Fitzroy Provincial Park is located 4.5 hours East of Toronto or 1 hour west of Ottawa. Located at the junction of the meandering Carp River and the mighty Ottawa River.
This park has 200 campsites and some sites are even waterfront. If you are looking for a family friendly park, this one is for you! The day use area consists of a large sandy beach, playground and beach volley ball court. There are 2 small hiking trails in the park, one is 1.6 km and the other only 0.75 km. These are perfect hiking trails for kids.
I’m not sure if it was just the weekend we were there or if it a regular occurrence at this park, but it was loud. There were a lot of barking dogs, crying babies and people partying. On Saturday night, the noise didn’t stop until well after midnight. We were trying to sit and enjoy the crackling of the campfire but struggled with all of the noise throughout the park.
Our site was large but not very private. We were right across from the comfort station which was convient to use the washroom but the downside was there was always a traffic at all hours of the day and night. I will never book a site that close to the comfort station again.
This park did not have a pet exercise area, but if you wanted to take your dog for a swim the boat launch was a great area. The water was pretty shallow there and a lot of dogs were running around and playing fetch. The day use beach was beautiful. It had a large picnic area with tons of tables and charcoal bbq pits. There was also a comfort station with flush toilets and a water station. We were able to launch the kayak right from the beach and head out onto the Ottawa River.
This park did offer some great wildlife sightings. Kaidence spotted a woodpecker while hiking the Carp Trail and a deer on our way to the beach. While we were out paddling on Sunday afternoon we saw tons of turtles sunbathing on the rocks. Paddling through where the Carp River meets the Ottawa river was very rocky. I’m not sure how motor boats make it though this area. We actually got our tandem kayak stuck on a rock and Kaidy had to get out and push us off the rocks and then swim back to the kayak where Kenny had to pull her back in.
This park had a store that sold souvenirs as well as a few camp and grocery essentials. You were able to rent canoes and kayaks from the store. The park store also served Kawartha Dairy ice cream so Moose tracks was a must for all of us on Saturday after our hike!
Overall, this park was very small and didn’t offer the type of camping that we personally enjoy. I like to be secluded in my campsite and I like to have longer hiking trails. You never really know what you are going to get when you camp at Ontario Parks, but I do always enjoy the adventure of finding out what is in store when we arrive.
Until next time,
Happy Camping 🏕️
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