Mara Provincial Park is a small park & campground on the northern shore of Lake Simcoe. Here's what you need to know about camping there!
First up: Mara Provincial Park.
I think this is the smallest Ontario Provincial Park we’ve been to - at least in terms of camping. (Batchawana Bay *might* be smaller, but it doesn’t have camping!).
Mara is located just a few minutes from the town of Orillia, and is known for its sandy beach.
We decided to check it out while we were in the area, staying at Bass Lake Provincial Park.
1. We didn’t overnight at the park, but we did visit it twice.
2. The park had been open for about a month at the time of our first visit. Prior to that, they had to cut down a TON of their trees, due to Emerald Ash Borer infestation.
It’s a sad situation, and it definitely left its scars on the park. While we’re being honest in what we saw at the time, I think it’s only fair to explain WHY it looked and felt the way it did.
3. There is also a Mara Provincial Park in British Columbia. While I’m sure that one has a ton of natural beauty and things to talk about... it’s not the same park 🙂
Anyway, lets get to that review.
The Basics:
Campground Name: Mara Provincial Park
Address: 181 Courtland Street, Ramara Township, ON L3V 6H7
Website: Mara Provincial Park
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: Recreational
Season: May 9, 2025 to September 1, 2025
Logistics
One weird thing to note: The phone number for Mara - per the website and the park map - comes up as “McRae Provincial Park” when you call it. Then it goes straight to static and hangs up.
Not sure what that’s about, but I wouldn’t count on being able to reach someone at this park. Beyond that, here’s some information to help plan your trip:
Registration and Check In
No real reservation details to share - we just showed the registration office our camping pass from our stay at Bass Lake, and that was that!
Registration was quick and easy - more or less just a minute or two at the window to get a park map. Friendly service, as always!
Maps and Signage
The park map is a 2 sided, full colour 11" x 17" page. One side has the full park map, the other has information about the park.
My only complaint is that it doesn’t have the map orientation noted. North appears to be the lower right side of the map, upon Googling.
This is a TINY park, so the map is very easy to read, and you really don’t need much in the way of signage to get around.
That said, the signage we did see was perfectly adequate for the situation.
Waste & Water Services
Mara Provincial Park has a bit of an odd set up when it comes to trailer sanitation.
The dump station is a single platform on the north-ish side of the campground. It has a small garbage bin and a small recycling bin... but no fill platform.
The fill platform is a single platform/tap... in front of the comfort station.
Not sure why they don’t have it - or another one, anyway - by the dump platform. There’s plenty of room on the loop for one!
I could see this setup being a pain on May long or labour day weekend.
There is a large garbage/recycling area on the road between the campground and the traffic circle / main hub of the park.
Connectivity
We had decent to really good cell phone reception throughout the park.
Accessibility
Both the campground comfort station and the washrooms building in the day use have accessible toilets, and there are a couple of barrier-free campsites (#39 and #40).
That said, there’s really not much to do at Mara, if you’re in a wheelchair. There are none of those wheelchair accessible paths on the beach, the trail is closed (and doesn’t appear to be wheelchair accessible), etc.
In terms of non-wheelchair mobility issues, the park is small enough - and flat enough - that getting around isn’t too difficult.
The sand on the beach is the kind that’s easier to walk on, which is always nice on my crappy foot tendons!
Pets
Pets are allowed, but there’s not really much for them to do.
There IS a small, leashed play area, but it’s just that - really small.
Also, the signage is a bit weird. First, a sign directs you to the general area of the play area, then the next sign says no dogs on beach.
You have to go way to the left for a narrow strip of grass, and that's it.
As a note, dogs are required to be leashed in all areas and at all times in the park - specifically in the off season, as well.
Parking
I want to joke that half the park is parking space, but honestly, if you factor in parking space in the campgrounds... it’s probably not that far off.
It wasn’t busy at all during our visits, so I’m not sure what kind of traffic it sees... but the parking seemed like more than enough for the size of the park / beach.
Miscellaneous
The beach is south west facing, so I wouldn’t doubt there are nice sunsets at Mara.
The orientation is not great for Northern Lights, and there’s a fair amount of light pollution in the area as well.
Campground Amenities & Info
As I mentioned previously, we visited as day users - but we did scout out the amenities to be able to comment on them!
Creature Comforts
Over the course of our visits, we used both comfort stations at some point, as well as one of the vault toilets.
The comfort station in the campground has flush toilets and showers, while the one in the day use area just has flush toilets.
Both had barrier free washrooms available, and the one in the day use area is very close to the parking lot.
Also, both were clean and really well maintained, as was the vault toilet.
Park Store
There’s no real park store at Mara Provincial Park, but you can buy the basics - firewood, ice, novelty ice cream, park crests, etc - at the gate house.
It’s window service, not a walk in shop.
Day Use Area
The day use area is really nice - I’m assuming it’s the main attraction of the park.
There’s a single picnic shelter available for rent,
Then, there are also a ton of picnic tables on and along the beach - plenty of great places to grab lunch with a beach view!
Also: the picnic area is proportionately pretty large for the park size!
There’s a relatively large, modern, and well-maintained playground right on the beach:
... and the beach itself is really nice. The sand is light, clean, and easy to walk on, and the water was clear and warm when we visited.
