Bonnechere Provincial Park is a charming little campground and day use area in Eastern Ontario. Jam packed with amenities, here's what you need to know!
Staying at a few in a row with abysmal access = big backlog of work, when we do get some connectivity!
Anyway, we stayed at Bonnechere Provincial Park as part of our big “Near North” / Eastern Ontario summer camping trip. It was our first time staying there, and we had no idea what to expect.
Located in Renfrew County - along the beautiful Bonnechere River - Bonnechere Park is a great place to chill - and disconnect, apparently!
That’s a weird word for campground reviews, but it definitely kept coming to mind during our stay. We noticed a lot of aspects of the park that seems thoughtful, and planned with intention.
Less “we have some room over there, let’s put the (whatever) there”, and more “How can we make this park the most welcoming, accessible one out there?”.
I know the word “cozy” gets used as a synonym for “small”, and I do try to avoid the word as a result. In this case, though - I found Bonnechere cozy.
Yes, it’s a small park... but it’s more about the vibe. The intentional feeling behind everything really made it feel welcoming and warm, in a way we don’t notice at other parks.
It was like... staying in a country bed and breakfast, vs staying in a hotel.
I hope that makes sense. Anyway, let me tell you all about it!
The Basics:
Campground Name: Bonnechere Provincial Park
Address: 4024 Round Lake Rd. Killaloe, ON K0J 2A0
Website: https://www.ontarioparks.ca/park/bonnechere
Price: Ontario Provincial Parks uses a pricing matrix across all their parks. See 2024 Camping Fees for more details on reservation fees.
Reservations: Ontario Parks Reservations
Park Classification: Recreational
Season: May 10, 2024 to October 20, 2024.
Logistics
As with our recent stay at Darlington Provincial Park, our stay at Bonnechere involved some last minute site juggling, totally on us.
We had booked our site 5 months ahead of time, at 7am on the dot... and we were unable to get one of the electric sites.
5 months worth of watching for any electric sites to come available, no luck!
As it turned out, it was *extremely* hot during our stay. I knew that a few days ahead of time, and managed to get a single night of an electric site, our first night there.
SO glad we did - the heat nearly killed me!
Anyway, wanted to mention that here, in case it factors in to anything I say in this review!
Registration and Check In
Booking was technically easy enough, but definitely had that “Campground Reservation Hunger Games” feel to it. As a very small campground - with precious few electrical sites! - it’s hard to get a spot in the summer.
Also: I didn’t get any notifications at all that an electric site became available in the entire 5 months. So, once people have their site, it’s a good chance they’re holding onto it.
With good reason, at least - more on that in a bit.
Anyway, registration was exceptionally easy, once we got to the park.
We pulled up to the main park office, and were greeted by two large signs telling people how to check in.
As a paperless permit park - and as I’d done the pre-registration when I booked - we were directed to go straight to our first campsite.
No need to deal with people at all, AND it made it much easier when we changed sites the next day - we just moved over, no need to check in a second time.
Slick!
Those that don’t pre-register, register at the Park Store in the day use area. There was a line to do so, when we visited it.
Maps and Signage
I’m going to preface this with a bit of a caveat: we get the feeling that the park is in the midst of some changes and upgrades.
This is great - but it definitely resulted in some inconsistency in quality of signs, and some discrepancies between the website, park map, and signage.
Park Map
We loved that there were park maps readily available in those self service dispenser pod things that you used to see when newspapers were a thing. (Ouch, I know!). One was located at the front office, and another in the day use area.
I lost the map we got from the front, then picked up one at the day use... and was confused by some differences in how I remembered certain things (trails) being labeled.
As it turned out, the park newspapers at the front were 2023 editions, and the ones in day use were 2024.
Anyway, as mentioned... definitely some discrepancies between the two, the signage, and the website.
This mostly comes into play with the hiking. The trails are named differently in the two newsletters, the one trail has a completely different name on the website, and then two of the trails on the park maps aren’t even mentioned on the site.
