Rondeau Provincial Park

Camping season has officially started, and we kicked ours off with a short, 2 stop camping trip.

We decided to keep it close to home - Southern Ontario. So, I picked a couple early-season campgrounds in southwestern Ontario, as well as a day trip to a national park.

I’ll get to the reviews for Wheatley Provincial Park and Point Pelee National Park in separate posts, but for now, we’re going to address our first stop of the season - Rondeau PP!

Located in the municipality of Chatham-Kent, this park is situated on its own peninsula, stretching out 11 kilometers into Lake Erie. It also has the distinction of being the second oldest provincial park in Ontario.

As with one of our favourite parks - Bon Echo - Rondeau is based on a couple of French words: “Rond” for round, and “eau”, meaning water. So, “round water” - I’m guessing that’s in reference to the bay.

Water had a huge impact on our trip - though more so the kind coming from the sky, LOL.

We had one afternoon and evening of gorgeous weather - the day we arrived - then got rained out for most of the rest of the trip.

That said, we were able to fit a LOT of sightseeing and fun into that first day, and we didn’t let the rain stop us from enjoying the birding opportunities in the park.

Lots to talk about, so let’s get to it!

The Basics:

Campground Name: Rondeau Provincial Park
Address: 18050 Rondeau Park Road, Morpeth, ON, N0P 1X0
Website: Rondeau Provincial Park Official Site
Price Ontario Provincial Parks uses a pricing matrix across all their parks. See 2025 Camping Fees for more details on reservation fees and such.
Reservations: Ontario Parks Reservations
Park Classification: Natural Environment
Season: April 11, 2025 to November 9, 2025

Logistics

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

Registration and Check In

As always, booking our site was quick and easy, via the Ontario Parks website.

Because we were visiting early in the spring - and during the week - we had our pick of the sites when booking, and enjoyed a fairly empty campground during our trip.

Check in was also really quick and easy. We pulled up to a kiosk and got it done from the RV driver window - super friendly service.

The second day, we had a knock on our camper - it was a park staff member, letting us know that someone had entered something wrong and didn’t realize we had a tow car.

I’m not really sure what happened - I always preregister online with the license plate - but she wanted to stop by with new printouts of the permits, to make sure we wouldn’t get ticketed.

We appreciated it!

Maps and Signage

The park map was printed on nicer quality paper than most parks we’ve been to. It was just one sheet, but a had a fair amount of info on it, clearly laid out.

Hours for the visitor centre and store would be nice - it told the season dates, but not hours. It wasn’t open during our stay though, so maybe there’s a summer map that’s different?

The signage throughout the park seemed adequate. Nothing to write home about, but nothing really left us annoyed or anything.

We did rely more on the map than on the signs, though.

Services

The dump station was a bit weird - there was one section with 2 dump platforms on either side of a single hose, and then a second section with 2 fill platforms on either side of a single hose.

So on the upside, you can fill from either side... but only one can fill at a time.

We happened to get in behind people who were in no rush to move through, so we ended up giving up and carrying on to our site.

There were 2 big garbage and recycling stations as far as we could see - one by the dump station, and one in between the two sections of the campground. Both seemed super adequate for the number of campers, clean and orderly.

Connectivity

There was no park wifi as far as we could tell, cell reception was fantastic in the campground.

We didn’t actually try to access our phones while checking out the rest of the park, though, so I can’t really report on how far the good connectivity reaches.

Given how flat and open the park is, though, I wouldn’t doubt that there’s at least decent cell phone coverage throughout.

Accessibility

This is actually a REALLY accessible park.

As with most parks, Rondeau touts barrier free access to all the basics - comfort stations (including showers and laundry), the park store, visitor centre, etc.

In addition to that, they have a floating beach wheel chair and an all-terrain trail wheelchair available for use - ask for them in the visitor center (when it’s open, anyway!).

As far as the trails go, the Tulip Tree Trail is the only one labeled as being barrier free, but the Spicebush trail is also quite accessible. Very flat, packed gravel, boardwalks. If it wasn’t wheelchair accessible, it was only BARELY not wheelchair accessible.

