St Lawrence Parks - Woodlands West in a QS 8.1

[rob]

Woodlands Campground is part of the St Lawrence Parks Commission.  It is responsible for several campgrounds and tourist attractions along the St Lawrence River between Lancaster and Kingston, Ontario.  Unlike many campgrounds in the area, St Lawrence Parks have campgrounds that are directly on the river with campsites with fantastic views and access to the water.  You can literally fish, swim or canoe right from your campsite.  These sites do have some challenges and are most often without services.

http://www.stlawrenceparks.com/

Woodlands is a part of three campgrounds located along Long Sault Parkway on a group of islands.  Woodlands faces North and has two "campers only" beaches.  A larger "day use" beach is located just across the parkway.  As it faces North, the water is much calmer and warmer as it protected from the strong currents of the St Lawrence's main system.  There is plenty of wild life, so expect to be woken up by the birds at the crack of dawn.  There were plenty of young animals including baby geese, baby squirrels, baby ground hogs and even saw a baby skunk.  At this time of year, watch out because mamma and papa are not far away.  All animals seemed accustomed to having people around, though none came up to me seeking handouts.

http://www.stlawrenceparks.com/default/assets/File/Woodlands%20Maps2015%20Final_Part6.pdf

Generally speaking, when camping at any of the campgrounds of the St Lawrence Parks Commission, half of your experience will depend upon those camping around you.  Their rules are suggestions and are only enforced if there is an issue.........or a Park employee is reminded of the rules.  I have camped at five of the eight campgrounds and there have been no control access points at any of them.

I love being by the water.  The waves help me fall asleep and being able to take a early morning swim really help be re-charge.  There are several sites at Woodlands that are right along the water.  Most of course have no services.  Most are extremely sloped, making it very difficult to get a trailer leveled.  It could be an even greater challenge getting the trailer into position.  I reserved site 20.  Sites 19, 20 and 21 are the most level and include a great amount of shade.  If you need services, 173 to 181 have direct water access but are high traffic areas with very little shade or privacy.  I found 174 to be the best..................but expect to work a while at leveling.

To get my trailer into position, I simply jack knifed it, unhitched and luckily found a sweet spot (level position) simply by moving it by hand and only a couple of inches.  Thankfully the QS is so light.  I was ready to sleep in only minutes, once unhitched...................which really ticked off the WalMart campers next to me.

Bathrooms were nice and clean.  There were very few people camping in my area to be able to mess it up.

Store/office has the essentials.  A little over-priced but there is a grocery store, gas station, restaurant, Tim Horton's and several other stores only a short drive away.  The local pizza joint will also deliver to your camp site.  There is an awesome place for ice cream were the Parkway and Hwy 2 meet (Long Sault enterance).

Staff is friendly.  Being the beginning of the season some staff seemed unsure of themselves.  None appeared to be over 20 years old, so I am never sure who will attempt to enforce the rules.

Activities for children were advertised, but only begin July 1st.  They often have craft workshops and movies in the evenings (under the stars).

There is a beautiful playground by the beach with a large sheltered picnic area.

http://s94.photobucket.com/user/rwgill/slideshow/Quicksilver%2081?sort=2

[rideandfly]

Thanks for the report!  Looks like great parks to visit! Nice looking QS, too!!!!!

[rob]

It is a beautiful area and can be awesome.

As stated, half of your experience will depend on those camping around you.  Over the past three years of camping at St Lawrence Parks Campgrounds, I have had some amazing weekends and some horrible ones.  This past weekend could have only been improved if I had my canoe. 

There is a company that rents canoes and kayaks.  They make their tour of the campgrounds in the morning.  I missed them on their morning drive by.

I have been looking at solving my canoe-less camping but I may have found a solution..................but not this season.

[Paul]

Seem like a nice place I might go sometime since I am in New Brunswick it's not that far, a big drive but doable