camping ontario

It's now easier to find and book a camping experience in Ontario

With camping finally making a comeback this weekend in Ontario parks as one of the permitted activities under Step 1, many people may already be scrambling to reserve a site.

Camp spots tend to fill up fast at popular parks, including Sandbanks Provincial Park, as reservations can be made up to five months in advance.

Hipcamp may make things easier.

The online booking platform for outdoor stays has just launched in Canada, allowing travellers to choose from hundreds of tent camping, cabin, glamping, placs to park your RV and treehouse listings throughout the country. 

Founded in 2013, the San Francisco-based company has partnered with Canadian camping startup Pitched for their Canadian launch. The concept is similar to Airbnb, with hosts being able to rent out their property to guests.

"For some time, we've seen that demand for outdoor experiences in Canada has outpaced supply," said Hipcamp founder Alyssa Ravasio in a press release. "So we're excited that today we're able to offer Canadians a new way to recreate responsibly during the pandemic — in the great Canadian outdoors." 

So far, about 600 Canadian hosts have listed their properties to Hipcamp's global community with the majority of listings available in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.

Many hosts also offer extras, including farm-to-table meals, yoga, boating and horseback riding.

Search for something around Algonquin, for instance, and you'll find listings as cheap as $25 a night, and as much as $500 (for a rather luxurious-looking cabin-cum-chalet – Hipcampers apparently have a fairly broad definition of camping).

"Bookings through the site bring economic opportunity to rural communities, and help Canadian farmers, ranchers, vintners, and other landowners create new revenue streams to conserve their land and keep it wild," reads the press release.

Hipcamp will provide full credit for any cancellations related to COVID-19 lockdowns as well.

Lead photo by

Tegan Miele


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