I was easily able to do it while having a bad tendon day, and could definitely have done it while using any of my mobility aids, had it been to that point. My knee scooter, boot, cane, etc - all of it would have been fine.

Finally, the park roads are all pretty flat and wide - enough so that the park welcomes rollerblading on them.

Pets

We only saw one dog when we got here - a gorgeous husky with heterochromia eyes!

Unfortunately, we had JUST sprayed our legs down with some pretty nasty bug repellant, so we had to ask his owners to keep him back from us.

Boo! He was super friendly and we would have loved to meet him!

Anyway, as far as pets in the park go, there’s a huge dog beach, but small parking lot and it’s a fair drive from the campground area - several kilometres. It’s a bit of a walk from that parking lot to the dog beach, but a cute one with a boardwalk at one point.

It’s a leashed beach, and owners are advised to keep the dogs under control due to multiple at-risk species living in the driftwood and dune areas.

Parking

Parking seems decent at the trailheads, attractions, and campgrounds.

There isn’t a TON of parking at trail heads of the shorter trails, but enough for several cars - and really, they’re short trails.

Trails where you’re in and out pretty quickly don’t tend to need a TON of parking.

Miscellaneous

The park is flanked by rows of private cottages, which makes for a kind of weird vibe as you’re driving though. It’s all within the park boundaries, but the presence of so many private cabins makes it not really feel like a PP.

It feels more like a camp than a provincial park, if that makes any sense.

There are also a couple of churches next to the tennis court - and both are noted on the park map.

Campground Amenities & Info

We visited during the shoulder season, so some of the regular campground amenities were closed for the season.

Here’s some basic information, though:

Creature Comforts

There are three full comfort stations in the campground area:

1 kind of centrally located in each of the two main sections of the campground - with flush toilets, showers, and laundry facilities.

Then, there’s another smaller one closer to the beach, sort of halfway down the length of the full campground area.

There are also flush toilets located at the visitor centre, and vault toilets throughout the rest of the park - some of the trail parking areas, day use areas near picnic shelters, etc.

Apparently there are also porta potties in remote areas, we didn’t see any during our stay.

Park Store

There’s a seasonal park store located near the south end of the campground area, on the Rondeau Bay side.

It wasn’t open during our stay, but advertises that it carries basically everything you’d expect in an Ontario Parks store - souvenirs, snacks, camping supplies, basic groceries, ice cream, etc.

There’s even an “extensive snack bar and grill”, which is interesting! I don’t think we’ve seen one of those yet, aside from the one in Algonquin Park (which I’m not sure counts, TBH!).

Visitor Centre

The visitor center was closed during our stay, so we weren’t able to check it out.

It’s pretty far from the campground section - about 5 km - and it’s pretty small.

Primarily an educational facility, it advertises being home to interactive displays about Indigenous culture, local animals, and the park history.

There’s also a Friends of Rondeau gift store hosted there, that sounds like it really caters to birders - a focus on bird feeders, field guides, etc.

Day Use Area

Day use type areas were spread out throughout the park, between the dog beach and beach access points up the east side, and along the west side - near the boat launch, etc.

Lots of small pockets of cute picnic areas, both on the Rondeau Bay side of the park, and along the 11 km beach area up the Lake Erie side of the park.

There were also several picnic shelters scattered throughout the park - I think we saw 5 - with kind of a central one near the dump station.

That one had a playground and a big field - though one of the shelters on the Rondeau Bay side - just south of the campgrounds - also had a small playground.

The playground area by the dump station is easily accessed via the south end of the camping area, via a short trail.

Rentals & Loans

As mentioned earlier, the park has a couple specialty wheelchairs (a beach one, and an all-terrain one) available for loan.

Aside from that, the park has a personal floatation device loan program, as well as a tackleshare program.

Visitors can visit the main office to be fitted for PFDs, or to borrow basic fishing equipment.

