Oastler Lake Provincial Park
Oastler Lake Provincial Park
3.5
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3.5
106 reviews
Excellent
18
Very good
33
Average
29
Poor
14
Terrible
12
nickelcitygirl
Sudbury, Canada696 contributions
Sept 2022
We had a one-night stay at Oastler Lake on a weekend in mid-September. We often camp in June or September, what we consider to be non-peak times, so we usually don't book in advance and typically the parks have availability. We checked availability online the day we were planning to stay here and saw that there were only 3 sites available, so we made a reservation. Good thing we did because when we arrived, the park was totally full for the night, so I recommend booking further in advance than we did! There are a mix of sites at this park, all sizes and shapes, some with a view of the water. Our site was small and not very private (but average privacy according to the website) and it was in close proximity to other sites. We like a wooded, private site so we were disappointed, but that’s what happens when you book at the last minute! In the evening, we took our chairs to the beach, which was a really short walk from our site, and watched a beautiful sunset. There were quite a few people out kayaking and fishing. Seems to be a great spot for families. The night we were there, the comfort station toilets in the women’s were quite disgusting; there seemed to be some issue with toilets not flushing properly. My husband reported that the men’s was clean, though. There are trains close by and we were warned of this when we booked. Lots of highway noise as well as noise from train horns. Cell reception was good.
Written August 18, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hayley
Hamilton, Canada16 contributions
Jul 2020 • Family
We were lucky enough to get a site (400) for a 3 night stay leading into the Civic Holiday weekend (Thuraday to Sunday).
The Good: The site was nice and privacy was decent. We backed on to the dog beach which was a really nice part of the lake to swim in and the kids loved it. Like others have noted, the trains can be heard at all hours. However, we slept fine and the noise didnt bother us overnight. The lake was beautiful and warm and we spent the days swimming and canoeing.
The Bad: Our only complaint for our trip related to inconsiderate camper's. On the Friday night, people at a nearby site were loud (playing music till 1:30am), shone headlights from the car into our tent till midnight, continually yelled and crashed around till 4:30am. This was the first time in 16 years that my husband had to file a noise complaint. During the day on Saturday the noise level in the park was even worse. While I understand people want to enjoy themselves, a little consideration for those around you goes a long way. Particularly at night when there are lots of families around.
Overall: We loved the park and will definitely return again. Next time we will try for either mid week or a quieter time.
The Good: The site was nice and privacy was decent. We backed on to the dog beach which was a really nice part of the lake to swim in and the kids loved it. Like others have noted, the trains can be heard at all hours. However, we slept fine and the noise didnt bother us overnight. The lake was beautiful and warm and we spent the days swimming and canoeing.
The Bad: Our only complaint for our trip related to inconsiderate camper's. On the Friday night, people at a nearby site were loud (playing music till 1:30am), shone headlights from the car into our tent till midnight, continually yelled and crashed around till 4:30am. This was the first time in 16 years that my husband had to file a noise complaint. During the day on Saturday the noise level in the park was even worse. While I understand people want to enjoy themselves, a little consideration for those around you goes a long way. Particularly at night when there are lots of families around.
Overall: We loved the park and will definitely return again. Next time we will try for either mid week or a quieter time.
Written August 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Matt F
Barrie, Canada3 contributions
Jul 2020
Site 205 was our first site of our stay and it was fantastic. Great views and a walk down the rocks to the water. Great to be able to sit out and night and see the stars. The park is kind of small and as a result feels very crowded. There is very little privacy for any site in the who park. If we went back I would only stay on 205 otherwise it’s too much of a slope (201, 202, 203, 204). The beach was fine for swimming and wasn’t too crowded during COVID. We rented a kayak which was not too expensive - $20 for 2 hours - and went around the point so my 14 year old could rock jump into the lake. The sites on the point are walk in only.
