S04E19 Bronte Creek Provincial Park Review
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- Опубліковано 14 лип 2024
- We had our annual family and friend's Thanksgiving camping weekend at Bronte Creek Provincial Park from October 7th - 10th, 2022.
Even though Bronte Creek is the closest park to where we live, we had never been there before. As usual, we biked around the entire campground shortly after our arrival. We were blown away by the fall colours and the beauty that is in this park. For a park that is in the middle of a big city, like Oakville, we couldn't believe it.
We biked and hiked around the park on the many trails. We enjoyed our time with our dog, Kingston, on the leash-free dog trails. We had a lot of fun checking out the day use area with the farm animals, Nature Center and Visitor Center. Ben and some of the "kids" did 9 holes of the professional disc golf course. The apex of our weekend was Thanksgiving dinner with our family and our friends, the Salatas and Funstons.
This is the last park review of 2022, our Season 4. In 2023 we have lots of videos coming your way leading up to our Season 5 park review videos. Stick around all winter and watch some videos to put you back in the camping mood.
CLAM Quick-Set Pavilion 12.5 x 12.5 Foot: amzn.to/3FCW9CV
00:00 Intro
02:10 Arriving at the park
04:20 Campsites
07:02 Facilities
10:05 Cycling the East Ravine Trail
11:37 Our kids and dog arriving
11:57 Campground leash-free dog trail
13:29 Cheryl's Loo Review
14:48 Day Use Area
15:48 Half Moon Valley Trail
16:27 Disc Golf
17:40 Rope descent to the creek and seeing salmon
19:21 Thanksgiving dinner
20:53 Tour of our site
21:09 Coles Notes
28:02 Park rating
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Cell Phone Service: We forgot to rate the cell phone service at this park. If you've been to this park please let us know your experience with cell service, especially if your with a service provider different from the ones mentioned.
Thank you for your fair and through evaluation/ review of Bronte Creek Provincial Park. You covered many topics and features of the park with accurate information. Thank you.
Because of this review, I took my son for his and mine’s first camping trip! We had a blast and the park is a great beginner camp ground.
Great to hear!
We are camping here now thanks to you guys!! Awesome spot to camp and see a jays game, Go train is 10 mins away
That's a great idea. The park is a good base of operations to go check out nearby stuff.
This place gets a bad rap because you can see houses from some of the sites, but I have camped there once when I lived in Toronto and didn't feel like driving 3+ hours just to camp for a couple nights - and I LOVED IT. Look at the sites, most are secluded once your car/trailer/rv is stuck in the entrance. Can't say that about most parks (certainly not the pinery, my new local...ugh). Can't wait to go back.
The quality of your videos is excellent, it's been a great season and your reviews help immensely in planning our trips. Thanks for a great season and what you do is much appreciated. Happy New Year
Glad you like them. Glad they help out with your planning. We love making them and plan to make many more. Happy new year and happy camping.
I live minutes from this park and you made me look at Bronte Creek with a different perspective. I've been there so many times but now I realize there are still lots to explore. Thanks for this great video!
That's awesome! Glad you were able to see it from an outsiders perspective. It seems like a great park for the type of park it is (in the middle of a city).
I live in Oakville but 20 minutes drive away. I agree with you as I have never been to the campsite area and now I will this weekend. The video is very well made and I sure will look at it as a guide for other Ontario parks. It also gives me a tease for that way of living. What the Coles may not know is that Oakville has very nice municipal parks all around (for free!) such as Lions Valley on the 16-Mile Creek and that is often a more natural place for me to go to. But the big praise about the dog leash free park is a surprise and will have be come back on day use.
Number ratings are hard…, weather,weather,weather,,facilities, open vs closed, fullness of park, camping neighbours, camper etiquettes etc….so really appreciate your “thoughts” and visual drive through….enjoyed this season…looking forward to the next…happy 7:00 am bookings!
