Killbear Provincial Park is located about 20 minutes north of Parry Sound, Ontario along Georgian Bay. The area is known for its 30,000 islands, the clear lovely water, and the topography which was captured so brilliantly by Group of Seven artists like Tom Thomson. Parry Sound is also the birthplace of hockey legend Bobby Orr and a great classical music festival called Festival of the Sound. I am always in awe of the raw beauty of northern Ontario and am captivated by the beauty of the rock formations.
Unfortunately, beech bark disease has hit the park and over 6,000 beech trees have had to be felled this spring leaving some campsite areas looking more like a clear-cut zone. It will take years for these spots to redefine themselves. Our original site was in one of those areas and when we arrived we were lucky enough to be offered an alternative site which ended up being fantastic. Fire crews were still working areas to try and get everything done before the main camping season hits. The problem with the diseased trees is that they can snap off at any time so for safety reasons they must be removed.
This photo shows a portion of the felled trees in a quarantined zone at the day beach area - it is amazing and distressing at the same time ... I am standing with our dog in the middle of the parking lot surrounded by the huge pile of logs.
Wildlife abounds - deer, raccoon, chipmunks and supposedly bear - although we did not encounter any on this trip.
And our dog loved the trails plus there were two dog exercise areas to choose from!
And this time of year (before the kids get out of school) the campground was very quiet. Only on the Friday night did it really get busy and noisy. For the most part it was just perfect.