Written August 1, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andrew B
1 contribution
Aug 2022
I'm reading a lot about the train noise and yes its a little too much some days but quite frankly it pales in comparison to the over active maintenance crews bombing around on ATV's and excessive use of leaf blowers. Ranger didn't seem too fussed when I talked to him. Borderline indifferent. We were there for an entire week for a little R&R but didn't find this park particularly peaceful. Dog beach and park are actually great for young families or a social setting BUT if you want some serenity, recommend avoiding this park. Quieter in the city!
Written September 7, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mayberry1964
Toronto11 contributions
Sept 2021
We had a lovely campsite on the river and enjoyed our camping experience.
We were fully aware of the train noise and went to the park with a positive attitude.
As it turns out, we had fun listening and waiting for the train to travel by.
We canoed on the lake a couple of times and really enjoyed the serene beauty of the treed areas and the wildlife. We had buckets of rain while camping and this too is part of a camping experience. Go with an open mind and pick the campsite which best suits you, then have a good time.
We were fully aware of the train noise and went to the park with a positive attitude.
As it turns out, we had fun listening and waiting for the train to travel by.
We canoed on the lake a couple of times and really enjoyed the serene beauty of the treed areas and the wildlife. We had buckets of rain while camping and this too is part of a camping experience. Go with an open mind and pick the campsite which best suits you, then have a good time.
Written September 10, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Roger Strikewell
Bowmanville, Canada1 contribution
Jul 2020 • Friends
We got fined for having a “messy” site. The park wardens showed up when some of the people on our site were away from the site at the time. Some people on our site were in the tent but were never alerted by the wardens they were there. The people who were away from the site cleaned up the entire site when they got back without notice from the wardens. The park wardens showed back up later and gave a fine for $155 dollars when the site has now been cleaned and without even a warning before hand. This was one of our favourite parks to visit but you can guarantee we will never come back here.
Written August 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HPol P
Toronto, Canada212 contributions
Jul 2020
If new to camping then this is a good small park but with few amenities. No showers. Lake is small and can be paddled around in about 2 hours, about 5 miles. Lake has many private cottages and a few motorboats and jet skis whizzing around. Tent pads are good size and mix of rock and other thin soil enough for pegs. Good size bag of wood available to purchase. Canoe limited , lots of plastic kayaks for rent. A small unofficial cliff jumping area is a popular site. And then the trains at night.
Written July 27, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
canuhead
Perth, Canada60 contributions
Jul 2020
We are 40 year campers but this was our first time in Oaster PP. It is a lovely setting, with sites well treed and rocky gorgeous views of the lake. However, even though the sites are well treed, there is little privacy. Our site, #140, was attached to another site and overlooked by still another. We did have a nice little sitting area right on the lake so we could swim from there, nice when you have a dog, which is not allowed on the beach area, however, it is a steep decent down to that area.
The showers were closed due to COVID, which is understandable, the toilet facilities in the comfort station was open and fine but the flush toilets near to our site were filthy. Now part of that was the campers (a lot of groups, large families and starter campers) but some has to be on the cleaners for the park.
There is one car limit on sites, the usual, but there were two cars on many of the sites so I was getting a mixed message there. The trains, which seem to be a concern for many reviewers here, don't bother us. It is hard to camp in Northern Ontario without the train whistles and I actually find them soothing.
A fine park but not really planning on going back, maybe for fall camping when there is less people, maybe not.
The showers were closed due to COVID, which is understandable, the toilet facilities in the comfort station was open and fine but the flush toilets near to our site were filthy. Now part of that was the campers (a lot of groups, large families and starter campers) but some has to be on the cleaners for the park.
There is one car limit on sites, the usual, but there were two cars on many of the sites so I was getting a mixed message there. The trains, which seem to be a concern for many reviewers here, don't bother us. It is hard to camp in Northern Ontario without the train whistles and I actually find them soothing.
A fine park but not really planning on going back, maybe for fall camping when there is less people, maybe not.