The mascot is a 'soul for Cole' I camped there back in 2015. It is only a 20 minute drive from my house. I could not find a campsite that did not have a view of the houses nearby. I also wish they'd build a trail/bridge to the day use area. I did not like the idea of having to leave the park, drive on the QEW to get there. Staff at the park were awesome though.
Holy smokes, how do I not know how awesome this park is?? I lived in Oakville for more than 25 years. Now in Stoney Creek and constantly on the hunt for a good tent camping spot. This is a great early spring late fall spot. Lots of fun stuff for the kids. Will be booking a few days for sure. Great video guys, top notch.
That's kinda how we thought. Closest park to us and we never new.
Check out Selkirk, its close to you and a nice park.
You guys are amazing. Absolutely great at showing us everything we need /want to know without the nonsense. Thanks so much for these fantastic reviews
Our pleasure! Thanks for watching.
Wow great colours. Happy New Year and all the best for 2023, ride safe, Cheers Dave
Happy new year! Sorry, no Harley here, just a 2002 Honda Shadow ACE.
@@CampingwiththeColes Nothing wrong with Honda, I was a goldwing rider for a number of years. even used it to go camp with. Cheers
Yet another fabulous video! What a fabulous time of year to visit! Yay for A Provincial Park right in the middle of the most populated area in Ontario. Cheers.
Thank you so much for the awesome season! I really enjoy your videos!
Glad you like them! We love making them and plan to make many more as we continue to explore the great part of the country.
@@CampingwiththeColes Can't wait for next season!
Your mascot should be called Frank Squiving
Love watching your reviews, I always keep notes of places I want to camp at. We purchased a clam pavilion at the beginning of the season, one of our best purchases. When it's rainy or cold we put our propane fire pit in there. We get a lot of interested people stopping by.
That is awesome! A lot of people check out our friend's Clam. The Pavilion looks like a good one with the built in rain/wind shields.
Thanks for taking us along, can’t wait for next season.
Thanks for watching.
Happy New Year to the Cole family. Love watching your videos.
Happy new year!! Thanks for watching.
Thank you for another season of great videos. I watch every single one of them and they really help me when researching new parks to visit. Can’t wait to see what you get up to in 2023! Thanks again!
Glad to hear that the videos helped. Happy New Year and happy camping.
Love the review! Can't wait til next camping season!
Can't wait!
I can’t believe another season is done already. It was a great one guys.
Looking forward to the next ones you guys put out. Happy New Year to you and your Family 🎉
Thanks. Happy New Year to you as well.
We stayed there at the end of August and were surprised. It was a great spot to stay for doing things in Toronto without spending a fortune on hotels. Well worth a visit during the summer.
Good idea. The price is right and the location is great!
We were on site 130 in July. Very nice park for being in a city. We would recommend it. My cousin lives near by and didn't know that camping was available.
Great video. When my friends kids were small we would go to the day use park all the time. Have not been in years. Thanksgiving weekend looks like the prefect time to go.
We live even closer to it than you and have been there a few times. Considering its location in a developed area it does feel much more remote than one would think. From most parts of the park you can't see any tall buildings or reminders of the proximity of it to urban areas. I think that its location makes it a good park for novice campers to "get their feet wet" so to speak, it was the first place we took our new pop-up in 2012. It also seems to me that it's a good location to camp for anyone from outside of the area who want to spend some time in and around Toronto without paying for Toronto accommodation. Toronto is only about 30-40 minutes away by vehicle and about the same by GO Train.
That's a couple of good points. Great spot for a shakedown camping trip and great spot for a home base to check out TO.
thanks for this. great to find another park for a quick fall visit. Happy New Year
Happy new year!
