Finding Crown Land - Ontario
It's certainly been a little while since my last post. Things have been very busy with work. I have, however, been able to get a little bit of bush time in on a day off here and there along a walking trail near my residence. It's truely amazing how even a small patch of forestry can make such a large city seemingly vanish.
As summer rapidly approaches, and ideal camping weather is already upon us, I thought it would be a good time to share a method I commonly use when searching for new camping locations. I am not a fan of conventional campgrounds, nor do I like the idea of having to pay to camp. As a result, I spend time searching for General Use Crown Land.
General Use Crown Land is free to use land for Canadian citizens (anyone who is not a citizen must have a permit to be on the land, from what I understand). Although there is crown land across all of Canada, I am only aware of an easy way to locate it in Ontario (as that is where I live, I have not had a need as of yet to search outside of province).
The Crown Land Use Policy Atlas provides an interactive map of Ontario, allowing you to zoom in on a specific region, and using the legend (found in the "map layers" tab) you can locate areas of crown land, free for camping.
I don't use this as a stand alone tool, however, as it doesn't provide any real detail of the land. I take the information from the map, and use the coordinates with Google maps, view the location in "Satalite" mode, and get a better impression of what is in the area (river? lake? cottages?).
If I find a location that looks good, it's time for an adventure.
It's always a good idea to have back up plans when scouting locations, as they aren't aways as they appear on a computer screen.
I have used this method to find my 2 all time favorite camping spots....of which I won't be sharing the locations, lol.
Enjoy, and I hope you find this of use and value.
Happy Camping!
