Reviews of Emily Provincial Park (Zoo)

Wandering Outside

Clean. Well maintained. Pretty landscape. My only complaint is against other campers and their complete lack of respect and consideration for other campers. Otherwise, the staff at the park are kind and professional and I am looking forward to coming back.

Sulanis

Nice park. Seem to be doing all the can for COVID restrictions. The campers beach was small but we didn’t have any trouble finding a place to set up. I would recommend this park!

Dave Long

This place is beautiful!!! You can camp in a tent,Rv. Boat lunch is very good. The only downfall in that the lake is very weedy, but this means more fish.????

Bdrayto D

Great little park close to home for a visit and a campfire! More for social gatherings or water activities than hiking.

Patrick Lo

Great size camping site, can't see lake or river, road traffic noise but we got use to it. Some of the roadways inside park needs regrading, it the same in most Provincial Parks it seem. Over all a great park.

D Phillips

Beautiful Park. Campsites near hwy were a little too noisy for me. Washrooms were very clean. Staff were friendly and helpful.

Magdalena “Mags” Stoeva

We really enjoyed our stay here. We camped in the Circle campground area. The design of the circles limited traffic on the roads, which are mostly one-way. The beach area was okay, the kids enjoyed it. The park store has an ice cream shop and there's a playground that the kids also enjoyed. My only complaint would be that the branches on some of the trees could be trimmed back along the roads to avoid damaging trailers.

TheCoyoteHunter99

This is our second time visiting this park. So great and we'll maintained. Check in staff is friendly and helpful

Molly McPherson

Great family camping. The park and facilities are kept very clean. Staff are very helpful and friendly. Camping sites are a great size. Will definitely go back.

Paulo Sarmento

Beautiful park great camping lots of activities including boat and paddle board rentals

Caleb Jones

Lots of trees. Relativley clean facility. Well built trails. Not a beach park though. Staffs cleaning facilities 5 times a day maybe due to covid.

Kevin Blanch

The park itself is ok, a lot of the campsites are very close to the main highway passing by so you get a lot of traffic noise unfortunitly, especially in the circle campground. They do have a nice beach area but ifbyou are planning on boating and fishing in deeper water (anything over 10 feet) be prepared for a half hour boat trip (for me with a 90 merc going 65 km/h) up to the north end of the lake.

Fred HE

Pleasant trip. Although there is a large campers beach, the sand is very poor quality. It's very stony.

Henrik Bruusgaard

Everything was perfect!!! Only drawback is "No noise policy" if you are planning to go with your buddies\friends then drop the plan.

Isaac J

It's a great little Provincial Park about an hour, thirty minutes from Toronto. There is a ton of things for the kids to such as, learn to fish, boating, nature hunts, etc... The camp sites are pretty large just do your research as some have a heavy slope. Depends on what you want your camping trip to be, the visitors are many families and couples. If the intent was for a party weekend, you might want to check another camp ground. The park has both a public beach you can do a day visit and another for the camp sites. If it matters, it's dark brown sand but still great to be on.

Michael Peacock

I love this provincial park. It's smaller but well kept. I've been visiting since I was young and still have a great time everytime I go. There are alot of great sites that are roomy and private and staff have always been very friendly.

Justin Shaw

Really nice campground and not overly crowded. Some of the camping spots are not overly private and could be a downfall. Site 40 & 57 were great sites to stay on with a group since they backed onto each other. The site attached to 40 (39?) …

Blair Sutherland

The RV sites are beautiful, the staff very friendly and efficient. I have never seen such fabulous fill aand dump stations. I found the ladies "outhouse?" by the centre beach deplorable. It was dirty and because I was desperate I used it anyway but had to bury my nose in my t shirt. One boat launch area which we were told could be used as a dog beach was nothing more than a stinky swamp. My dogs loved it but I was horrified.The middle beach was small and very few people in the water. So many people travel with their dogs. Why isn't part of the beach area fenced off for dogs and their owners? My daughter stayed another night and told me the last beach area is better than the centre one. I like to camp and camping for me involves swimming. Not at all possible at the two beaches I was at. I think that this campground would be a great place to go to in the fall tho. Just a small notation, our fire pit had lots of ashes in it before we started which made it tricky for our fire to stay burning.

Patricia Ransom

Great place for camping, ????️ toilet's are cleaned regularly and love the fact the shower ???? are open. Friendly staff and lovely atmosphere.

Rebecca C.