Campsite Details

The camping area is located in the north end of the park, with a bunch of camp sites kind of crammed together in two main sections - separated with a road going between them.

So, about half the sites were electrical, and some of the sites in the southern half of the campground looked to be pull-through sites.

I think pretty much every site we saw had a picnic table and a firepit - I think that’s pretty much the default expectation, though.

As far as the campsite makeup ... I would not expect lots of privacy in any of the camp sites we saw.

It’s not something we’ve been overly concerned with before this trip... but that has changed.

In an almost entirely empty campground, we ended up with someone in the site next to us... and I mean NEXT to us.

Turned bright lights on in the middle of the night when it let his dog out (the constant barking woke us up!), and left it on the rest of the night, flooding our bedroom. It was like broad daylight at 4am.

Bold moves for someone driving a company vehicle... anyway.

There are some big sites, but most in the northern section had weird configurations, random sloping in multiple directions, etc.

If you’re bringing an RV or trailer, bring all of the leveling blocks you can, and be prepared for anything.

Our section felt weirdly desolate - probably the time of year. Just an odd vibe.

Some of the non-electric sites in the next loop over (In the 183-201 loop) were super cute, with a mossy camping area up a small embankment from the front/parking section of each site.

There does not appear to be any backcountry camping, nor any of the yurts/cabins for rent that many of the other provincial parks tend to have.

Entertainment and Activity

For a relatively small park - or at least a park that FEELS kind of small, I guess - there’s a lot to do!

Hiking

There are a bunch of hiking trails in this park, with at least two walking trails that are pretty accessible.

Several short, easy trails for people like me, and some longer trails for those who can do them? That’s some excellent hiking!

Unfortunately rain prevented us from doing as much hiking as we would have liked (until the last day!), but here are the basics:

Note: Ticks that carry lyme disease have been found in the park, so it’s a good idea to wear appropriate bug spray.

Spicebush Trail

This trail is listed as a 1.5km loop, 1 hour, and easy. It takes you through old growth tulip trees, maple trees, and American beech trees.

First off, there were SO MANY BUTTERFLIES! Everywhere we looked - they all appeared to be Red Admiral butterflies.

We also saw more birds on this quick 38 minute walk, than we have in all of our camping in the last year. That’s... wild.

It was flat, had a lot of sections of boardwalk, and was super noisy from all the wildlife that afternoon - a ton of birds, and we think some kind of frog.

There were also a bunch of wildflowers blooming along a lot of the path.

Warbler’s Way Trail

This is the newest trail in the park - it’s not even mentioned on the website! It’s a 0.5 km loop, located close to the dumping station area.

We accessed it via the restroom facility on Rondeau Road (near the Park Store).

This trail is quite accessible - flat, wide, and the worst / only obstacle is about 1" difference between the trail and a little foot bridge, right at the beginning. I’d call it wheelchair accessible, and you could definitely do it with other types of mobility aids if needed.

The trail itself is... OK.

It was a little weird walking along a barbed wire fence at the beginning of the trail. It felt a little unwelcoming, like we were walking somewhere we weren’t supposed to be.

The actual trail is a little blah - it might be too short to have much real personality, if that makes sense.

That said, we saw a bald eagle flying and some turkey vultures very close overhead when we did the trail, so... you know, there was still an experience payoff there!

Black Oak Trail

On the 3rd day, the rain stopped long enough for us to check our Black Oak Trail.

There is some discrepancy when it comes to the trail length - the website says it’s a 1.4 km loop, the signage there says 1.7, and MapMyRun told us we’d walked 1.24 km, starting and ending at the parking lot.

This one was also designated “easy”, and I’d agree with that. It was relatively flat, with some gently rolling inclines from time to time. It wasn’t enough to bother my knee at any point, so I wouldn’t even call it “hilly”.

I wouldn’t say this was wheelchair friendly, and I wouldn’t recommend doing it if you’re on crutches or using a knee scooter. Any other kind of mobility aid should be fine - I could definitely have done it in a boot or with a cane, had I been having a bad tendon day. No problem - it’s just kinda narrow.