Aside from that - and the proportions being a bit weird - the map is decent. Gets you to the specific areas of the park you’re looking to get to, there just may be some head scratching if you’re used to earlier versions.
Signage
As with the maps, we’re assuming the park is in the midst of some changes with the signage. As such, we have two wildly different views on the signage.
In the day use area and on the trails, the signage is *fantastic*. Clear, easy to read, well-placed, and very informative. 10/10, no further comments.
Well, except that I LOVE that they’re mostly tri-lingual!
Within the campground, the signs have really small type, are placed RIGHT at the entrances to each offshoot from the road (campgrounds, waste area, the road to the cabins, etc).
In some cases, they only face one way. If you’re looking for the road to the cabins, you’ll see the sign when entering from the front gate... but not when you’re returning to your cabin from the day use area.
That kind of thing.
I hope they’ll get whoever designed the day use signage to redesign the campground / road signage.
Services
The trailer sanitation station is kind of a mess at Bonnechere Park.
The Poop Loop has two fill platforms and one dump platform, on a single lane with no bypass.
The dump platform is first - on the left - followed by fill platforms on either side of the lane, afterwards.
I should say “*IMMEDIATELY* afterwards”.
There’s not really enough room for someone to be using either of the fill platforms, AND for someone else to be using the dump platform behind them.
So, 3 platforms, only one can really be used at a time. On our way out, we literally had to pull up only about 1 metre to use the fill platform, after using the dump platform.
It’s also on a loop, with 4 sections to it:
A row of garbage bins, a row of basic recycling bins, another section specifically for liquor bottles and cans - as well as scrap metal - then another area for organics, as well as 2 “Orange Drop” bins for used propane canisters.
Connectivity
Bonnechere Provincial Park is one of the few Ontario Provincial Parks we’ve seen that offer WiFi - in theory, anyway.
We noticed open WiFi Networks near - and named after - both of the accessible trails.
However, any time we tried to connect, it said “connected without internet”, and... that was that. What a tease!
Anyway, the shame of it is that both of those trails offer interactive experiences, with a self guided tour online, and QR codes to scan on signage along the way.
The thing is... the cell phone reception in the park is pretty abysmal. We had a BIT of connection near the day use area, and absolutely none, everywhere else.
We’re on Rogers. As always, your mileage may vary!
Accessibility
This park is *far and away* the most accessible park we’ve ever seen.
While some (MOST, let’s be real) seem to tick off a few boxes to meet some kind of minimum standard, Bonnechere is the first where it really feels like an effort was made to welcome disabled people.
First off, there are the basics: The main comfort station is accessible, and there are two barrier-free campsites right next to it.
Going a little further - lining up with what the previous bar for “really accessible” parks was - they have a Mobi-Mat at the beach. Not only does it go all the way to the water, it goes right INTO the water, by a few feet!
Nearby, there’s a centrally located barrier-free vault toilet that’s not only *actually* easy to get to, it’s in good condition!
The park also has loans of both a WaterWheels floating wheelchair, AND a TerraWheels all-terrain wheelchair.
There are also two wheelchair accessible trails: Nopiming FIT Trail (Formerly known as Woodland Trail) and Nadobikana FIT Trail (Formerly known as Water Front Trail).
Both are flat, wide trails of well packed gravel. There are benches all along, and the Nadobikana Trail has a wheelchair accessible picnic table .
Also: There’s accessible parking all over the place AND drop-off zones at the accessible trails!
But Wait, There’s More!
One thing that really stood out was a sign at the day use area that not only said “welcome to our accessible park and beach”, it ACTUALLY requested feedback!
That’s... wild. No one ever seems to want to hear from disabled people, much less SOLICIT feedback from us!
As it turns out, we’re not the only ones noticing - and being impressed by - the inclusion efforts at Bonnechere Provincial Park.
They were awarded the Rick Hansen Foundation Gold rating for Accessibility, the only Provincial Park in Ontario with that distinction.
