The best camping near Pancake Bay Provincial Park

Camp along a sheltered bay where Voyageur paddlers traversed centuries ago. With 476 campsites and five yurts stretched along a three-kilometre, white-sand beach, Pancake Bay Provincial Park is a prime summertime spot with hiking loops and a plethora of wildlife. On the 3.5-kilometre Nature Trail, a boardwalk straddles a vast marshland home to bald eagles, loons, and sandhill cranes. The bike-friendly Lookout Trail (14 kilometres) features lush sugar maples and a panoramic lake view where the legendary SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in 1975—don’t miss the sunset from Edmund Fitzgerald Lookout.

• Best for group camping: On the west end of the campground, five beachside group sites host up to 40 people each. Water taps, vault toilets, and a comfort station are within walking distance.
• Best for panoramic lake views: Hilltop Campground is perched on a little hill above the campground and is also more private than the other campgrounds.
• Best for hiking access: Sites numbered in the 400s, on the farthest east side of the park, are near the area’s two hiking trails.

1. Grab a lakefront site if they’re available—the roadside sites near Highway 17 can get noisier.
2. Reservations open via Ontario Parks five months in advance of arrival. Holiday weekends fill up fast with nearby Sault Ste. Marie residents. 
3. Opt for a non-electrical site to improve your chances of getting a site.

This park is only open between May 7 and October 12. Spring and fall offer the best chance at fishing—it isn’t uncommon to see people casting their lines in hip-height gators. By mid-September, the sugar maples, red oak, and yellow birch are changing into a fiery tapestry, making for awesome hiking.

• Canoeing in the sheltered Batchawana Bay is easygoing but can become windy and unpredictable north of the bay as one paddles into Lake Superior. 
• Dumping and water stations are a bit far from campsites. Be sure to pick up water on the way into the park. 
• The beach has a dog area and is less crowded than most park beaches.