We walked this trail after a couple days of solid rain, and were surprised that it wasn’t at all muddy.

This trail was noted as being good for bird watching. We did see and hear a few at the beginning of the trail, but I think it was too windy for much in the way of bird watching that morning.

A very narrow loop of a trail, you can see the first length you just walked, after you turn the corner at the end to come back. Not a lot of variety of views or anything - you walk through lightly forested area, a bit of wetland of to the sides, etc.

It’s not really a destination trail, but a nice enough way to get a morning walk in.

Tulip Tree Trail

On the second day of our trip, the rain cleared up enough to quickly pop out and try this trail.

It’s listed as being 1.2 km on the site, 1.5 km elsewhere (I think the sign at the visitor center, iirc), and ended up being a bit more than 1.9 km, because we took an apparently optional offshoot at one point.

I’d say a good half of it is boardwalk - which is VERY slippery when wet. It’s a wheelchair accessible trail, and came very close to putting me in one, at a few points! Yikes.

Anyway.

The description on this one tells you about seeing tulip trees, sassafras, and Shagbark Hickory in a mature Carolinian forest ... but in NO WAY covers the actual vibe.

Much of the trail involves walking on boardwalks over / through wetlands, and the trees throughout are just WEIRD. Twisted, growing up at weird and jarring angles, etc.

Early on, I was thinking it felt like something out of a Tolkien novel (AND I happened to be wearing my rain cloak at the time!). 30 seconds later, I walked face first into a giant spider web across the trail.

That’ll cause nightmares later, but I had a good laugh at the time, given what I’d been thinking of.

Anyway, I’m sure our views were far more interesting than they’ll be when the forest is filled in with greenery. That said, it would have been nice to visit when the tulip trees are in bloom. I had to Google them - really pretty!

We ended up doing the trail backwards, and - instead of turning towards the parking lot as we approached the visitor center - we continued on the loop that went out by the lake.

The waves were huge and loud, it was a really nice end to the walk!

Harrison Trail

This trail is advertised as being a 8 km long trail (16 km return), easy, and an estimate of 4 hours to walk it.

Apparently it was historically a gravel roadway that provided access to a lighthouse at the southern tip of the peninsula. Not sure if the lighthouse is still there - it’s not listed on the map, if it is.

Anyway, the trail goes pretty much the full length of the park, and is known as a great way to get some bird watching in, as well as to see butterflies and a variety of wildflowers.

Because it crosses the whole park, it takes you through a bunch of different types of deciduous forests and open tall-grass prairie area, giving you a good taste of the various habitats on the peninsula.

Note: It’s a shared trail, for both hiking and cycling.

South Point Trail

This trail is listed as being an 8km loop trail, easy difficulty, and an estimated time of 2.5 hours to complete it.

It’s another shared trail for both biking and hiking, and apparently the middle part is currently washed out.

This one notes that it takes you through Oak Savannah, Carolinian Forest, and along the Lake Erie Shoreline. It’s a long loop at the southern end of the park, ending at the southernmost shore of the peninsula.

On our last day at Rondeau, the weather cleared up enough for us to walk part of this trail.

We parked at the loop at the south end of the park, and walked as far as the southern tip of the park - about 2.5 km from the car to the beach and back.

The trail itself was a little meh - really wide, roughly paved most of the way, but basically the same scenery right up until reaching the beach.

Marsh Trail

This trail is a 7.2 km trail (14.4 km out and back trail), is marked as being easy, and they suggest it’ll take 5-6 hours to do it. It’s a shared hiking and biking trail.

There is some weird messaging about this trail. The site says it’s closed - washed out after some severe flooding.

That... was not the case. Like, at all. The trail was open to the public, and - at least 2 km in - there was no sign of flooding.

(There WAS a downed tree across the trail about 1.5 km out, easy enough to walk over).

Then there was the matter of the observation trail. It’s shown on the online pdf map on the park site, but NOT on the printed park map.