Just stopped in to do some fishing... Nice park... So many nibblers. Guy beside me caught a beauty of a bass... He Vought a nibbler right by the dock... Dunked it in the water and the bass grabbed the smaller fish and he landed it! The kid was like 10 years old... lots of fun... But me and my son caught nothing

Bonnie Thom

Not my first time here but always enjoyed it. We stayed at 131 close to washrooms,a little ventilation fan noise at night but convenience. Lake is super veedy but enjoyed paddling. Very friendly staff and they're cleaning washrooms every hour.

Murray Marshall

Very quite, maybe half full. The only drawback is highway noise but becomes just part of the insect noise. Very pleasant.

Mike Vernon

Nice spot, dog friendly is appreciated, good range of activities though no trails in the park (nearby options), big campground

Trevor Morrison

Our first two at Emily provincial park and I was pleasantly surprised how clean and large the sites are and very well spaced apart. I definitely recommend it and we will be back for sure.

Sina Izadi

Wonderful Park..always clean..well kept and up to date..Staff amazing we come every year and sometimes twice

Adam Mansour

We had a great experience at Emily park. I think it definitely depends on what type of camping you're looking for. We could hear a lot of other people but the wardens must have done a good job as they mostly quieted down shortly after 11. The beach was well kept and raked each morning. It is a very weedy beach but that didn't bother us. The bathrooms could have been cleaner. Garbage was often overflowing and the toilet paper was gone a couple times during our stay. Our site however was lovely and well treed. There was wooded sections for the kids to explore which they really enjoyed. Overall it was a great park with friendly staff.

Kelly Yeung

I've stayed here several times. It's never been too busy, so it feels very private. The lake is beautiful and I love the Cedars loop despite the mosquitoes.

Tina Dolatzadeh

Beautiful beach. Next time I will come with my Kayak.

Milan De Silva

This is an amazing provincial park, beautiful, clean and friendly staff lots to do for the whole family and lots of places you can visit in surrounding areas. Will definitely be coming back again.

Sabrina Eggart

This was an absolutely beautiful park! Lots of trees and bushes surrounding the sites for good privacy. The washroom and showering facilities were very clean in comparison to some other camp grounds I have visited. The beach was beautiful and clean and was a lovely walk through the trails to get there. Although I don't have children, I noticed they all sorts of camps and programs available for kids which I'm sure would be nice for family trips! All in all, it was a wonderful experience, and given how close it is to the city, I will definately be back again!

Katherine Wright

The lake water is dirty. There are many sea weeds under the water. All day noise comes from the bathroom fan. Don't select the campsites near the bathroom. The washroom is not clean.

Diana Robson

Second time coming Had a chance to explore the park this time. Enjoyed the trails which were well maintained and marked out. Bathrooms and showers are continuously cared for by the cleaning staff which are very friendly. Campsites and beaches are looked after well Walked the entire park to check it out. Very nice park Great location. Will definitely come again

Ryley G

Beautiful park on the banks of the Pigeon River in the heart of the Kawartha Lakes region. Close enough to Peterborough to get anything you need or for a day trip. Lots of cycling opportunities too!

Lisa Northrup

Very friendly staff members. They work hard keeping the park clean. Ice creams are great there and lots of canoes to rent.

Paul Kuznecov

It was the first time in our 40 odd years of camping to visit Emily. We have a 17 foot Alto trailer which can tuck into the coziest corners and is self propelled so usually we can create a private view under any circumstance. Here we found we needed all of our 75 foot of electrical umbilical cord. But that's why we have it. The park is an excellent family park with very good beach and play ground facilities boat launch and docking facilities.it does also have a sanctioned separate dog beach area with more boat launch facilities. For as we are retired it was an excellent terminal destination being centrally located to my wife's ancestoral families original pioneer settlements just outside the park gates, a wonderful location historically explore Lindsay, Omemee Peterborough Bodcageon Sturgeon falls and Gelert.

Kyle Colvin

Large sites, great fishing and boating, mediocre beach and swimming area. Camp is clean and well staffed

Ryan Mallon

Quiet camping experience with a near by dog beach, (not very clean swimmable water); bonus that its a dog Beach. The washrooms at the campsite was poorly maintained, we'd go to the one near the beach because it was much cleaner.

Milen Veselinovic

Beautiful park. Lots of wildlife, and the kids loved swimming on the hot days. Hill campground sites are, predictably, slanted, but we managed. A really nice park.

Ken Anderson

Well kept park. Hard working staff. If only the rain had held off. Would definitely return again.

