Has anybody been to Awenda PP in the past year or two? There were several positive posts about Awenda but nothing since 2013. We're considering going there for 4 nights in mid-June.
Site Team edit: Thread title changed per request back to original title
Lovely PP....high tree canopy provides for all day shade....large well spaced sites....a little open but you are so far away from your neighbors its really not an issue. Good doggy beach....and the surrounding area has some great places to visit.
Wife and I just toured through the park yesterday. Looks like it is in good shape for the summer. Bookings are tight. Plan ahead. Almost half the park is non hydro.
We're heading to Awenda PP in a couple weeks. I'm planning to take Hwy. 12 north rather than Hwy. 400. Does anyone know what the condition of Hwy. 12 is like between Orillia and Penetanguishene?
I checked Google Streetview and it looks like taking Simcoe County Rd. 23/27 west from Hwy. 12 to County Rd. 6 and then north would be better roads, and I can avoid urban areas.
Just thought I would finish this thread with a review of Awenda Provincial Park.
The campsites are all in a tall hardwood forest. We stayed on Site 94 in the Hawk Campground. This is a very large site and this is the only provincial park site I've ever seen that has a 50 Amp electric service! As is typical of provincial parks, you get your choice of unserviced and electric-only sites with potable water available at a filling station near the gate and at taps located throughout your campground. Some sites are fairly flat but the smaller sites tend to have some slope to them. There is good separation between sites but the hardwood trees are all competing for sunlight up in the very high canopy, so only the very young trees serve to block your view of neighbouring sites meaning privacy isn't the greatest.
The roads are all paved or at least surface treated, and have adequate clearance for large trailers. Site driveways are all angled about 30 degrees to the road making it easier to back in and the sites are far enough apart so that your neighbour's vehicle won't be in the way.
Comfort Stations are all relatively small but they were well maintained. They have limited laundry facilities as well.
The beaches are a long distance from the campsites so you'll need to either drive or bicycle there. Be aware of the very steep hill on the road to the beaches. There are 4 beaches in total; beaches #1 & 2 allow pets, and beach #3 is the best for swimming but it's a long distance from the parking lot.
There are about 6 trails ranging from 0.5 km to 13 km long. You can bike on 3 of the trails.
While we were there this past week, there weren't many campers - probably only 6-8 sites were occupied in our campground of about 60 sites, so it was very quiet, but sound did echo somewhat under the tall canopy. So I suspect it may be noisy on a long weekend.
Staff were very friendly but there were very few patrols of the campground. The store is small with only the basics but they did have a freezer with Popsicles and ice cream cones for the kids and young at heart. To re-stock the refrigerator and cupboards, you'll need to drive to Penetanguishine, about 15 minutes away.
The one big negative I have is that the dump station does not have a hose connection on the water hose to allow you to flush your tanks. There is a water hose but no threaded hose fitting so you can only use it to spray water and rinse out your sewer hose. The potable water fill station is located about 80-100 feet past the dump station with a male hose connection on the end of the hose, so you'd need a very long hose to try to connect to your flush port back at the dumping station.
Other than this negative, we really enjoyed our stay at Awenda Provincial Park. We hope to be back in the Fall when the colours are at their peak.
Awenda Provincial Park is located in Ontario, north of Penetanguishine, on Georgian Bay, on the east side of Lake Huron. Put it into Google Maps and it will show you the location.
It is a great campground. It is our go to place. I agree with Itat.
The only thing I would add is that if you are coming up from the south you should take the route through lafontaine unless you need supplies
Thanks, NavyMike.
Our route was from the east side of Toronto so we took Hwy. 12 north, west on Vasey Rd./Simcoe County Rd. 23 (at Coldwater) which turns into County Rd. 27, then north on County Rd. 6 to Lafontaine Rd. and back east to Awenda Park Rd.
We camped there last June. There was a Tornado Watch and we left a pretty big hurry as the winds started tearing apart the trees and Penatang was hit hard about 5 minutes after we got thru with tree loss and damage. We got out just in time. I loved the park DW will not go back due to the storm.
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B and B
2022 Venture RV SportTrek STT 302 VRB Travel Trailer
2018 Heartland Landmark 365 Louisville 5th Wheel
2015 Heartland Bighorn 5th Wheel
2013 FR Rockwood 8289WS 5th Wheel
2012 FR Rockwood 2703 SS Travel Trailer
Had an awesome weekend at awenda even when it rained on Friday. It was a full campground but you wouldn't know it. The fishing was ok and the campground staff were friendly.
Had an awesome weekend at awenda even when it rained on Friday. It was a full campground but you wouldn't know it. The fishing was ok and the campground staff were friendly.
Did the sound of other campers carry much with all the sites occupied? It was carrying somewhat when we were there but, as I said, there were only 6-8 sites occupied the week we were there. We tend to avoid camping on long weekends but we've had good luck in radio-free campgrounds on long weekends.
There were some sounds from other sites but nothing obtrusive. I would recommend it to others and will use it to measure the quality of other campgrounds in the future.
We will have to give it a try, with everyones recommendations how can you loose. Our next trip is to Grundy PP followed by Presquille PP. I checked the PP website, are those campsite pictures a true representation? Nice to support Ontario Parks.
I do love Grundy. The lakes are nice, quiet when we go their in June. You can hear the trans-canada train across the lake though. I found Awenda tough to get a 32 ft fifth wheel into. the site entrances have rocks or trees very close at almost right angles. Very nice park though.
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B and B
2022 Venture RV SportTrek STT 302 VRB Travel Trailer
2018 Heartland Landmark 365 Louisville 5th Wheel
2015 Heartland Bighorn 5th Wheel
2013 FR Rockwood 8289WS 5th Wheel
2012 FR Rockwood 2703 SS Travel Trailer
Here are few pictures from CampsitePictures.com of Site 94 that we had at Awenda PP (in the Hawk Campground). You can see the rocks on either side of the driveway into the site like B&B mentioned but you can also see that the driveway is angled into the site from the road so it was a very easy back in. If I could do it, anybody could!