After seeing that feast I think I’m a long lost relative that should be invited for thanksgiving dinner. Lol We have camped there in October and felt like we were the only ones. We were also surprised with it being in the city. Just not a fan of having to drive on the QEW so usually go to Turkey Point instead as it’s almost same distance and is also very quiet in late fall. We are not fans of crowded parks in the summer. So enjoy your videos. Looking forward to next season.😘🛶⛺️
As usual, watched this episode on our TV. We have great affiliation with this park. Whenever families and friends want to get together, we meet here in summers and falls. In 2022, we visited this park 3 times. Children in the entourage love farm animals and playing in the Red Pay Barn, elders love to chat, eat and take some of the 7 trails (2 in the camping area) for hiking, and my husband finds this a great place to take birds and insects shots. Yes, this park is a haven for wildlife lovers, hikers, cyclists, etc. So, naturally, I was a bit disappointed to see a low rating of 7. But then this is life.
I agree that the water based activity is limited to hiking spiraling down the Half Moon Valley trail to the Bronte Creek and have a picnic there.
We have never considered kayaking here, but I read it on the website that, "This route is ideal when water levels are between 6.10 and 6.30 m at Station 02HB011 and for canoeists and kayakers who are confident with their ability to navigate around sweepers in quick moving water. The route primarily consists of swifts around bends with a few Class I's and an occasional Class II."
We read that too about the kayaking. That's definitely not for us. We only kayak on fairly calm water. A big part of the low rating of 7 is because we can't swim or really do any other water activity there except fishing. That's a big draw back for us.
@@CampingwiththeColes Yes, agreed, we too are canoeists and boys in the family are inclined to conquer heights rather than remain on the flat terrain. All is good.
Just booked in at Bronte for Thanksgiving weekend ...looks great! 🎥❤ oh I'm going with "Larry" cause he looks a little "scary" 🤔... scary larry😮😀👋
Scary Larry eh. Thanks for the suggestion.
Awesome video
Glad you enjoyed it
Surprising but beautiful way to spend Thanksgiving with family. Only 45 mins from me, never considered it before but now it is on the list - but likely for Fall as you did. Great video and review as usual. Cheers!
Thanks for the review! Took our kids on new year's Day and they loved the play barn. Looking forward to where you will be headed in 2023!
We wish we would have known about it when our kids were little. Looks like a lot of fun. Can't wait for the 2023 camping adventures!
Very enjoyable..Bronte is 5 km from my house and I ride there often..
Avid camper and really enjoy your videos .
Never camped there and probably never will.
Seems silly to leave the park to go to other side but day use is pretty good.
A note on Provincial Parks .You can ride bikes into them anytime..no charge.(avid cyclist)
You have to pay to ride into Conservation Area Parks..
You can actually ride your bikes from one side to the other..
Go through the field behind campgrounds and follow the river north to Dundas.
Cross the bridge and there is a path then trail that runs down to the day use side
It's a nice ride..
As you mentioned it's probably about 7 km ride...but at least you don't have to pack up the bikes...
Make a day trip of it though .
Thanks for the info.
As always, great video! How about, if not mentioned, "Mr. Gobbler" seeing as his maiden camping trip was Thanksgiving!
Awesome colors! Like the Clam shelter, will be on my short list in the future.
Thanks for watching and commenting.
We too were surprised by this park that was only less than 1 hour from us, we went down to the waterfront on Lake Ontario, pretty nice there as well, Happy Newyear🎉
While putting together the video I saw on Google Maps that it's pretty close to Bronte Bluffs Park and Bronte Heritage Waterfront Park. I wish I would have known that when we were there. It would have been nice to check out. Happy New Year.
THX a for all the awesome reviews!!!! Thx for taking the time to chat with Ruth and myself at Pancake Bay. Thx for taking the pumpkin we gave you along for the thanksgiving trip. We thought it was hilarious and it remind us of a Pumpkin EMOJI 😊.CHEERS!!!
Hey, we hear from the pumpkin maker himself! Thanks for giving us our little mascot. I have to ask though, do you have name suggestion for him? You know him best.
@@CampingwiththeColes We like Slim Shady. Ruth likes Pumpkin Pete too!
I got a Clam shelter this past spring. Best purchase ever. I camp alone and it used to take me 45 minutes to put up my "easy up" alone. Haha nothing "easy" about it alone. Just got home from my last trip of the year at MacGregor. Happy new year!