Brian The Ram man

Very nice and well kept park However we did notice alot of people were not following the inside park speed limits

Sarah Nisbet

Site #228 - Amazing site! Sand ground, fire ant mounds somewhere new every morning, watch under your picnic table and chairs. Very nice Park. Relatively clean environment. BATHROOMS - Could use a bit more maintaining, but it is what it is. The big ol' city of Omemee right around the corner, has a foodland, coffee shop, convenient store. Gas station also around the corner from the park. FISHING - Lots of Juicy spots, highly would recommend a means of travel on the river !

Minal Budrani

Went to the beach, a couple of nice trails for walking. Havent tried camping there yet, planning on going back again. Really good time to hit up as it's free from Mon-Thurs every week

Amelia Sapinski

Love it, we go every year because it's easy to find, the beaches are decent. The little store is great for kids. The park that's available for kids keeps them active.

Melissa Turcotte

Beautiful spot for a day trip. Well maintained grounds, plenty of space for launching canoes, kayaks, and boats, rentals and store onsite. There's also a great marsh trail and two beaches to choose from.

komal saini

Nice park. Good services. Lake has a lot of weeds but still good for swimming. Campsites can be a little muddy, bring a tarp.

Payman Jozi

Family friendly. Lovely rest. Good swimming but river with boat traffic. Parks has swimming well roped off and safe canoe rentals.

Cyrus Ardeshir

The park is large and our site was ok but very uneven Emily Provincial Park need to start leveling out these sites. I've never seen so many sites that need multiple layers of planks to level them out. Also the roads around the park had large potholes that made fore a sketchy commute. The dumping station hoses were missing a proper threaded end to allow for a black tank flush.

Ian Potter

So happy Ontario Parks has done free weekday use during the lockdowns. We love being to get out and walk through even if we can't go camping yet. A great alternative to trail walks if you have a stroller, because you still get to be in the trees, just on paved roads, and one of our favorite places to camp. Great for kayaking/fishing and the park staff do an amazing job keeping the park clean and enforcing quiet time which is always nice to have with young children. They also updated their playground a couple of years ago to a good sized new climber. Bonus for us is that it's only a 15 minute drive from home, so we can have the camping experience without having to drive 1+ hours with cottage traffic. Can't wait to be able to camp there again.

Robin Heider

First time at this park, stayed in the circle campground. Layout and sites were nice, the privacy in between sites was not as private as we are use too but alright. Beach is sandy and a bit weedy. I preferred the beach in Peterborough, plus it had a splash pad. My only complaint is the washrooms, saw the cleaning staff pull up, change the toilet paper and leave within 3 mins. No disinfecting of toilets or sinks. The counter was still covered in soap and water, dirty hand prints on the bathroom doors...I don't get it. They enforce two people in the washroom at any given time but don't disinfect the areas where people are brushing and flossing ????. Front gate and store staff were friendly and helpful. Our trip was great and my boys had a blast. I would return to Emily.

Steven Ercolani

Beautiful park and great staff. The only reason I am not giving a 5 rating is that the traffic on HWY 7 can be heard in the park and it cuts down on the peacefulness of the park.

Stephanie Morse

Great clean provincial park. Small enough that it's not overly busy or crowded. Beaches are nice, with cheap canoe and kayak rentals. Really like the privacy of the sites.

Tyler Shilson

Love the site great people and staff hopping to go back this year

Kerry Feeney

Nice provincial park, close to Peterborough, Omeemee and Bridgenorth. The park looses a star as the boardwalk trail has been closed off due to collapsed sections for years, blocking off the best part of the trail, the island and the small lookout tower. (Unless you're brave enough to cross the small logs in the swamp, bring your rain booties!) Beaches are nice and big, but are full of weeds almost up to the shore. Campgrounds are decent condition, but are little close together and many offer little privacy. With prices charged for camping and day use, there's no excuse for the boardwalk being not being repaired/replaced. But now with lumber the price it is, it will be a long time yet before it is.

Bruce Laird

A group of 8 spend Canada Day here! Beautiful park. Clean and not overcrowded. We enjoyed our time here.

chris weston

Beautiful beach. Unique circular campsite layout affords much more privacy than other similar parks, even for sites that are right by the beach. Only drawback is that it's on a lake that has power boats, so it's a bit busy/loud on the weekends (-1 star for me). if that's your jam, all the POWER to you. lol

Natalie Dinis

If you're a paddler, you will likely enjoy Emily PP. From the boat launch, you can either take a route that will lead you to Pigeon Lake where you'll pass by many cottage properties. The other direction will lead you to a nice calm river and ultimately take you to the town of Omeme where there is a public boat launch. You can stop for some food and ice cream in town and either continue over the dam with a small portage or head back to the park. It's about a 5.5km paddle to Omeme.

