Balsam Lake Provincial Park never disappoints! This was our second visit to this park with our first in 2010. A lot has changed in those six years! Gone is our 26 foot Spree and our 2006 Dodge Ram! The park has grown up a lot since then, or maybe it’s my memory that has failed me. I don’t remember the trees and tight turns on the campground roads. Our site was a pull thru with a “moderate” pad slope but of course the photos on the park website did not really show how moderate the slope was! We arrived on Thursday night with not much daylight to spare, but got it set up and leveled before dark.
Here are more photos of our campsite:
Friday we really didn’t do a lot as the cool wind kept us off the water. I wanted to hike some trails but never got around to that either. We had a lot of friends camping at Balsam Lake this weekend as it was the location for our RVing in Canada Facebook groups Fall potluck! It was nice to relax at camp and visit with everyone.
Saturday was the day of the potluck, so preparing the site kept us busy. Here are some photos from the potluck:
Sunday we finally got our kayaking! It was warm on the water with the beautiful sun shining and no wind to speak of. We paddled around Balsam Lake for a while with our friends Derek and Tatjana. They had to leave for home earlier than us, so we stayed out on the water a little longer. Dave fished, but I just toured around. It was fun and a beautiful way to spend half a day! Here are some photos:
We had a great time at Balsam Lake! It was so nice to have both the Friday and the Monday off work. The additional days stretched the weekend out nicely! As always, it was so nice to see camping friends again at the potluck. Some of which we don’t see that often. If you’re following this blog, here’s the link to my RVing in Canada Facebook page!
So, for my review of Balsam Lake. The campground we were in – Lakeshore Central was mostly pull thru sites with no privacy. The sites were large enough, but if you have a big rig, watch out for the trees! Also, sites 83 – 92 are on a pad slope ranging from moderate to severe as you go further down the road from #83. Sites 502 – 513 were lakefront and very nice, but few would fit our 36′ fifth wheel. We did not use the comfort stations, so I really can’t comment on how clean they were, but Ontario Parks usually does really well with this. They were very accommodating in getting us extra tables for the potluck and seemed very friendly. Last visit to the park we hiked one trail, this time we didn’t hike any. Yes, we’d return again but I think next time we’ll bring our power boat and cover more ground fishing in Balsam Lake. It’s a pretty lake and makes for a nice paddle! This time around I didn’t hear any loons like I did back in 2010 but the night sky was still as spectacular as ever! So clear we could see the milky way!
Here are some links:
https://goo.gl/photos/1QZ7QyHRtj9nDFJWA
Sue and Daves RV Adventures 