. If you’re going to offer winter camping, plow the campground roads!
The parking lots at the attractions - dump station area, park store, visitor centre, etc - were all plowed well, though.
Connectivity
Internet connectivity has been all over the place, across our visits. Sometimes we have basically no signal anywhere but the beach (sort of!), and sometimes at the Visitor Centre.
On our most recent trip, we seemed to have fantastic cell coverage everywhere we went. We’re on Rogers Wireless, your mileage may vary.
Accessibility
As I mentioned in our earlier review, Pinery Provincial Park seems to be a case where someone had a list of “barriers” and ticked off areas as being “barrier free”, without a lot of actual thought into what presents a barrier.
A lot of our observations in that post were specifically about campgrounds that aren’t even open in the winter, though, so...
The comfort station in Riverside is marked as being barrier free - and they have a barrier free shower/toilet stall - but no accessible parking spot.
The barrier free stall was pretty filthy, and smelled like a giant cloud of cigarette smoke.
The yurts and cabins that we saw were close to the comfort station, and most had ramps and such - but the roads in the area were DEFINITELY not in any condition to travel on with a wheelchair. As mentioned earlier, our *car* got stuck in the snow!
The visitor centre is listed as barrier free, and the long ramp up to it was mostly shoveled. Might be a workout to get up there, but doable in a wheelchair at least. Still pretty difficult for other types of mobility issues, though.
The Cedar Trail is listed as being “accessible” - that does not apply in the winter. Heritage Trail is listed as being “Easy” - consider it a moderate in snowy conditions. Sassafrass Trail has a lot of stairs, but otherwise would be easy-moderate, depending on snow conditions.
Pets
Dogs are allowed in Pinery Provincial Park in the winter, there’s just not necessarily a lot for them to do.
The dog beach is in the section of road that’s gated off, and they’re apparently not allowed on the other beaches. They’re also not allowed on any of the ski trails, aside from the skate ski trail.
The way the winter map reads, that’s the ONLY trail they’re allowed on, full stop - but I’m assuming they’re also allowed on the 3 hiking trails. I would definitely recommend checking in on that one, though.
As always, they’re supposed to be leashed at all times. The park also states that they must not be left unattended.
Parking
There seems to be a decent amount of parking available at each of the ski trail heads, the toboggan hill / winter chalet area, beach, visitor centre, etc.
Frankly, there weren’t many people in the park AT ALL on either of our winter trips, so parking is NOT an issue this time of year.
Also, they seem to do a good job of plowing the parking lots, when snow is present.
Miscellaneous
The beach mostly faces north, and is known to be a good place for viewing the Northern Lights - when they’re visible that far south.
Unfortunately, we’ve never had the chance - either no aurora activity and/or pretty heavy cloud cover during each of our trips!
The park is, however, famous for their sunsets - National Geographic has ranked the sunsets at Pinery Provincial Park as being among the 10 Best in the World
While you can get a decent view from the beach, we’ve noticed that the REALLY spectacular sunset views tend to be from the bridge over Old Ausable Channel, between the Riverside Campground and the Visitor Centre.
Just keep in mind that there’s no parking right there. You best bet is to park in the overflow lot between Riverside and the Park Store area.
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
We visited during the off season, so many of the regular campground amenities were closed for the season.
Here’s some basic information, though:
Creature Comforts
There is a single comfort station in the Riverside Campground, with laundry facilities, flush toilets, and showers. There are other toilet buildings - I’d assume vault toilets - but the ones we saw were marked as being out of order.
Finally, there’s also a heated comfort station - just washroom facilities though - in the parking lot for the Park Store.
Bottom: Washrooms in the Park Store lot.
Park Store
There are two stores in Pinery Provincial Park, but it seems that the main one - the Park Store in a standalone building next to the Riverside Campground - is closed during the winter season.
The second store - Friends of Pinery Park Nature Store - is located in the visitor centre, and is open 10-4 on weekends through the winter.