Campsite Details
Mara Provincial Park’s camping area is very small - around 100 campsites. As usual for Provincial Parks, each site has a fire pit and a picnic table.
Most sites have a gravel / small rock base.
The main camping area is sort of split down the middle, with electrical campsites on one side, and non-serviced sites on the other.
The side with the non-electrical sites also has a short offshoot - over a bridge - to a small loop of campsites. There are no group campsites or backcountry camping at this park.
The good:
The sites are generally huge, and seem to have extra camping space.
They’re also relatively flat - we didn’t notice any big slopes on any of them.
Also, the whole camping area is small enough to be really walkable. Nothing is very far from anything else.
The campground area is where you can really see the devastation left behind after dealing with the emerald ash borer problem.
The sites have zero privacy, and the whole area is really wide open. This was extra striking during our visits, as there were only 2 campsites in use.
We actually wondering if it was a new park and still under development, before we read about the tree clearing that was necessary.
As a note, the clearing of the trees seems to have made for an interesting backdrop to some of the sites, in around the even sites between #64 and #76.
They now back on to a wetland, without any real barrier.
Something to keep in mind if you have small children with you... or if it’s mosquito season!
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Entertainment and Activity
To be honest, this park isn’t one to go to if you’re looking for some intensive recreation - it’s definitely more of a “chill on the beach” kind of park.
That said, there are a few things to do, here are the details:
Hiking
The park has a short nature trail - Riverside Trail - which is split into two short trails.
One side goes from the day use area to the entrance of the campground, looping down to the little picnic area and swing set on the side of the main traffic circle.
This is a super basic trail. Flat, relatively wide... but not much to see.
We’d really been looking forward to checking that one out, so it was a bummer.
Weirdly, the Mara Provincial Park official Facebook page had posted about it just days before our visit, inviting people to walk it.
Biking
The park allows people to bike on the park roads, but there aren’t any cycling trails.
Swimming
The large beach area definitely seems to be the main attraction of this little park.
Between Bass Lake Provincial Park, McRae Point Provincial Park, and Balsam Lake... there don’t seem to be a lot of GOOD sandy beaches in the area, so Mara beach really stuck out.
Apparently we’re not the only to notice, either.
This small beach - on the north shoreline of Lake Simcoe - is noted for having one of the best beaches in the area.
The sand is clean and nice, looks like a really great place for a swim!
Birding, Wildlife, and Nature
Unfortunately for us, the closure of the Riverside Trail thwarted our birding plans during our stays.
The park’s site mentioned Coopers Hawk, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, and Osprey... most of which we would have expected to see along that trail.
We did still see and/or hear American Redstart, Red Eyed Vireo, Red Winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, Warbling Vireo, and Yellow Warbler during our visits.
Also, there was a pair of Trumpeter Swans camped out on the beach during both of our trips.
We stopped to watch one of the grown Ospreys leave the nest with a fish (???), and the little babies popping their heads up. Very cute!
Boating
Lake Simcoe is really popular for boating, but Mara Provincial Park doesn’t really have any facilities for boat launching.
They also don’t offer any boat rentals, so far as we could tell.
You could probably launch a canoe or kayak off the beach, but anything bigger than that is going to need to be from one of the boat launches outside of the park.
Fishing
As with boating... Lake Simcoe has some great fishing opportunities, you’ll just probably need to access them from outside of the park.
Mara not only doesn’t have a boat launch, it also doesn’t have any kind of a fishing pier.
The lake itself, however, is known for Lake Trout, Lake Whitefish, Perch, Smallmouth Bass, Sunfish, and Walleye.
Discovery Program
As with most of the Ontario Provincial Parks, Mara Provincial Park runs a Discovery Program during the summer months.
We didn’t see any information about it during our visits, though. I’m guessing it’ll mostly be centered around the Discovery Activity Book.
Niantic Games
There are just a couple Pokestops/Gyms/Portals in the park, and good enough cellphone connectivity to be able to play.
Nearby Attractions
Mara Provincial Park is about a 10-minute drive from Orillia, so you’ve got easy access to anything you need - shopping, gas stations, groceries, restaurants, convenience stores, etc.
It’s also a 10-15 minute drive away from Casino Rama.
Final Thoughts
As a day use park, we really enjoyed Mara Provincial Park. It was a nice place to spend a few hours in the sun, and the beach was great.
Really wish we could have done that Riverside Trail, though.
As a campground, though... we’ll pass.
This really feels like it’s a day use park with a few camp sites added on for convenience, rather than a campground that has a nice beach. If that makes sense?
Anyway, yeah. Really cute area for a picnic or a swim, but the campground is a no for us.
I WOULD be interested in checking it out in a few years, to see how it is then. I’m assuming they’ll be re-planting trees, which would make a ton of difference.
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!
Awenda Provincial Park
Balsam Lake Provincial Park
Bass Lake Provincial Park
Bon Echo Provincial Park
Canisbay Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park
Chutes Provincial Park
Driftwood Provincial Park
Earl Rowe Provincial Park
Emily Provincial Park
Inverhuron Provincial Park
Killbear Provincial Park
Lake Superior Provincial Park
Long Point Provincial Park
MacGregor Point Provincial Park
MacLeod 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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