Great Parks of Ontario

Conservation Ontario

Ontario has 36 Conservation Authorities that have a combined total of over 300 Conservation Areas. Most of the conservation area are free to enjoy, while some of the more organized area may charge for admittance. Some even include campgrounds. For a complete list of all of Ontario's Conservation Authorities, you can visit the following excellent links:

http://www.conservation-ontario.on.ca/about/CAs.html

http://www.out-there.com/ca00ont.htm

Ontario Provincial Parks

Ontario Provincial Park system is one that we can all be proud of. Ontario has a total of 280 provincial parks encompassing 7.1 million hectares or almost 9 percent of the province's area. Over 9 million visitors annually enjoy Ontario Parks.

http://www.ontarioparks.com

Ontario Crown Land

Crown land makes up about 87 per cent of Ontario's land mass, or 937,000 square kilometres. Most of the Crown land in Ontario is administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources, a provincial agency.

Although the use of crown land varies widely, as photographers and outdoor enthusiasts, we are free to use and enjoy most of it. Those of us who like to go out and enjoy nature and the wilderness have to share it with those who enjoy killing wildlife. Then there is also those who are permitted to use the land for business like logging and mining industry. But, then again, some provincial parks and conservation areas allow hunters and loggers too.

Ontario’s Crown land provides the opportunity for many outdoor recreational activities including hiking, nature appreciation, photography, canoeing, kayaking and camping. Residents of Canada may camp free of charge on Crown land for up to 21 days at any one site, except where posted otherwise.

For a list of crown land areas and the allowed activity, visit the Crown Land Use Atlas at: http://crownlanduseatlas.mnr.gov.on.ca/index.html

For other Crown land information you can visit http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr/crownland

Much of Ontario is inaccessible as areas we are not allowed to enter or areas that we should not enter. However, In Ontario, we are blessed with and abundance of Park Areas.