This one isn’t a normal Ontario Parks store, it’s a little souvenir and gift shop.
Visitor Centre
Interestingly - unlike every other Provincial Park we’ve been to in the winter - Pinery Provincial Park opens its Visitor Center on weekends throughout the winter. They’re also open daily during Christmas Break and March Break.
We didn’t go in during our second winter visit - and visited during the week the first time - but we DID check out the Visitor Centre in the spring.
It’s gorgeous in there - a big open space with several museum quality displays, as well as habitats for a few types of live turtles.
The staff member we asked about a turtle we’d seen was super friendly and VERY knowledgeable.
Rentals
During the winter, Pinery Provincial Park rents skis and snowshoes, but apparently only on the weekends.
Bit of a caveat, though: The park’s voicemail greeting says that rentals are closed for the season, so I’m not sure how up to date the “rents skis on weekends” info is.
Day Use Area
Most of the day use areas are blocked off during the winter months.
One of the 9 beaches - beach P9 - is open, though, and that’s the one with a super cute picnic shelter area, complete with a big outdoor grill setup.
It also - inexplicably - has a picnic table in the dunes... right near a sign telling people to stay off the dunes!
Anyway, there are also a bunch of super cute little “picnic nooks” along the Old Ausable Channel.
They’re not plowed, though there were vehicle tracks in a few of them during our most recent winter stay. I’m not sure if they’re actually used for picnicking during the winter, or for their access to the channel.
Most of them have a staircase or other easy access to Old Ausable Channel. During our spring trip, people were fishing down there.
You’re supposed to stay off the ice down there in the winter, but I bet there are at least some nice views!
Campsite Details
While Pinery Provincial Park has 1200 individual campsites spread across 3 campgrounds, only a handful of sites - in one campground - are available for booking in the winter months.
Car Camping / Tent Camping
The Riverside campground is pretty wide open - with not much in the way of privacy - but there have been next to no people staying there, for either of our winter camping trips.
So, lack of privacy wasn’t a huge issue.
Most - if not all? - of the sites available in winter are pull though sites, with the usual picnic tables and a fire pit.
These are some of the smallest pull-through sites we’ve seen to date - We had only a few feet to spare, and we DON’T have a big set up.
We booked the same site for both of our winter trips. It’s walking distance to one of the bridges over Old Ausable Channel, so that was a bonus.
We didn’t see any hot tents - or any kind of winter tent, for that matter - during our first trip, but there was at least one on the second winter trip.
Anyway, none of the non-electrical sites are available for winter camping - Area 1 is the only part of Riverside that’s open, and that’s all electrical sites and roofed accommodations.
Speaking of roofed accommodations...
Roofed Accommodation
All of the roofed accommodation options are located in the Riverside Campground, and there’s conflicting information about what actually exists there.
The winter map online says that there are 12 Yurts, though the website says there are 6. Each winter yurt comes with electric heat, tables, and bunk beds, as well as a BBQ outside for cooking.
There’s no mention of the camp cabins, though they clearly exist - we saw several!
On the camping section of the website, though, it says there’s 8 rustic cabins. They’re super cute. Each sleeps 5 - on a queen bed and a bunk bed. There’s a kitchenette, dining table, and a fireplace for heat.
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Entertainment and Activity
As an all-season park, Pinery offers a variety of winter activities - when the weather cooperates - and is known for having some of the best cross-country skiing in the region.
Some of the park roads and nature trails are converted to ski trails - 38 kilometres of trails total, for beginner to advanced skiiers.
Snowshoeing, hiking, and tobogganing are also offered. Unfortunately - much like last year - the winter activities were closed during our trip. Maybe next year?
You’ll definitely want to check the Ontario Parks Snow Report page for updated information on winter conditions, as winter isn’t really a given at this park!
