Parry Sound KOA

We camped at Parry Sound KOA for a long weekend in September. It was one of the few private parks we tried last year. I was looking for something in the Parry Sound area and it was a toss up between the KOA and the Trailside Carefree Resort. In the end, we chose the KOA. The site we booked was a back in with a fairly decent amount of privacy.

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We arrived at the park on a Friday and after getting set up, decided to check out the numerous public boat launches in the area. We didn’t bring our kayaks this trip being late fall. It worked out well as a prevailing NW wind would have kept us off the water. From the KOA, there is a public boat launch about 15 minutes away on Rankin Lake. There is a dock and a fairly large parking lot at this location. When I say 15 minutes away from the park, that’s walking! It made a great spot to take your morning coffee and look at the water! Next up was a public boat launch at Foley Matheson Park on Little Otter Lake. This park had washrooms, a beach and a nice playground. This would also be a great place to kayak! The third launch located close to the KOA was a public launch on Oastler Lake. No facilities here to speak of, just a dock. Another great place to kayak in the future! Here are some photos of the launches.

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We didn’t do a lot Friday, just some local touring and a lot of relaxing at camp. I made a new campfire recipe – Chicken Sausage & Potatoes in my cast iron skillet. It was pretty good! Definitely a “one pot meal”!

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I stayed up late on Friday night. It was just so peaceful and quiet at the campground! There are a variety of different sites at this park with the back in ones being more private. I was pretty satisfied with our site. The many large trees prevented a good sky view, but if I really wanted a great sky view, Rankin Lake launch was only 15 minutes away!

Saturday we woke to cooler temperatures and a stiff wind. We had a lot planned for the day! One of the first things we did was take a trip to Parry Sound to climb the lookout tower. What a spectacular view!

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After visiting the Parry Sound lookout tower, we had a boat to catch! I had reserved tickets ahead of time for an afternoon cruise aboard the Island Queen out of Parry Sound. The cruise was a scenic three hours spent touring the many islands and historical sites of the area. What an incredible experience! We divided our time between outside on the deck and inside due to the cold NW wind! This area is so beautiful and I can’t wait to do some kayaking here! I would absolutely recommend taking the time to take this cruise. It was well worth the time and money!

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We headed back to camp late afternoon after the boat cruise was over. It was nice to spend the rest of the evening relaxing around a campfire and just enjoying each others company. We cooked another one of our favorite campfire treats – Bacon Skewers! It was a fun night of relaxing.

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Our stay at the Parry Sound KOA was enjoyable! We found the park to be clean and very well run. The staff was friendly and helpful and the sites plenty large and private. Of course there are some areas of the park where the sites have much less privacy, such as the pull thrus, but that’s to be expected. For a private park, we were impressed. The park was busy but quiet the entire time we were camped here. The owners were always out patrolling and delivering campfire wood. The camp store was pretty comprehensive and had pretty much anything I’d think anyone would want or need. We would absolutely stay here again! It was nice that so many boat launches were located so close to the park. So here are a few photos of the park: