It was difficult to book a spot initially due to the reservation opening date being pushed back because of covid. The spot we had was very nice (268 Tamarack). It was quiet (radio free as well) and fairly private. The roads along the campgrounds are quite narrow, difficult to maneuver two vehicles past each other. The bathrooms were clean and well stocked. The water coming out of the water stations was yellow-ish. I didn’t see any signs warning against drinking it, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Although there were many signs warning of snakes, we luckily did not encounter any. We did encounter many mosquitoes which is to be expected. Make sure you have your fly spray out and ready and to get it on you BEFORE you start setting up your campsite, otherwise you will be eaten alive by the time you’re finished.
The firewood we purchased at the park was awful, and created an extremely smokey campfire. You cannot bring your own wood, and must purchase it locally (at the park) so we had no choice but to use their crappy wood. The showers remain closed due to covid as well, but they give you a “shower refund” when you register so that was appreciated.
It rained the entire time we were at our campsite which is obviously out of control of the park, but it still sucked, so much that we packed up a day early and went home. We also had booked a glass bottom boat tour in Tobermory which was also cancelled due to the rain. There doesn’t seem to be much to do for kids, it’s a pretty plain park, so pack something to keep the kids occupied.
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Date of stay: July 2021Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Fly spray
Bring stuff for kids
Park wood sucks
Don’t drink the water
Apparently watch out for...
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We were able to get a spot at the poplars campground at Cyprus Lake from Sunday to Wednesday second week of September. Be advised when you arrive and check in they will charge you an additional fee for addmittance to the park and all the sites. It was an extra $50 we hadn't budgeted. The campsite was nice but quite close to the other campsites. The campground was pretty much booked out even this late in the season. Unfortunately, the first night, a Sunday night, a group decided to party late and we had to call the warden in order to get some sleep. The advantage is you can walk to the Grotto and Bruce Trail from the campground without time restriction or need to book parking. The showers give you two times 5 min then you have to wait for it to reset. I had to run to another shower to wash the soap off. It would have been nice to have a sign giving you a warning how much time you have. We had a good time but I can just imagine how crazy it would be there in the summer months on weekends....
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Date of stay: September 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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.
Amazing glamping experience at Cyprus Lake Campground in Bruce Peninsula National Park. These pictures and map will give you a better idea of what one to book, as they all offer different advantages.
Yurt 1-3 back onto a great common grassy area that would be advantageous for families with young ones. Notice the deck placements, and distance from the water on each as this may also factor in your booking. We stayed in yurt 9 with a greater distance from the parking lot/comfort station, and the trail there included a small gravel hill. This yurt was perfectly nestled in the trees and you could not see your neighbours, which on our anniversary get away was exactly what we wanted! Yurt 10 would be the same, just a little further away from the waters edge.
The comfort station was for yurts only and required a pass code to enter. Extremely clean washrooms, showers, washing stations, and even a place to charge your devices in a locked bin! They thought of everything!
All food is brought to your yurt by wagon and has to be stored in a food locker not far from your yurt. There is also a shared picnic shelter for all yurts to use.
Camping on Cyprus Lake has the HUGE perk of having access to the Grotto by hiking trails, otherwise you have to pay for parking and also have a 4 hour window to visit. There are 3 trails to the Grotto ranging from a wide easy gravel trail, to a more advanced rock/tree root hike. From the yurts, it's about a 45min hike to the Grotto.
Yurts are the perfect way to enjoy camping in the cooler weather. They stay plenty warm at night with the wood stove! One thing I would bring second time around would be a fitted sheet for the double/queen bed to cover the plastic mattress. It was a very comfortable mattress though!
This was a perfect way to spend our anniversary!!
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Date of stay: October 2019Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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.
i have camped across Canada and this is the stupidest campground I have encountered, private, municipal, or provincially run.
First, a 40 min wait in line to get the permit only to be told the I have to leave the campground to fill the water tank at the dumping station. No sign to indicate this outside the campground.
Then a “ban” on alcohol and cannabis outside specific hours. (Not to mention a total ”ban” on holiday weekends. They can’t provide appropriate security so responsible adults suffer.
The showers are ridiculous. You get to press the button twice for a weak stream of tepid water. And there is only one shower facility for the entire place.
The site assigned is extremely small even though they claim it is suitable for my size trailer. Be very cautious with their website information!