Anyway - in theory - here are your options for winter activities:
Hiking
During the winter, only two walking trails were open on our first trip - Cedar and Heritage. The extension on Cedar Trail was also closed. On our second winter trip, a third was open - Sassafrass trail.
I love that each of the trails has a big informative sign at the trail head, with distance, difficulty, elevation change, and points of interest listed on it.
They each also have a QR Code for obtaining trail info - not super helpful, given the lack of connectivity throughout the park. Great idea though!
Anyway, here’s some information about the trails:
Cedar Trail
This trail is 2.3 km long, not including the extension off it (which is closed during the winter).
Fairly basic walk through the woods - only very small inclines / declines, etc.
Most of the walk was wooded, but there was a viewing platform over the Old Ausable Channel.
Heritage Trail
This is the one trail we walked on our first trip, at the end of the winter. It was the only trail in the entire park that was *fully* open on that trip, despite the snow being long gone at that point.
This trail is 2.5 km long, and winds through Oak Savannah. There’s a 0.6 km extension that takes you to a viewing platform on Old Ausable Channel.
Aa note: the Heritage trail was marked wheelchair accessible, but take that with a grain of salt. It’s very narrow, and that accessibility definitely does not apply in winter.
Sassafrass Trail
This must be a newer trail in the park. It has a lovely and informative trailhead sign and all, but absolutely no information about it on the park website or on the Pinery Winter Map.
It’s located across the main road from the Trailer Sanitation Station parking lot. The signage says it’s 1 km long, and it’s MOSTLY easy, aside from all of the stairs involved.
The stairs are kind of dangerous if snow is present - they weren’t maintained at all during our stay, so there was a lot of snow pack and ice on them.
The view up at the top of the platform was nice enough, not amazing. Just kind of a view out over trees - not really worth risking the stairs for, to be honest!
Birding, Wildlife, and Nature
On our first stay, we noted that the areas we visited seemed to have a shocking lack of wildlife - we saw one bird overhead at one point, and that was it.
We better luck during our second winter camping trip!
Right at our campsite, we saw Black-Capped Chickadees, Blue Jays, Cardinals, and Dark-Eyed Juncos - all in the same bush at the same time, at one point!
We also saw a few Tufted Titmouse ... es? Titmice? I have no idea how to puralize “Tufted Titmouse”, but whatever - they were super cute, hanging out at the Visitor Centre.
Also, we saw a TON of deer tracks on the Heritage Trail, though we didn’t end up seeing any deer.
2nd Row: White Breasted Nuthatch, Deer Prints
Ice Skating
When we happened across the Toboggan Hill and chalet area, I was surprised to see what LOOKED to be an old, very much abandoned ice skating rink - boards and all!
I hadn’t seen any mention at all of skating, before that point - but then found a few references to it.
It looks like they used to host skating on that rink about a decade ago. No idea when they stopped, but I’m guessing the warm winters put an end to it at some point.
Those boards definitely didn’t look like they’d seen action in a LONG time.
Snow Shoeing
There aren’t any dedicated snowshoe trails in the park, though people are welcome to snowshoe on the walking trails or in other areas.
Snowshoes aren’t allowed on the ski trails - and the park asks you to avoid steep slopes and “environmentally sensitive areas”, though you’re welcome to snow shoe on ungroomed roads and trails.
Cross Country Skiing
The Pinery Winter Map actually has a fair amount of information on the 38 km of cross-country ski trails, including maps, locations of warm-up shelters, and info on the skill level of each trail.
Some basic trail info for the cross-country skiers reading this:
Ausable Trail: 4.7 km track-set, classic skiing trail, medium difficulty. Park at the Trailer Sanitation Station parking lot.
Chickadee Trail: 4.2 km track-set, classic skiing trail, easy difficulty. Park in the Park Store lot, or the lot across from it, next to Riverside Campground.
Dune Ridge Trail: 9.4 km track-set, classic skiing trail. Rated as the most challenging of Pinery’s ski trails. Park in the Park Store lot, or the lot across from it, next to Riverside Campground.