Well deserved!
Pets
So, Bonnechere isn’t the MOST dog-friendly park we’ve been to.
They’re ALLOWED to visit the park, but there aren’t really any dog-specific exercise areas, beaches, etc. They’re not allowed on the beach at all, in fact - but they are allowed to swim at the Boat Launch.
Dogs are required to be on a leash (no longer than 2 metres) at all times, must be picked up after, and aren’t allowed to make excessive noise or disturb anyone - human or wildlife.
Parking
The parking lots in Bonnchere Provincial Park seem more or less amply sized for the areas they’re serving.
The Day-Use area could probably use a bit more parking - it was pretty busy the whole time we were there. In fairness though, it was hotter than Satan’s taint during our stay, so they may have had more visitors than normal?
In terms of campground parking specifically...
If I recall correctly, pretty much every campsite we saw had a sign saying that only one vehicle was allowed per campsite.
There were several small parking areas sprinkled throughout the two larger campground areas, though, and the smallest campground area had one as well.
There’s a point where the Nopiming FIT / Woodland Trail converges with the McNaughton / Footprints in Time trail. This is along the road that goes to the Rustic Cabins.
Anyway, there’s a sign by the accessible trail that indicates parking - and specifically accessible parking - is available to the right.
The only parking to the right is a fair way up the road, which is rough and hilly. Aside from actual accessibility issues, there aren’t any designated spots there, which is weird.
We think maybe it meant available at the other side of the trail... but you’re not meant to DRIVE on the trail, so why direct people to park there?
Just weird.
Miscellaneous
1. The park is in an area of very low light pollution, though there aren’t really any great north-facing views that we could find, in terms of Aurora hunting. Great for star gazing, though!
2. With very few exceptions, we’ve found Ontario Provincial Parks staff to be friendly, but at this park it was... different.
The few park staff we talked to seemed genuinely invested in our opinions of the park, and really seemed proud / to take it personally when we said that we found it lovely.
We actually chatted at length with one employee - Kay - who was *awesome*.
She’s actually the one who told us all about the Rick Hanson award, and you could tell she was really PROUD of it.
We’d told her about the weirdness with the parking at the trail that I mentioned above, and she seemed really keen on looking into it.
Also, we’re pretty feral at this point, so I’m sure we talked her ear off and probably scared her with our weirdness. She was really gracious about indulging our sudden spurt of “HEY LETS BE SOCIAL!”.
Anyway, Kay is awesome, and more parks need a Kay, IMHO.
Campground Amenities & Info
Here’s some basic information on the amenities at Bonnechere Provincial Park:
Creature Comforts
There are two comfort stations in the park.
One is fairly centrally located, in between the Tall Pines Campground and the Day Use Area. This one is barrier-free, and has flush toilets, laundry facilities, and showers.
Interesting note about the laundromat: The two washers, two dryers and a folding table are located *outside*. Haven’t seen that before!
Anyway, the other comfort station is more of a mini comfort station, located in Sandy Flats Campground. That one is just a shower station with pedal flush toilets.
Beyond those comfort stations, there are several vault toilets located throughout the campgrounds, as well as at the day use area.
Park Store
The park store is located in the day use area, and shares space with the visitor center - it’s also where people who didn’t pre-register their vehicles have to check in for their campsite.
It’s a really cute, well-appointed shop, across two large-ish rooms. They sell the usual drinks, firewood, ice, Ontario Parks merchandise, snacks, etc// as well as camping supplies, Friends of Bonnechere Parks merchandise, and a fair amount of reading material as well.
This is also where you can rent canoes and kayaks, or arrange to borrow All-terrain wheelchairs and PFDs (Personal Floatation Devices).
As a note: They don’t take reservations for the canoes and kayaks - it’s first-come, first-served.
Visitor Centre
The Visitor Centre is called the Davenport Centre, and it’s located on the end of the Park Store.