There are photos online proving that it exists, with the accounts of it saying that it’s about 1km in.

I don’t know if we’re talking about Brigadoon, if there’s Klingon cloaking involved, or if we were supposed to look out over the shoreline and speak “friend”, but... we absolutely could not find that thing.

When we’d walked as far as the Barn Swallow nesting structure - about 1.4 km in - I actually called the office to ask about it.

The employee confirmed that yes, it was probably about 1km from the parking lot, and impossible to miss. She was PRETTY sure it was before the barn swallow structure, but said it had been a while since she’d been out there.

So, I sent my husband a bit further up the trail - another 1 km in - and he wasn’t able to find it.

We’ve seen pictures! There’s no way we could miss this thing! What gives?!

Anyway, that mystery aside, it was a nice walk.

It goes along the western side of the peninsula, flat enough, relatively even footing, wide trail. Because it’s right along the shoreline, be prepared for WIND. It was refreshing, though.

Probably wheelchair accessible with one of the all terrain ones, definitely would have worked with any of the mobility aids that I have to cycle through at times (cane, boot, etc).

We saw a TON of turkey vultures overhead - more than a dozen at a time, at one point!

Biking

Of the trails mentioned in the hiking section, two are noted as being available for biking: Harrison, and South Point.

The official parks website mentions that a 3rd trail is available, doesn’t name it... and it’s not reflected on the printed map... so I’m not sure what’s going on there.

Anyway, people are also welcome to go cycling on the paved roads throughout the park.

Rollerblading

The park advertises the roads throughout the park as being suitable for - and open to - inline skaters.

Given the rain, we did not test this out. What a shame! It’s the first time we packed inline skates to go camping, I was looking forward to it!

Swimming

Rondeau is known for having 11 km of sandy beaches along the Lake Erie side of the Rondeau Peninsula, but it sounds like there may also be some swimming opportunities on the Rondeau Bay side as well.

The park site mentions the bay providing a more sheltered swimming experience than the Lake Erie side, but the map doesn’t show any indication of swimming areas on the bay side.

Weird.

Anyway, it was too early for swimming, so we didn’t spend much time on the beaches.

We saw the dog beach the first day, and took a quick walk on another section of beach the second day.

The shores of Lake Erie seems to have some of the best beaches of any of the great lakes - I bet it’s a gorgeous beach in the summer months.

It looks to have relatively shallow waters, and there are beach access points all the way up the east side of the peninsula.

Birding, Wildlife, and Nature

The unique habitat varieties in Rondeau make it a great destination for outdoor enthusiasts.

Beyond being a world renowned bird watching spot - and host of the Festival of Flight - it’s also a great place to view other kinds of wildlife, and some interesting flora.

Bird Watching

We have been so used to every park saying what a great spot it is for birding - only to not see ANY - that we were SHOCKED at how many birds we saw at Rondeau Provincial Park.

I’m not kidding - we saw more birds in the first hour in the park, than we had in ALL of the camping we did last year!

Apparently we visited at one of the best times of the year - the park is an important stopover point during spring and fall migration, so the park is FULL of songbirds at those times of the year.

During our first hike (spicebush), we saw some several bird species in a very short amount of time.

There was some kind of a blackbird - in abundance - a blue jay, some kind of little yellow bird, and 4 turkey vultures flying overhead during our entire walk.

There were little grey birds, and something that looked kind of like a chickadee (body), but wasn’t.

A bunch of robins, also, as well as a single turkey.

Yeah, we’re not all that knowledgeable about birds. Still, we enjoy seeing them.

Now that I’ve googled some of the birds mentioned, the yellow one we saw was probably the Prothonotary warbler - it was cute, and is apparently an endangered species!

Man, I’m not used to seeing even COMMON birds when camping, never mind rare species that are apparently only found in a few areas in Canada!

Anyway, the park info says that 334 bird species have been recorded in the park, with 134 of those actually breeding in the park.

Some of them are familiar names - flycatchers, thrushes, tundra swans, warblers, etc - I had to Google a few of the other names.