Huron Trail: 9.6 km track-set, classic skiing trail, medium difficulty. Park at the end of the P9 Beach Parking lot.
Skate Ski Trail: 11 km, ski-skating trail, easy difficulty. Park at the Trailer Sanitation Station parking lot. Park in the Park Store lot, or the lot across from it, next to Riverside Campground.
Tobogganing
There’s a toboggan hill off to the right, when you turn into the Trailer Sanitation Station parking lot. When you turn into the little offshoot parking lot, you can see the Winter Chalet straight ahead, and what looks to be an old skating rink off to the left.
Walk between them, to get to the toboggan hill.
Anyway, the hill is apparently lit during the evening, when the winter conditions allow the hill to be open.
It hasn’t been open during either of our winter trips, though it looked like it COULD have been during the beginning of our most recent trip. (Then it rained, BOO!).
There are washrooms available in the heated chalet.
Discovery Program
While most campgrounds we’ve been to seem to keep their special programs to the summer months, Pinery had a really robust offering when we camped in May, and we were surprised to see they had programming during the winter months, as well!
As with May, we only knew about them because we happened across a printout that was taped up to the comfort station.
There was nothing on the park’s site, event calendar, mentioned at the front, or in the winter map about winter programming.
Anyway, winter Discovery programming seems to be limited to Saturdays and Sundays. Lots of guided hikes, but also some bird watching and indoor programming as well.
Niantic Games
There are a few portals / Pokestops / Gyms scattered throughout the park. Your best bet is either the single stop in the Park Store lot (which you can reach from a few of the Riverside campsites), or to go to the Visitor Centre. There are several clustered there.
On the trips where we had abysmal cellular reception, we were USUALLY able to load the game in the Visitor Centre, though not always.
That was not an issue on this most recent trip, however.
Final Thoughts
So, we’ve been to Pinery 3 times now - the first during “winter, but not really” last February, once over the May long weekend, and once during “It looks like winter, but the trails aren’t actually open yet” this past December.
Very different experiences each time, but definitely enough to decide that ... we’re not really Pinery Provincial Park people.
Summer is far too chaotic for our liking, and winter... is really hit and miss. Usually “miss”, in our case.
We like that they offer a variety of activities, but I think that climate change is really negatively impacting what this park seems to have been in the past.
It’s wild to read about how they have the best cross country skiing in the area, while ALSO being told by staff that they don’t even remember if they were able to open the trails at ALL last winter.
You need snow, ice, and freezing temps to really be a winter camping park, IMHO.
The thing is, so much of the park is designated for skiing, that you have access to pretty much NOTHING, when the conditions aren’t right for skiing. Most of the trails would be doable, they’re just not accessible due to being barricaded off for the skiing that doesn’t happen.
Between all of that, the lack of maintenance to the campground when there WAS snow (and really, we would have hated to see those poorly maintained roads after the rain started, as we were leaving), and the weird attitudes from multiple staff members across two of our stays?
Really just not our thing.
Also, MacGregor Point Provincial Park is not that far away, and it’s spectacular for winter camping - and winter activities. There’s just no contest, there.
More Winter Camping Posts
Want to try winter camping in Ontario? Here are our reviews on a few of the parks that offer winter camping, as well as some of the more winter-specific recipes we make, etc!:
Winter Camping in Ontario:
Algonquin Provincial Park Winter Camping [Mew Lake Campground]
Arrowhead Provincial Park Winter Camping
Killbear Provincial Park Winter Camping
MacGregor Point Provincial Park Winter Camping
Silent Lake Provincial Park Winter Camping
Valens Lake Conservation Area Winter Camping
Winter Camping Recipes and Activities:
Campfire Roasted Spiced Nuts
Gingerbread Pancake Mix
How to Make Maple Taffy over a Campfire
How to Roast Chestnuts on an Open Fire
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