It was closed the times we visited the area, but we liked the set up - the deck in front of the door extends out to form a kind of stage, and there are several picnic tables arranged below, for the audience.
Anyway, this is where they host some of their Discovery Programs and special events, where people can learn about the rich Ottawa Valley history, both in terms of cultural history (especially with regards to First Nations people), as well as natural history and current natural features of the area.
At the time of our visit, there was a big chalkboard sign on the outside of the Davenport Center, advertising an upcoming event with live fiddle music performances and apple cider!
Unfortunately, it was scheduled for after we left. Boo - it sounded like fun!
Day Use Area
The day use area at Bonnechere Provincial Park is REALLY well appointed, and all in really great condition.
This was where we really started forming our opinion that Bonnechere seemed really *thoughtfully* appointed and maintained.
The first thing we noticed were all the little “extras” - activity areas that sometimes exist in other campgrounds, but definitely aren’t a default.
Also? They’re usually in disrepair, and - a lot of the time - seem to be completely forgotten and abandoned.
Here, there’s a beach volleyball area, a basketball court, a horseshoe ... pitch?.. and a playground, all in really good condition *and were being used*!
There was also basically a “Little Free Library”, though it was called a “Book Tree” - a large “tree” with library cupboards low down, and an overturned canoe overhead.
Super cute!
The sand was a different kind than we normally see - darker - and seemed clean. The swimming area itself was bouyed off from the rest of the lake.
There’s a short boardwalk with a bench, picnic tables everywhere, and it’s just a really nice day use area in general.
Lovely!
Campsite Details
There are two main types of camping areas in Bonnechere PP - actual campgrounds, and a few roofed accommodation offerings.
Car Camping
There are three campgrounds in Bonnechere: Tall Pines, River Loop and Sandy Flats. Each have water taps and vault toilets scattered throughout, but differ in other ways.
Weirdly, most/all of the campsites seem to have 2 picnic tables - most we’ve seen at other parks have a single picnic table.
Anyway...
Tall Pines is the only campground with electrical sites, and it’s the closest to the comfort station. Only 40 of the about 60 campsites in this area are electrical, though - so it’s hard to reserve one!
It’s only a short walk from the day-use area, beach, and visitor centre - about 5 minutes from the furthest site in the campground.
None have electricity, but a LOT of them back onto water, whether the Bonnechere River itself, or a little pond in the middle of the campground.
Also: We saw several sites that had boats in the water, right at their site. These were all occupied, so we’re not sure if there were actual docks, or if they were pulled up on shore or whatever.
Anyway, as with the Tall Pines Campground, these sites are also about 5 minutes from the day use area.
All the sites there are smallish, non-electic, AND radio-free.
It’s also apparently a generator free campground. I didn’t see anything about that on the website, but the campground newspaper and signage says as much.
Roofed Accommodation
There are two different types of roofed accommodations offered at Bonnechere Provincial Park: “Rustic Cabins”, and a Cottage.
Rustic Cabins
There are 4 “Rustic Cabins” in the park, located a bit away from the main park area, on its own road.
These are SUPER cute, and each are located right next to the river. The rental fee also includes the use of a canoe, so that’s cool.
At least one of the cabins is barrier free - that we saw. Two are marked barrier free on the map, but the website only mentions one as being accessible.
Anyway, these don’t have running water and don’t allow pets, so ... not an option for us.
Too bad - they’re super cute, and I LOVE the whole patio set up they’ve got going. It’s got to be super quiet and peaceful!
The Pine Shores Cottage
The cottage is a lakeside one, right on the shores of Round Lake.
It’s built and trimmed in pine and sleeps 6, over 3 bedrooms.
One bedroom has a queen sized bed, another has a bunk bed with a double bed on the bottom and a single bed overhead, and the third bedroom has a bunk bed with single beds for both top and bottom.
It sounds really bougie in terms of provincial park accommodations: A walk in shower, provided firewood, an what sounds to be a private swimming area on the beach.