The setting is glorious. Well worth a day trip but you would be better at a provincial or private campground. This one is awful.
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Date of stay: June 2024
Value
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
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.
We tent camped in Tamarack for 5 nights. Although it is a radio-free site, we heard music occasionally which was not problematic. We arrived after the July long weekend. The park has an alcohol ban for all long weekends during the summer. We found campers respectful with no loud parties and drunken yelling for our stay. There are black bears, coyotes (you can hear them howling at night) and fox. There were no sightings during our stay. Campers kept their sites uninviting and there are bear proof disposals and recycling at the check in and throughout the trails. The sites are gorgeous with some offering excellent privacy with lots of trees and shade. Some sites with less but definitely spaced out well. There are no shower facilities (except if you rent a yurt) so we purchased a $10 camp shower from Canadian Tire. It was awesome at the end of hot day of hiking. You can also go outside the park to a place called Roxy’s. They have pay showers.
I read some articles that stated that bicycles are not allowed in the park. This is only partially true as you can ride on the multi-use trail as well as throughout the park. No bikes are allowed on designated trails so if you are an avid mountain cyclist this is not the place to go however if you are into hiking it is.
We definitely recommend for those who can to hike to the Grotto from Cypress Lake as there is a 4 hour parking limit and it is first come first serve. The hike to the Grotto is easy to moderate and it’s about 2-3 km depending on where you start. The Grotto is gorgeous and the water is very cold but refreshing if you can stand it and go out for a swim. You can walk past the Grotto and there is another rock beach with much less people. It is quite rocky and more of an intermediate climb down. It is extremely beautiful.
Cypress Lake is a small shallow lake with crystal clear warm waters. There is a designated beach however there are a few entry points around the lake which beautiful and private for swimming. The beach is not supervised. There is also a 6km hike around the lake which is beautiful with resting benches and lookouts.
We also visited Singing Sands on the Lake Huron side just down Dorcas Bay Road outside of the park. This beach is awesome for those with young ones. You can walk out very far, the water is warm and shallow. They have a designated pay parking area however if you are staying in Bruce Peninsula Park your camping pass will suffice. This beach has lots of grassy marshy areas so bring chairs or a waterproof blanket. There are change rooms and washrooms.
We would definitely go back to Cypress Lake.
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Date of stay: July 2018Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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.
The park, shoreline, grotto and trails are AMAZING!!
Have camped here twice. Sights are variable size, nice fire pits, picnic tables (look at Tamarack for more privacy). Bathrooms are upgraded vault toilets and cold water - no showers.
Purchase firewood offsite because the park firewood both times has NOT BEEN SEASONED and DID NOT BURN :(. We even returned it for new bundle to no avail. Very disappointing.
Overall, great spot to be.
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Date of stay: July 2017
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
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.
I have been camping for years and have always wanted to visit Tobermory and see the beautiful scenery. This year we decided to make the trip. We choose the last week of school to beat the crowds. When we arrived it was unclear to what the cost was. We were charged per day which was fine but they also charge you a daily fire permit charge of $14.00. Ok, they do give you free fire wood but good luck finding anything dry. It was all soaked and very hard to light a fire. We even went to the other camp to get wood and it was just as bad. We eventually bought some out on the highway which burned very well.
We choose a site in the last row by the lake. Which was nice but the sites are so close together you can hear your neighbours fart when they are sleeping. Nothing in between to give a bit of privacy. We used the trees to make a cloths line but don’t expect any privacy. The site was not leveled and hard to find a spot for our tent. Not all were like this but most are.
The new bathrooms were nice but the ones by the sites have no light inside or out so bring a flashlight. I know there is no power but solar lights are not expensive and economical for this type of situation.The toilet paper dispenser is so low to the ground you have to be carful as you can’t even pull out enough to wipe your butt without touching the dirty floor. You will need more than usually as it’s super cheap and thin. Bring your own. Not to mention they were not vented. Now for the main bathroom with the showers. They did a nice job on these but the showers are HORRIBLE! They are nicely done but you have only 2 pushes to turn on the water then it stops and won’t turn on again. You have about 2 minutes each time, so you better move fast. Not to mention the shower head is either clogged or there is something blocking it because I pee harder than the water that comes out. You have about 2 liters of water if you’re lucky.
