parc provincial Kawartha Highlands - Bancroft, Ontario

Mia S.

This park is beautiful and serene. There's so many different colours of igneous rocks, being part of the Canadian Sheilds; the pink and green granites are very pretty. There's an impressive beaver dam and a good place to peace out for a bit. It's great for short hikes and people bring their dogs as well.

K J.

Please leave each area of this beautiful park as you found it, and if you spot some garbage pick it up.

Always like to leave my reviews about parks and nature conservancy with the above PSA.

Visited this park for some SUP portaging (if you haven’t tried it, definitely recommend, it’s a nice fun alternative if you don’t like to carry a heavy canoe).

We visited end of Summer 2022, not a lot of mosquitoes. We did a loop, so it was a long day paddling each day, but the views, the quietness and serenity was unbeaten. There’s quite a bit of traffic and I asume even more so peak summer. Make sure you purchase your pass as they do have rangers doing checkups. Some of the portage areas can be quite hilly, so make sure you’re only bringing the absolutely necessary.

Most important of all is respect the space and the quietness of this park. 10/10 recommend to visit.

Alex P.

Took a canoe trip here in Sept 2023, and it generally went well. The campsites are in good condition and the routes/portages are mostly well-marked.

The lower section of the river has some swifts in addition to the marked rapids, which caught us by surprise and flipped us out of our canoe. That lower section could also benefit from more campsites.

Gino M.

My wife and I just paddled 14 km through Long Lake and Loucks Lake (without portaging) on the 2020 Labour Day Sunday because it looked like the nicest day weather-wise on the long weekend. We we weren't sure about whether it would be worth the 2 hour drive from Toronto but the beauty of the lakes well exceeded our expectations. There are quite a few granite cliffs to explore from the water and many islands. Long Lake and Loucks Lake make for great paddling because you're close to the shores so it always feels like you're making great progress. The back country sites looked really nice and well maintained. The portage from Long Lake to Buzzard Lake is rather wide and fairly easy going 340 m. There are cottages and cabins but everyone we saw from shore were friendly. Most of the power boats were respectful. The parking lot at Long Lake was full on the long weekend so you may want to arrive earlier rather than later. Cell coverage was really good. There are pit toilets by the parking lot. $12.25 for a day permit. Long Lake Lodge can outfit paddlers. From what we saw, their equipment was in good shape but you may want to call ahead to reserve on busy weekends. This seems to be a paddlers paradise and besides portaging, not much opportunity for hiking.

Oh B.

We camped at 101 on Bottle Lake. Very quiet, away from cottages and other campers. It's 600 m from the access point and boat launch, so yes you can see and hear motorboats in the distance, but it's not a huge nuisance. Only two motorboats passed directly by our campsite in 5 days of camping. It was mostly very quiet. We had several canoes pass by on the way to/from portages. The site itself is next to the emergency site 100, so that was empty. We could not see or hear any other campsites or campers!

This site was very easy to find and access for beginners, and we had no trouble with it. It's a huge site with a great view and good swimming and fishing.

My only complaint is that the previous campers left trash all over the place and were clearly dumping wastewater right next to the lake. Also washing dishes in the lake with soap! I really wish getting a permit involved having to know and practice proper "leave no trace" and other protocols to ensure environmental safety. We ended up packing out another 2 bags of trash left by these monsters! What the hell? They also brought (and left behind) a whole bag of charcoal briquettes! In a wooded campsite? I wish there were some way to report them. People like this should stay home.

Lakewater was great for filtering, we treated our own water this way. No need to bring water. Thunderbox was fine, got yelled at by red squirrels a lot while up there!

I think the best aspect of this site is that it's fantastic for hammocking! If you sleep this way or just hang one for fun, definitely you will love the abundance of great trees and views.

Neil S.

There is no park in a traditional way ! It’s massive land filled with islands, lakes and camping sites accessible only through boats. We got so confused, so you have to park your car somewhere at the paid access point and get the permit and row your boat to the camping sites. Nothing was mentioned here and we reached a spot which is just a “boat launching spot “.
After 2.5 hours from Toronto we were so disappointed. We had no idea that we need a boat to see the magnificent lake and camping spots !!! So if you are thinking of a traditional huge park with camping sites, beach etc then you will be disappointed like us.

Jay L.

Beautiful natural setting with no power boats once you get into the back country. Great paddling, beautiful views, pleasant swimming in clear and clean lakes. Take out what you bring in to keep is beautiful for the next visit.

Rick M.

Love this park! Been a couple times now to different lakes and it's always been great. Some great accessible portages to more adventurous loops. Our last trip featured a waterfall on almost every portage.