It also includes a canoe!
Unfortunately, pets aren’t allowed... so it’ll never be an option for us 🙁
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Entertainment and Activity
I’ve already gotten into the various activities in the day use area - Basketball, Volleyball, Horseshoes, etc - but there are even more things to do, throughout the park.
Here’s what you need to know:
Hiking
The hiking set up in Bonnechere Provincial Park is a little weird.
The site mentions one trail in the park, as well as a series of 9 trails NOT in the park - but vaguely, and without much info.
There are actually 3 trails within the park - all of which give different experiences from each other, and provide a lot of opportunities to learn about the history of the area, along the way:
Nadobikana FIT Trail - 0.3 km, Easy
Formerly known as “Water Front Trail”, this is a wheelchair accessible path, located in the day use area - near the boat launch.
It’s really short, wide, and well packed - just a short little trail leading along part of the beach, with picnic tables at the end of it.
Along the way, there are several informational, trilingual plaques (English, French, and - I THINK - Ojibwe) with printed information about the history of the area, and QR codes to access a self guided tour.
This mostly gives you a view of the beach, with a little bit of an outlook towards the river.
Nopiming FIT Trail - 0.8 km, Easy
Woodland Trail
Formerly known as “Woodland Trail”, this is a wheelchair accessible path, located near the gatehouse.
Basically the same as Nadobikana, just a bit longer and in a different setting. It has the same format - wide, well packed, accessible, and lined with informational plaques.
While Nadobikana mostly gives a beach view, this one goes through the woods. It was actually pretty good for birding - it’s where we saw one of the broad winged hawks we saw during our stay!
Footprints in Time Trail - ~2.5 km, Easy
This one is either currently (signage) or formerly (map and website) called with the McNaughton Trail or the McNaugton Trail, depending on whether you’re looking at the site description or the signage in the park.
The website says it’s 2 km long and easy, the signage says it’s a 2.5 km loop trail. It’s probably at least the 2.5 km - maybe slightly longer - and has a few different access point.
Anyway, this trail seems to have been the first “FIT Trail” in the park, or “Foot Prints in Time”. The info says it was designed based on a traditional local First Nations way of teaching.
Along this hiking trail are 12 (map) or 13 (website description) “Foot Prints”, which are posts that have pull out panels with educational text.
At one point you walk right up to one of the cabins, which feels a bit intrusive, but I imagine it's great to have trail access if you're renting that cabin.
There's a variety of forest types to keep you entertained, tall pines with a sparse floor, to young and dense trees and bushes where you climb short hills using roots as steps.
Keep an eye out for the swing-out signs with interesting facts.
I'll definitely be back to this trail, as it was the first time I got to see an Evening Grosbeak - but only fleetingly. I need to go back to get pictures!
This trail is easy, with only short inclines/declines in some places.
Walks of the Little Bonnechere River - Varied Lengths & Difficulty Ratings
What I didn’t realize when getting ready for this trip, is that the Walks of the Little Bonnechere River aren’t actually in the main park - they’re all out along a couple logging roads nearby
Well, nearbyISH. As Porter put it: “Nearby in the ‘Algonquin Provincial Park’ sense, maybe!”
Trying to find these local trails was definitely frustrating. First, you have to buy a booklet - $7 - for any information at all about them.
Then, once you do buy the booklet, you’ll find that the information provided is almost completely useless, given the logistics involved.
There’s a map with the locations marked, but it’s a topographical map. The ridges and such take center stage, barely any roads are listed, really difficult to figure out where you are. Also, it doesn’t seem to match Google Maps very well.
So, you know, when it says “Follow X road”, maybe they’ll know which instance of this road he’s talking about. Several of the logging roads - and offshoots of the same - all have the same name.
Finally, there’s the matter of coordinates. They’re listed in UTM, which we had to Google - we’d never seen that format before.
It’s also a format that you can’t use in Google maps without using converters - which added several layers of frustration, especially given the internet situation in the park.