Good to hear. I'm pretty cheap and they're kind of expensive. I should just bite the bullet and buy one. Cheryl doesn't know why I'm hesitating on this purchase. I don't really know either. Oh well, Happy New Year!
We have a Northern Breeze dining tent, which we LOVE. It got messed up in a storm and we were able to order replacement poles for the ones that were bent. It does take a few minutes to set up. It CAN be done by one person, with some difficulty. I don't think I could do it. If I ever need to buy another dining shelter, it WILL be a CLAM.
We've been through a few dining tents over the years. First time we saw the Clam we were blown away. They are pretty expensive though so we haven't yet pulled the trigger.
@@CampingwiththeColes No point spending the $ until you need to.
Who knew?
A treasure of a park near civilization! And lots to do there.
I’m with you though about the lack of place to cool off (ie no lake).
The fall colours are beautiful.
Exactly, who knew? It was a surprise for us. We'll be going back when we want a close to home park.
we were there when they had their Halloween weekend this year. the only thing I was disappointed with was the one dump station and the long line up. Have a happy new year guys
Yeah, the dump station looked like it could be a real problem during busy times. All sites are electric so you'd expect a lot of RVs. Seems like it would be a good idea to update the dump station.
Your video was super helpful to me as a non-driving camper. If I hadn't known the camping area was separated from the day use area I may have ended up in the wrong place!! Not a big deal when you're driving but a huge problem with trying to work with transit in a strange city.
Just wanted to let you know that you helped with my planning for a September camping trip to Bronte.
Glad it was helpful!
My vote is Woody!
Damn, the food looks 😛.
It was!
great video lots of colour nice camp ground but i would drive to a city to go camping, keep the video's coming your doing good
Thanks, will do!
It must be pretty amazing to go camping with so many family and friends. Unfortunately none of my friends or family like to camp. One of Monika's friends like's to camp, she actually was the one that got us back into camping but she hasn't camped now in a few years
Yes, we're very fortunate that we have so many friends into camping. We've been camping with most of them since our children were little and some even longer than that.
Hope you folks had a great Christmas and have a Happy New Year !!! And may all your 7:00 AM bookings be successful , CHEERS😁
Same to you!
Bronte is so close to my work. I like camping there when I'm out of vacation days also I can still go to work. lol
Always camp in the woodlands for more shade and privacy.
The park is perfect for that! You're very fortunate that you can camp and still easily go to work from the campground. Happy camping!
I'm close to Brinte as well and have yet to go. I should plan to get over there(at least for the day) coming this seeason. Interesting that the trailer fill pipes are insulated when Bronte doed not offer camping all year round.
Another viewer said that Bronte used to be open year round and that's why the pipes are heated.
@@CampingwiththeColes For camping? I wonder why they discontinued year round camping?
I know it's open year round for day use. Infact this week they have lots of family friendly activities. happening as it's winter break for the schools.
I love your series! It’s become a family event to watch your reviews and especially helpful for planning our 2023 camping destinations.
How was the night sky? Was there a lot of light pollution due to its proximity to/in a city?
Thanks again :)
Thanks for your support. The night sky at Bronte is what you'd expect in the middle of a city. Lots of light pollution.
This would be a great park to take my nephews. They would love the animals and the play structure. Hopefully, the pool will be open again in 2023. Thank you for sharing all that the park has to offer.
Even though this was supposed to be your last camping trip for the year, did you get a chance to get out camping during November? Best weather we have had for November that I can remember.
Yeah, this is a great kid park. Unfortunately you have to drive around to the day use area for most of the kid friendly activities. We didn't get out in November. Our trailer was in for service from late October to the middle of December. We had a new axle installed on it. The old one was bent and causing uneven wear on one tire. That's what caused our flat tire on our Mew Lake trip. Should be good to go for spring. Hopefully the problem is fixed.
What about CC Rider ?
Thank you Ben and Cheryl for another great season. We love you videos. Wishing you the best for 2023.