The Blue Grosbeak is cute, the Townsend’s Solitaire might have been the little grey birds we saw on the first trail... and I absolutely NEED to see a Painted Bunting, now that I know it exists!

Other Wildlife

Some of the squirrels in this park are freakishly huge, and we saw a couple really large rabbits as well.

On our first hike, we heard what we thought were frogs... but looking more into the wildlife of the park, it was more likely either an American toad or a Fowler’s Toad - an endangered species known to live in the park.

There are warnings all over the place to not mess with the driftwood on the east side of the beach, as they - and the dune habitat in general - are home to Common Five-lined Skinks.

Not being a fan of creepy crawlies, I’m pretty thankful to have not seen any of them.

I’ve also convinced myself that the holes in the Spicebush Trail were for anything other than snakes, LOL!

Boating

The waters surrounding the Rondeau peninsula are known to play host to boating of all kinds.

On the Rondeau Bay side, you can engage in from canoeing, kayaking, kite boarding, motor boating, sailing, and windsurfing. On Lake Erie proper, kayaking, sailing, and motor boating are the main types of water sports.

There’s one small boat launch in the park, near the campgrounds. It’s very plain and small - definitely meant for smaller boats.

It has a metal ramp into the water - it looked like it was to deal with mud or erosion, probably to help keep it a safe ramp with minimal maintenance.

Apparently there is ramp access for larger boats- as well as boat slips - nearby, but outside of the park itself.

Fishing & Hunting

We actually bought some fishing equipment before this trip... but didn’t get around to trying it out, on account of rain.

That said, both sides of the peninsula are known as prime locations for fishing.

Rondeau Bay is known primarily for Largemouth Bass, but also has catfish, crappie, perch, pike, and sunfish.

On the Lake Erie side - where commercial fishing used to be a big thing, according to some signage at the beach - perch, salmon, and walleye are the main species to fish for.

In addition to fishing, Rondeau is known for their waterfowl hunting season in the fall and early winter.

(Now some men like the fishing, and some men like the fowling...)

Discovery Program

As with all of the provincial parks we’ve been to, Rondeau Provincial Park runs a Discovery Program - a Natural Heritage Education program, in this case - during the busy season.

... and, as usual, we were camping outside of that season!

Anyway, from late spring until fall, they run a variety of programs, from children’s programs, hikes, and slide shows during the day, as well as campfires and evening programs later in the day.

Niantic Games

There are fair amount of stops and gyms throughout the park.

From our campsite, we could see 7 gyms and 17 stops on the app - and it’s a LONG park. There were more stops and gyms further south on the peninsula.

Misc

During the winter, Rondeau Provincial Park offers cross-country skiing, ice fishing, ans snowshoeing ... but on a day use basis only.

Nearby Attractions

On the way in, we passed a sign about the Buxton National Historic Site & Museum, so I looked it up... and ended up learning a lot about the area.

As it turns out, Buxton was a terminus on the underground railroad, and Buxton was host to the Elgin settlement.

The Elgin settlement involved a bunch of lots which could ONLY be purchased by black settlers.

Anyway, both the museum linked above, and the Buxton Settlement National Historic Site are local tourist attractions.

Final Thoughts

This park is for the birds - literally!

Clearly a fantastic place for birding. The campsites themselves may not be the best for ambiance, and the private cottages may give a bit of a different feel to the park, but it’s a cute stop off season.

I don’t know that this would be huge on a list of places to go in the summer - the beach is OK compared to a lot of the others along Lake Erie, and it sounds like the birding is definitely more of a spring thing than summer.

We loved how quiet the park was in terms of people, and how NOT quiet it was in terms of birds.

Even at our campsite with the AC running, we could hear a bunch of birds outside. It was nice.

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
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
Sauble Falls Provincial Park
Selkirk Provincial Park
Sibbald Point Provincial Park
Sleeping Giant Provincial Park
Turkey Point Provincial Park
Wheatley Provincial Park