There’s also NO cell reception for the majority of the area of road you’ll be traveling on to reach these trails, AND we lost GPS in a few places.
Not super fun.
Anyway, here’s a bit of information we were able to put together on the trails we did find:
Omanique’s Mill - 0.5 km, Easy
Trail Head: Couldn’t tell you. Not sure it exists.
This was the first trail we started with, and - after driving around logging roads for an hour without a GPS signal, we gave up.
The directions tell you to “Follow White Mountain Chute Trail to Omanique Mill Road Sign”, and to park on the left at that point, on the concrete footing.
There were several instances of White Mountain Chute Road, for one. I tried to use both the very zoomed in section of map on the trail page, AND the topographical map at the front of the booklet for clues as to where this was.
I even consulted AllTrails, nothing.
We got to the point that I was pretty sure they were talking about... nothing. We couldn’t find the road sign, a road CALLED that, or concrete footing anywhere in the area, much less a marked trailhead.
Gorgeous drive, though. Driving along whichever version(s?) of White Mountain Chute Road we were on took us along several lakes, with beautiful early morning views.
LaFleur Homestead - 0.6 km, Easy
Trail Head: We Googled “Lafleur Homestead” and found it on Google Maps, mapped right to it.
This is a short, easy trail through grass that leads to - you guessed it - the LaFleur Homestead.
We walked along the house - a small log cabin style house, and a wooden shelter building.
We love seeing old structures, how they're built and how they age, but this didn't provide much in the way of things to look at.
We ended up more interested in the warblers that were jumping around the pine tree, before heading out in hope of finding the next trailhead on the list!
Whispering Winds Lookout on Egg Rock- 0.5 km, Challenging
Trail Head: We Googled “Egg Rock” and found it on Google Maps, mapped right to it. It’s on the right side of the road.
Porter’s Thoughts:
“Be prepared to climb up a steep hill (and across some parallel faultlines)!
I chose to do this as a fast walk, and I was out of breath by the time I reached the top.
It was worth it though, with its great view of the surrounding area as you stand upon an outlook made of large boulders.
There are some unofficial trails that lead away from the outlook where people have explored the area a bit, but I didn't venture far down them.
The flies were really annoying on the day I went out, so I kept my visit short.
I took the path slower on the way back to prevent falling down the steep decline.”
Payne’s Pine - 2.6 km, Easy
Trail Head: Just under 1 km past the trailhead for Whispering Winds. We parked on the right side of the road, the trail access was on the left side.
Porter’s Thoughts:
“This is an easy trail through a lush forest, coming up to water in some places.
The water was still on the day I hiked, providing for a beautiful glassy surface.
This was a nice walk, but I did this after Whispering Winds and it wasn't as exciting. I wish I had done this trail first, to build up to the view of Whispering Winds.”
Sligo - 0.3 km, Very Easy
Trail Head: Just over 2.5 km past the trail access point for Payne’s Pine, on the right side of the road.
Between the booklet description of this one - all about getting eaten alive by the various monster flies in that location - and the completely overgrown path?
We took one look and noped out. Was hard to see any kind of payoff for actually walking up to the grave site.
Basin Depot - 0.8 km, Easy
Trail Head: About 3 km past the access point for Sligo, on the right side of the road. You’ll see the log cabin building, it’s right on the side of the road.
This one was confusing and disappointing. The booklet shows it as being two little short trails off the other side of the road, but the only trail we could find in the area was one on the right side of the road.
We walked up and down that logging road trying to find any evidence of these two trails, and the heat and bugs were getting pretty miserable.
At this point, we decided to call it, and headed back to the RV. We were getting pretty frustrated with the whole thing.
High Falls - 4.4 km, Challenging
Trail Head: Should be about 2 km past Basin Depot, with trail access and parking on the left side of Basin road (per the booklet).
We didn’t do this trail.