Written July 30, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ashley K
Niagara Falls, Canada31 contributions
Jul 2024 • Couples
We booked a night completely last minute. We live less than an hour away and have a camper van. Ended up at a very nice site adjacent to the lake. Had a fire and enjoyed our evening. Bathrooms were clean in our experience. We did see that some of the sites in other areas were crammed pretty tight which would not be ideal. Our site was relatively close to others and not really private but we still had lots of spaced. Negative feedback is that trains, dogs and highway noise were prevalent during our stay. We still slept fine but the train did wake us up a few times in the night. Our site also had a lot of litter from previous campers. However we enjoyed our time and would probably come back given location and lake.
Written July 8, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kat
2 contributions
Aug 2021
We spent two nights in site 403.
It wasn't bad at first, nice and close to the dog beach which I found to have a calmer feel and nicer scenery than the main beach.
The first time we heard the train it was cute, by the second night at 3 am as it barreled by with the horn blaring every 2 seconds we'd had enough.
The washrooms need a big update and to be cleaned more thoroughly and more frequently.
Site privacy was not a thing, but not a huge deal breaker.
Also was told only one car allowed on site but multiple people around us had 2 cars at their sites and I wasn't thrilled being that we paid to park our second vehicle in the extra parking.
If you can camp elsewhere, do it.
It wasn't bad at first, nice and close to the dog beach which I found to have a calmer feel and nicer scenery than the main beach.
The first time we heard the train it was cute, by the second night at 3 am as it barreled by with the horn blaring every 2 seconds we'd had enough.
The washrooms need a big update and to be cleaned more thoroughly and more frequently.
Site privacy was not a thing, but not a huge deal breaker.
Also was told only one car allowed on site but multiple people around us had 2 cars at their sites and I wasn't thrilled being that we paid to park our second vehicle in the extra parking.
If you can camp elsewhere, do it.
Written August 9, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Matt Y
Guelph, Canada
Is it worth bringing bikes for kids? Are there trails or paths to ride? Are washrooms very spread out?
Written June 27, 2020
How do I reserve a canoe for interior camping? telephone #? rates? times for pick-up/ return? Thank you. I am not having much luck finding this info for Oastler on the internet.
Written August 13, 2018
What's the best waterfront campsite? All I want is waterfront, doesn't matter where...
Written May 22, 2018
Just booked ... 1st time camping at this park ... is there a store? I'm reading a lot about train noise .. but it's from older posts .. is it still an issue ? How is the dog area? We booked hardwood hill campground.
Written March 10, 2018
Hey! I’ve been to Oastler Lake a couple years ago for a weekend and there is a park store. The train went buy a few times but you get use to it and barely notice it (if you’re a super light sleeper earplugs may come in handy but I only heard it once throughout the night). The dog beach isn’t huge but it works well for all dogs, we brought our lab/Bernese mix and there was more than enough room for her a several other big dogs to run and swim. Perks is if you keep walking up to the right of the dog beach there is a nice cliff to jump off of. We definitely enjoyed Oastler Lake as we’re going again this weekend coming. Hopes this helps!
Written August 8, 2018
Danielle M
New Brunswick, Canada
How much are the canoe rentals? is there anywhere to fish from the shore?
thanks in advance.
Written August 16, 2017
The canoe/kayak are $20 for two hours. There were children fishing but I'm not sure what they were catching.
Written August 17, 2017
sachva1
Innisfil, Canada
How's the beach area? Any picnic tables? Any washrooms? Is there a snack bar? Can we bbq? Not camping because we booked at the travellers hotel. We are getting too old for tents ;) but our kids 20's want to camp there and meet up there. Tks ;) Sabrina
Written February 27, 2017
Beach area is nice! Beautiful view! Yes for picnic tables! Washrooms are a little walk. No snack bar. Can't see why you can't BBQ
Written March 4, 2017
Both. The ones with showers are flush. Outhouses are dump
Written December 15, 2016
All sites at Oastler are nice and flat with easy access to comfort stations and a sandy beach. It is hard to go wrong at Oastler. I am sure you will enjoy your stay.
Written August 10, 2016
hi has anyone stayed in site number 7 on the beachside ?
Written August 18, 2015
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