They also put a ban on alcohol and cannabis consumption which is unfair to the responsible adults. If they are doing this to keep things calm then those park rangers should be walking around and not driving. This will allow them to identify the trouble makers. Novice campers should understand there are others in the park and if they have dogs that bark all night and kids that cry and scream all day and night then they should consider the other people who are there. This is an open space and some of us are here to relax and enjoy nature.
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Date of stay: June 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Bring ear plugs and a mask for the abundance of camp fire smoke.
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.
It was worth the hours long journey! The views at this park are unmatched. We had a very comfortable stay. There are very few times that my partner and I get the opportunity to camp at a non-provincial park. Tobermory was my first time and it exceeded all my expectations.
Campground: The campground is quite small compared to other parks I've stayed in. Additionally, the campsites were very small, some of the smallest campsites I've ever seen. I remember watching the trailer struggle to pull through. We didn't have enough space in the campground to open the trailing awning. Although the forest of the park remains to be very beautiful. I told my partner multiple times during this trip that the campsites look like the displays at BassProShop. The trees are evenly spread apart and it feels like camping in the set of a movie.
Amenities: The washrooms and showers at Cyprus lake were as good as a day spa. The showers They're nicely designed with what looked like a really nice modern tile. Clean bathrooms, never muddy, or unkept. Staff work very hard in keeping it spotless. The surrounding area of the bathroom also operates as a multi-use area. There are picnic tables, ping-pong tables, a playground, Wi-Fi, electrical plugs all sheltered by an overhanging roof. It's a good place to spend time during a rainy day.
Because this is not a provincial park I wasn't able to purchase an official park crest, as they didn't have one. Instead I bought an unofficial park crest from one of the many souvenir shops in town. The town nearing the campground is super cute. We ate at one of the many fish & chip places, looked around in the souvenir shops. There's a small grocery store in the tourist town that sells some essentials and food items. Although I will say, the prices were very expensive. This is the only place to buy food without driving at least an hour away. For our week long stay, we had to visit this place a couple times.
The visitors center was really fun day trip. It was a small-medium educational museum mostly geared towards children. There were some sections that were still interesting to engage with. They have preserved lampreys, fur pelts of various park wildlife, taxidermy, history, interactive activities etc.
We took the boat toured the ship wrecks, hiked on flowerpot island, and swam. It's really a one of a kind experience for a camping trip in Ontario and I really recommend it if you haven't done it before.
Lake: The campground is located right by Cyprus lake. It's a small, warmer lake that is accessible from many of the campsites. We enjoyed walking over and having a swim countless times. The lake is really flat, great for canoeing and paddle boarding. There's a great hike that starts on the path surrounding Cyprus lake that leads you to Indian Head Cove. The hike is about 30 mins, flat terrain not too much climbing to do. Once at the Cove the path gets very rocky and jagged. Sneakers and water shoes are very necessary. The cove is purely a rock beach, you wont find a single grain of sand and you will need to do some climbing if you want to get in the water. The water is drop dead gorgeous. It's a beautiful tropical blue color, you wouldn't think its just a lake. But don't let the warm colored water fool you, it's ice cold! I actually found it to be very refreshing but the Cove is located on Lake Huron, one of the deeper great lakes. Swimming at the cove is unmatched though, I recommend everyone to try it at least once.
Overall, this park is such an experience. There's so many things to see and do within this park that are so unique to the park itself. I recommend really spending some time here and getting to do everything. Not to mention the stars here are amazing!
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Date of stay: July 2022
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Bring water shoes!
Bring Hiking shoes!
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.
We stayed in the national park at Cyprus Lake in a yurt and it was awesome. The yurt has a wood burning stove and bbq for cooking. There is a comfort station with flushing toilets,hot showers, dish washing sinks and charging stations. The lake is beautiful and you can hike to the grotto right from your yurt.
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Date of stay: October 2018Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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.
We had a great time this second time around. A few years ago we stayed in Tamarack campground which is the quietest one. This time we stayed in Poplars which is the medium-quiet one and we got a corner lot so nobody was around us and we were right by the trail entrances. There was a fire ban on our last night which was too bad but thats the risk you have to take. The campsites were nice a clean. The hiking within and around Cyprus lake is so nice! If you want to avoid other people just stick to the difficult trails. They aren't too difficult, just enough to keep beginners and casual strollers off the routes. We had a great time!
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Date of stay: July 2018Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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.
There are more places to choose from in the Tobermory area.
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CanadaOntarioBruce CountyTobermory
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