McGuey Farm - 5.2 km, Easy
Trail Head: Should be about 8 km past High Falls, with trail access and parking on the left side of Basin road (per the booklet).
Note: The book lists this trail name as both “McGuey Homestead” and “McGuey Farm”, depending on whether you’re looking at their map, or the trail information page.
We didn’t do this trail.
McIntyre Homestead - 1.2 km, Easy
Trail Head: Should be slightly more than 13 km past McGuey Farm, with trail access and parking via a short road off the left side of Basin road (per the booklet).
Note: The book lists this trail name as both “McIntyre Homestead” and “McIntyre Clearing”, depending on whether you’re looking at their map, or the trail information page.
We didn’t do this trail.
Biking
There aren’t any designated bike trails, but we saw plenty of people biking on the park roads during our stay.
The roads are in really nice condition for biking, too. The “we don’t have trails, but you can bike on the roads” hits a bit different when the roads aren’t anything you’d want to bike on, you know?
Swimming
Bonnechere has one of the better sandy beaches we’ve seen lately.
The swimming area is really nice - Paths alongside and leading up to the beach, lots of picnic tables, etc. As I mentioned earlier, there’s a Mobi-Mat that goes right into the water.
The marked swimming area has shallow, gradual drop-offs and is marked off with buoys. As with the vast majority of provincial parks, there are no lifeguards on duty at any time.
Birding, Wildlife, and Nature
Bonnechere Provincial Park’s website notes that almost 300 species of birds have been seen in the general area of the park, and that they have a birding checklist available for sale.
I meant to pick one up during our stay, but completely forgot!
Anyway, we managed to see a TON of birds, both in the park itself and nearby, on our Walks of the Little Bonnechere River excursion.
All told, we saw: American Crow, American Goldfinch, American Robin, Black-and-White Warbler, Black-Capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Broad-Winged Hawk, Cedar Waxwing, Common Grackle, Common Raven, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Kingbird, Evening Grosbeak, Northern Flicker, Red-Eyed Vireo, Ring-Billed Gull, Song Sparrow, White-Breasted Nuthatch, Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-Rumped Warbler.
.. And we heard: Blue-Headed Vireo, Brown Creeper, Dark-Eyed Junco, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Golden-Crowned Kinglet, Great Crested Flycatcher, Northern Cardinal, Northern Waterthrush, Olive-Sided Flycatcher, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Swainson’s Thrush, Swamp Sparrow, White-Throated Sparrow, Wild Turkey, Wood Thrush.
2nd Row: Blue Jay (Bald!), Broad-Winged Hawk, Common Raven
3rd Row: Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Kingbird, Mallard Duck
4th Row: Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Song Sparrow, Wild Turkey
5th Row: Yellow Warbler, Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-Rumped Warbler
In addition to the birding, we saw quite a few chipmunks and squirrels, as well as a few different species of frogs, and a big snapping turtle!
2nd Row: Common Snapping Turtle, Dragon Hunter
3rd Row: Monarch Butterfly, Northern Leopard Frog
4th Row: White-Marked Tussock Moth, Swamp Milkweed
Boating
Boating is a huge thing at Bonnechere Provincial Park, what with the meandering Bonnechere River going right through it, and all.
There’s a boat launch and small dock located in the day use area - on the river. It’s got a maximum recommended boat length of 18 feet, btw.
We also saw several campsites in the River Loop Campground that had small power boats pulled up to them! Not sure if they had little docks or what.
Anyway, the park requests that boaters take care to not use wake speeds on the river as there are sensitive species of plants and animals living there.
We saw quite a few canoes, kayaks, and stand up paddle boards being used on the river. The park recommends canoeing up the river to Jack’s Chute, roughly 3 km away.
There are oxbows along the way, and apparently they make for great wildlife viewing!
Fishing
Fishing opportunities are available on both the Bonnechere River and Round Lake, though we didn’t manage to see anyone fishing right in the park, during our stay.
