Lake of Two Rivers Campground, Ontario, Canada

Submitted by John Crawford

John - I was there with my family when I was quite young, and I have camped there many times since.

Location, location, location. They say it's important when it comes to real estate, but it also applies to campgrounds. Lake of Two Rivers has been open to campers for several decades along Highway 60 in Algonquin Provincial Park in southern Ontario. Just being in Algonquin is an experience in itself. Several campgrounds, including Two Rivers, are located along the highway. It runs east-west through the southern end of the park, which is 4,800 square miles of forests, lakes, and rivers. Two Rivers is visible right along the highway and easily accessible. The first thing you notice when you get out of your vehicle is the smell of pine trees, tall jack pines. They're beautiful. I usually prefer a campground with plenty of trees and a certain amount of privacy, but I always make an exception for this campground. There are the jack pines, to be sure, but campers have been coming here for so long, that there tends not to be the underbrush there used to be. Some sites offer little privacy, others are pretty good in that regard. There is a comfort station with laundry and shower facilities. The beach is at one end of the campground, which is about average in size.

The view down Lake Of Two Rivers is beautiful, and this may be my favorite place to swim of all the Provincial Parks where I have camped in Ontario. Only canoes and motorboats of minimal power are allowed. You can paddle to the end of Two Rivers and follow a short stream to Pog Lake, where you can pull up on a beach at the campground of the same name and have your lunch (if you decided to bring one). And you can make a quick stop to the washroom. If you bring your bicycles camping, you can ride from Two Rivers campground a short hop down the highway to Mew Lake campground and follow a biking trail that takes you to that same Pog Lake campground and further south to the Rock Lake campground. The trip there and back can easily be done within an afternoon.

One of the things you discover about Algonquin is that a trip along Highway 60 can suddenly turn into the kind of sightseeing you weren't planning on. You'll see a number of cars on the side of the highway, you slow down to investigate, and you discover people watching a moose or two nearby, sometimes even a bear. What you won't see is a wolf; however, you just might hear a pack of wolves at night. We did, before going to sleep one night. However, there is also something called a wolf howl, which the park rangers organize every Thursday--wolf presence pending. They scout around looking for a wolf pack, by howling. If they find one, campers organize at the nearby amphitheatre and are led down the highway in whichever direction the pack was noted. Everyone gets out of his or her vehicle and stands at the side of the road, as the rangers howl again. Often they'll get a reply from wolves in the Algonquin darkness.

If you have children, you should definitely go to the Visitor's Center which has some interesting multimedia displays on park wildlife and history.

It's also lots of fun going to the Children's Program there, in which park rangers discuss some aspect of park wildlife. It's definitely not dull, it is fun. There is also a logging museum along Highway 60, where you can find out about logging history in the park. Logging, by the way, still goes on, but only where it's not going to disturb anyone, well inside this huge park. It is regulated under a park management plan.

If you like to have people around, but you also like to feel as though you're away from civilization, this is the place to be, away from signs, businesses, gas stations, etc. The nearest city is an hour west of there, with everything you'd need. I'll tell you this much, we haven't been to Algonquin for two years, and I miss it. We're heading back this summer.