Killbear -- Lighthouse Point

Killbear was wonderful. We ended up staying for five nights and had a great time. There are plenty of swimming areas, good hiking trails, well-treed sites, and an interesting visitor centre. The naturalists were all very helpful and knowledgeable. They have fun children's programs running almost every day throughout the summer. And everything is well-marked and signposted so you can easily find your way around the park.

The beaches are all sandy, so if sand's not your jam, you might be disappointed. Great for kids who want to dig and build sand castles. Less good for people like me who hate how it clings and gets into everything. I much prefer rocky shorelines.

The water can be cold as it is Georgian Bay. That said, it wasn't too bad this year. Surface temperatures were around 20°C, give or take. And the weather was sunny and warm, so it didn't take too long to warm up again even if you did get a bit chilly in the water.

If you like to be on the water rather than in it, Georgian Bay is a great place for boating and paddle boarding. I saw lots of canoes, kayaks, and sailboats while we were there. Quite a few people had hauled their sailboats to the campground to go sailing off the Lighthouse Point beach. We also saw a few stand-up paddleboards, although they didn't seem to be as popular as the various boats.

I'm not really that interested in the water when I can't be diving, or at least snorkeling, so my primary focus was on the hiking trails. We managed to do all three of Killbear's hiking trails during our stay (some of them multiple times). We skipped the 6km "recreational trail" as it simply runs parallel to the main park road and acts as a thoroughfare for cyclists and pedestrians since they aren't supposed to be on the main road.

I really enjoyed all three trails. The Kidlet particularly liked the Lighthouse Point trail as it was short and easily accessible from our campsite and involved some fun scrambling over huge rocks as well as pretty views of the bay and some of the nearby islands. I think the Lookout Point trail was probably my favourite. It was a nice length (3.5km) with a beautiful view at the halfway point and relaxing walking through hemlock forests and wetlands. It even featured a couple Indian Pipe flowers along the way (which have always held a special fascination for me).

The Campground

I really like the Lighthouse Point campground. It's all the way at the tip of the tiny peninsula the park is located on. It's radio-free and all the campsites are unserviced, so it's a relatively quite campground filled with mostly tent campers (and a few people with small trailers). The campground uses a simple layout and is easy to navigate. And, just in case you do manage to get turned around, everything is also well-signposted.

The campground features a comfort station with flush toilets, showers, and full laundry facilities as well as several sets of vault toilets. Water spigots are located at frequent intervals throughout the campground. And each campsite seems to have not one, but two picnic benches! (I got quite spoiled by this during our stay.)

It's a short easy walk to the beach and the Lighthouse Point trail from the campground. If you have a bike with you, the recreational trail gives you easy access to the rest of the park. (If you don't have a bike with you, you can still use the recreational trail, it'll just be a bit slower.)

Loaner life jackets and firewood are both available from the Harold Point gatehouse. Firewood is $8.50/bag. I don't believe kindling is available. Sometimes you'll luck out and get some smaller pieces in your bag of firewood, but sometimes you get mostly huge logs. Also, the second bag I bought from them was pretty damp and didn't burn as well as I would've liked. Firewood is also available for sale at several locations outside the park. The Detour Store sells both firewood and kindling and claims to have the best, driest, longest burning firewood around Killbear. They charge $9.00/bag for their firewood, but I will say it was very dry and did burn extremely well.

I've stayed at the Granite Saddle campground before (probably ~25 years ago now) and I have very fond memories of that as well. If I recall correctly, it had slightly easier access to the beach. That said, Lighthouse Point didn't exactly require an arduous trek and I quite enjoyed its location at the end of the road. And the presence of a comfort station was a big plus for the Kidlet. I guess it depends on what you're after and what your priorities are, but I'd certainly be happy to stay at Lighthouse Point again. Especially if I could grab the same site we had this time! It was great!

The Sites

I booked this trip pretty late (only about 2 months out), so a lot of the sites were already booked up for our dates. That said, I'm really happy with where we ended up! We got site 1197 and it was great! It was nice and shady. Not too far from the comfort station. And it had a convenient spot to hang both the clothes line and the water filter.

The ground was flat and dry, but still soft enough to easily drive the tent pegs in by hand. And yet it wasn't so soft or loose that they felt like they'd shift once they were in. Basically, it looked and felt like the ideal place to be pitching a tent. Easy to set up, but seemed secure once you'd done it.

Originally I'd only booked us into Killbear for two nights. I ended up going out to the park office on (what was supposed to be) our last morning and asking to book three more nights. Miraculously, we were able to stay on 1197 for an extra night. But after that we had to move to 1185 for our remaining two nights. 1185 was fine, but I definitely liked 1197 a lot better.

1185 was fine. I was a bit closer to the comfort station and the nearest water spigot. That said, it was also a lot sunnier and more open. The ground was sandier and the site had fewer trees and less privacy. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't as good as 1197.