Had there been anyone fishing, they’d possibly have been aiming to catch Lake Trout, Large Mouth Bass, Pickerel Pike, Pumpkinseed, Rock Bass, and/or Small Mouth Bass.
We DID see a fair amount of people fishing off a bridge nearby, when looking for one of the Walks of the Little Bonnechere River.
About 7 minutes from the park, on Paugh Lake Road, right after turning left onto it from Turners Road.
There’s a cute little open area lookout out over a large lake, then a small bridge shortly after it.
That whole area was great for wildlife - we saw a bunch of frogs, birds, and even a large turtle!
Discovery Program
As with most Provincial Parks we’ve been to, the Discovery Program at Bonnechere seems to be limited to the months of July and August, and mostly be centered around the Discovery Activity Book.
We did happen across an Exploration Station at the day use area on our first day. That’s where we met Kay, who was just finishing up an event about naming the animals we’re grateful for.
With the exception of Tuesday, there was something planned for every day of the calendar week our trip landed in. (We were only there 3 days, though).
We liked that the Discovery Program information was posted EVERYWHERE - including on every vault toilet we saw. Some parks, we never see any information posted!
Niantic Games
There are a few Portals / Pokestops / Pokegyms in the day use area - 4 or 5 - and that’s pretty much the only place we had enough cell phone coverage to access the game.
There’s another stop at the main comfort station, though that one is hit or miss in terms of being able to load it.
Not sure about the rest of the park, as we couldn’t get any signal anywhere but the day use area.
Nearby Attractions
The Algonquin Provincial Park boundary is just a few minutes away from the park, and Bonnechere Caves is a popular attraction in the other direction.
The closest towns are Barry’s Bay and Killaloe, and we went to both.
Killaloe is the birthplace of Beavertails, so obviously we - well, Porter - had to do the thing.
He didn’t get the Killaloe Sunrise, though - he got the “Avalanche”. I guess cinnamon and lemon can’t compete with cheesecake and Skor, LOL.
The grocery store in Killaloe left a lot to be desired, so we had to go on a second roadtrip to Barry’s Bay for our groceries. It had a Metro and a large ValueMart, and generally seemed to have more going on than Killaloe in general.
Final Thoughts
Just going to be real here, on the way to Bonnechere, I had made the comment that planning a stay at Bon Echo Provincial Park immediately before checking out a new-to-us park felt like setting ourselves up for disappointment.
I was *wrong*.
This park may be small and kind of remote, but we LOVED it.
Would have been nicer if we’d been able to get an electrical site and not be dying from the heat, but that’s our biggest complaint - and it’s not really on them, either. Had the weather been at ALL humane, the lack of electricity wouldn’t have been an issue at all!
For such a small park, it’s wild how well appointed this one is. So much to do, and everything’s just in such great condition.
Also, it really stands out to me for the efforts made to include disabled people.
It really makes a huge difference to not feel like my mobility issues are something that someone else is forced to (grudgingly) deal with, you know?
For his (abled!) part, Porter also loved this park.
“It’s a lovely park with a lot of really great views. Some of the best birding opportunities we’ve had, too!”
100%, we’ll be back again.
Just, you know, not in the height of summer!
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!
Arrowhead Provincial Park
Awenda Provincial Park
Balsam Lake Provincial Park
Bass Lake Provincial Park
Bon Echo 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
Ferris Provincial Park
Inverhuron Provincial Park
Killbear Provincial Park
Lake Superior 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
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Kay!
Hey, that’s me! I’m so happy I could be of a help!
Thanks for showing me all the, ahem, completely normal bird photos. Also, I do hope you know that I will be spreading your feedback as far as I can to fix some stuff up! Hope to see you again next year! 🙂
Marie & Michael Porter
Hahaha, so about those bird photos...
When we were able to get the actual photos into Google (rather than taking a photo of the back of the camera), Google changed its mind and decided that they were chickadees after all.
So, I guess you could say they were... Fake. 😀
Kay!
Always too good to be true!