Michelle De Vreeze

sight we had was muddy with deep ruts.they had been there a while. lake is clogged with weeds. no good for boating. canopy needs trimming if you have trailer

Ben Heller

Great little park. Close by to a city. Clean facilities, tons of programs for younger kids. The beach area was nice, but the 'sand' was more clay like, kids enjoyed getting dirty and building things. Needs an EV charger.

Craig Maclean

Its a new provincial park. Good location Very bad beach may be after sometime they will upgrade it . Well Maintained campsites

Ena & Dan

Beautiful park, very clean. Bathrooms are cleaned regularly. The board walk is being rebuilt and is stable. It goes about half way into a marsh. The only thing that would make this park perfect is an adult only section so those without kids can have a peaceful time

Melissa Baker

We stayed at Emily Provincial Park from July 17-20. We camped with 3 other families and stayed in Circle Camp Ground at site 224. Our friends has sites 225, 223 and 222. It was great for our kids to be so close. We were close to two water stations and a comfort station. Unfortunately the beach at the park was closed but we drove 25 minutes to Sandy Beach one day and the public beach in Bobcaygeon another day. Clean park, quiet - park personnel were visible and addressed one group that was a little louder. Fire ban was in affect during our stay. The circle campground area was great for kids as we could give our group of kids ranging from 5-13 years old a bit of freedom to bike ride and explore our circle. Our camp site was large, partially shaded, flat near the back with a slope off the main road. We would camp here again.

Kelsey Hamlyn

Third time camping here...only with tents. Nice and quiet usually. Clean and well kept. Will definitely come again.

Nancy Renaud

Great for camping, not the best beach and swimming for day users. Lake St Peter much better.

Cristina Zapanta

Did tent camping with my 2 teenaged boys from Aug 6 to 8 over here and in comparison to other provincial parks I've camped at like Killbear, Sibbald and Restoule this is probably my least favourite. The 2 beaches are pretty small, the Pigeon River didn't have much to offer for sightseeing during our 2hr canoe rental and the Marsh trail is not a trail as it's extremely small. Overall this was ok but we likely won't be back. Some positives are that the comfort stations were clean as were the showers and the washroom by the Day use beach. The showers had very good water pressure and were warm. Also, the Central Smith ice cream at the Park Store was well priced and portioned at $3 for a single scoop which was really large and taste was great. The night sky must be experienced at the big campers' beach...we clearly saw the Big Dipper, Jupiter, Summer Triangle and many other constellations and a few shooting stars. At night time there are a # of frogs you'll see under the benches or at the boat ramp or along the shore. Pro tip - get your firewood from 100 Emily Park Road just down the road from the park. He sells big white bags of firewood (chopped up 2x4 wood of various sizes) for $5 a bag. It lasted us 2 nights. Check the address on Google Maps and you'll see the bags in front of his house and you just drop the $5 in the pail.

Sandra James

Ok campground, beaches have alot of plant growth, . Good access to boat launches and waterways.

Linda Stewart

Really nice park. Great campgrounds for a younger kids or new campers. I stayed at cedar campgrounds and the distance between sites is great and private. You can hear some traffic at night. Park has canoe and kayak rentals. Minimum timeframe is 2hours ($20) or one can rent it for the whole day ($50). Hiking trails are short and easy. Pretty sunsets on Pigeon River. Worth a visit.

N James

It's close to the people who live East of Toronto. Easy to get to and staff are very friendly. It has 2 beaches and water equipment to rent plus you can borrow PDF and fishing gear. Water is nice, but a little swampy, but lots of people were in it. It has a decent beach. Boat launch on site with lots of docks.

Penny Peters

What a great park! A total hidden gem. Very family friendly. An amazing beach. Fun playground for the littles. Quiet at night. Great canoeing, kayaking and fishing. And the maintenance and facilities were the best I've experienced at an Ontario park. It's very well run.

Cheryl

This is my first time camping at Emily Provincial Park. Campground is very nice. Bathrooms are modern and are fairly clean with a large amount of shower capacity, 7 shower stalls where I was at. I've read other reviews about the beach and had to see for myself. Let's just say the beach falls short of my expectations, lots of weeds and questionable water quality. Only 4 stars for Emily

Teresa Blair

Had a great time canoeing on the lake. Nice beach area.