Rhé and Natalie
Same to you! Happy New Year!
I know you are focusing on provincial parks, but you should check out Laurel Creek Conservation for a weekend. It a nice getaway in your own backyard.
We were thinking of going to Laurel Creek this year. We went there many years ago and don't remember much about it. It's a nice, short drive for us. Thanks for the suggestion.
We have a Gazelle pop up dining tent. Awesome to setup but you do need room to transport it since it is long.
Haven't heard of a Gazelle. We'll have to check it out. Thanks for the tip.
@@CampingwiththeColes got it from Red Bear Outdoors in Toronto.
@@CampingwiththeColes Princess Auto also sells the Gazelle. (same same but different 😃) Looks identical to the Clam.
try north east , Marten River prvcl park
Love your videos. May I ask where you purchased your Clam Hut? We live in Ottawa and there does not seem to be a retailer for this hut.
We don't have one yet. They are sold in Canada at Walmart and our friends got theirs at Cabela's as a Cabela's brand even though it's really a Clam. You can also get it online on Amazon at amzn.to/3FCW9CV
@@CampingwiththeColes Thank you. Happy New Year. Looking forward to watching your camping adventures of 2023.
The park used to be open all year. They heated the pipes so they wouldn't freeze.
I hadn't seen that before at a provincial park. It makes sense.
Dashboard “Rollin’ Ronnie”
Where do you get the clamshell ?
You can get them at Walmart and Bass Pro Shop. You can get it online at Amazon amzn.to/3ilw6IK. They're on the pricey side and that's what's holding us back right now.
Any tips for driving through Toronto area with a tt? I’m from southern Ontario so for majority of the parks I will have to go through the gta. This coming season will be the first with a tt going this way as we did the Lake Erie parks last season. Any tips would be great. Thanks!
We try to avoid Toronto whenever possible. We're from Kitchener so when we go to the eastern provincial parks we usually go up to Orangeville then take Hwy 9 east to bypass Toronto. When going north we never go 401 to 400. We always take the backroads up through Orangeville to Stayner then hit the 400 if going up Hwy 69 or over to Orillia if going up Hwy 11. If we have to do Toronto like going to Darlington or Sandbanks etc we bite the bullet and just do it. We don't do a lot of lane changes, just slow and steady. Good luck!
@@CampingwiththeColes thanks for much, that will be a lot of help come this summer. Thanks again!
Now that it is done, would you change any of your earlier ratings…due to the other parks you visited?
Good question. We don't go through much of a scientific process for our ratings. Their just our opinions at the time. I can't think of any park that we would substantially change our ratings on. Our first two seasons we hadn't settled on a ratings system so if we redo some of those park reviews we'll incorporate or current rating system into it.
I was wondering which route you took to get to Bronte from Kitchener. Also, why not name him "Coleman"
I'm not really sure which way we went. I just followed Google Maps set to the quickest route. "Coleman" is genius, I never thought of that one. A good camping product name and a play on our last name.👏
Punkinhead.
What should we name our little orange mascot?
I'm assuming that you've already thought of "Pumpkinhead" and rejected it? Jack O'Pumpkinhead
Pumpkin Pete
Colly
How about "Lil' Don"? 😀
Squash. 🤪
The large pool was closed in 2022
Do you mean closed permanently?
What are the new videos that you coming out with?
Next week we hope to have our 2022 year in review video ready. We have a few videos we're working on but I don't want to say yet because I don't know when or if I'll have them ready. Rest assured though, lots to tide you over until the spring.
I've been there before the only thing I did not like was that the pool is not on site u got a drive 20 mins for it besides that it's a great park
Yeah, it's a shame they don't have the two parts of the park connected.
@@CampingwiththeColes yes and it's an extra cost for swimming too but it's not bad of a pool.or campsite I would go back
Call your mascot “I” for Ian … “eye” will watch over your trips and lead you in the right direction. With “I” there’s no looking back …. onward 🛻