Moon C.

Very much enjoyed the park despite the weather. Large and private site.

S L

Certainly my experience at Emily are biased since it's the people you're with that make the trip fun. Regarding the park, the campsites are big. We have camped at Sandbanks and Sibbald and we found Emily to be less busy and we prefer that. The staff are very kind and helpful, however, the washrooms were not as clean (garbage not emptied, clogged toilet sat for some time). I didn't remove any starts because I understand they are short staffed sue to COVID. There is a tiny beach area just for the campers and I appreciated it (there is a bigger stretch of beach for day trippers and dog lovers). We went canoeing and fishing too. If you are looking for a campsite that has a big beach with a view, this is not for you but the park served the needs of my family very well.

Mike Munro

Great park for folks who want to get into camping..one advice is that make sure you get those wheels for canoeing ..you will have to drag it to the beach and it's going bro damage your hand...

A Fernandes

Very nice park. in the last two years there has been an over abundance of motor boats there so now it is not kayak or canoe friendly. the game wardens know what they are talking about went for a long weekend enjoyed it other than the partying family next to us. I would recommend this place to a family that wants to Camp during the week but not very friendly on the weekend as the people from the city come up with their power boats. They do not care about canoers or kayakers.

Jordan Gillespie

Beautiful setting, and good selection of campsites and amenities. Great destination for families. Very well maintained.

Diane Tyler

Decent park. The facilities are well maintained and the staff are pleasant. Apart from that, nothing special about this place. Just easy access to the water, and the lake can be quite nice. Hiking is limited (you're better off exiting the park and going somewhere else nearby). Campsites are spacious and generally well laid out for good privacy. Not too crowded here!

Leila Hrynkiw

We absolutely love going to this park. Very good staff there and we have our annual family reunion there every year

Matt Smith

A very nice provincial park. Large private camp sites. Great for boating.

Jennifer Osztermayer

No words can describe this camp. The most quite camp I ever went period. Only 110 Km away from Toronto, easy to drive, local shop is just 5 minutes away from camp and everywhere is clean. If you are a family one, just go and enjoy the nature. The Park Guards are very educated and trained and very friendly. If you make too much noise, find the other camp.

kellie white

Beautiful park/campground. Stayed in the Cedar campground which was peaceful, there is a fair amount of road traffic noise but it does die down during the weekdays. The walking trails were well maintained and the vault toilets had sinks which was nice. The beach is fair sized with the only downside to it being that after it was grated it wasn’t smoothed/flattened out, so was quite hard to walk through and could be a potential hazard for anyone with previous injuries or poor coordination. Other than that the grounds are very well maintained, the staff were very nice and helpful and overall it was a wonderful place.

Heather Lewis-Cochrane

Park has nice trails. The beach is small, and the dog beach is bigger ????‍♀️. Lots of fish but very small at the dock.

Daph Ho

Had a great time! beach area does have some seaweed issues - but we had a great time

Rylee Finigan

Great walking trails near by. Park was clean bathrooms were clean Covid protocol was followed everywhere.

Ali Ahmed

Nice park store and hilltop campground. Canoe and Kayak rental is available $20 per 2 hours.

Terrylynnhazlett Hazlett

Great place to get away camping for a few days. Great staff always working on one area from camp sites, beaches to bathrooms.

Roger Armstrong

The park is smaller compared to other provincial parks and it has two nice beaches , however no dogs are allowed on the beach. We stayed at one of the group campsites and it was beautiful however there were only two comfort stations for a campground with 320 campsites so be prepared to line up especially on a long weekend.

Raheal Qureshi

It is a nice park but beach for swiming is small. Also, you can launch small boats cause the beach is shallowy. Interestingly, I didn't see any mosquitoes in August which was great.

Mark Wilson

Went camping about a week ago with family and friends. Everyone had a great time. Sites were nice and big, bugs weren't to bad, beach was great for the kids, not to big and weeds were kept out of the swimming zone. Only reason for giving a 4 and not a 5 is because i was a little shocked there was no soap or hand sanitizer in the bathrooms, especially during this time. We did bring our own, but was a little surprised it wasn't available for all. Overall we will definitely visit again, and would highly recommend this park for families.

Margmark Margmark

Really nice park but they need to have a nice place for dogs to swim. Currently they can only go in the water at boat launches which are weedy and dirty. Staff are friendly and helpful, sites are private and beautiful. We stayed on circle and it was great. We cant wait to go back.