Earl Rowe Provincial Park Review & Camping Guide

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Earl Rowe Provincial Park Reservations – What You Need to Know Before You Go

Booking a campsite at Earl Rowe Provincial Park is pretty easy.

Just like all the other Ontario Park campsites, you can book your campsite up to five months in advance of your arrival date through the Ontario Parks reservation system.

In order to make a reservation online though, you will first need to have an Ontario Parks account.

I can’t speak about the popularity of this park, but I can say that we did not have a hard time getting a spot in early June.

But like I said before, it may have been because many of the amenities were not yet available.

Registrations begin at 7 am EST.

Earl Rowe is open for camping from the middle of May until after the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend in October.

Earl Rowe Provincial Park Address:
4998 Concession #7, Tosorontio Township, ON L9R 1W1
https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/earlrowe

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Arriving at the Park

Once you arrive at the main entrance to the park, you are able to check in at the gatehouse. This is where you can grab your printed map as well as your parking permit.

We were able to check in before 2 o’clock as our site had already been vacated.

John was able to buy our firewood and my park patch at the gatehouse, while I waited in the parking lot with our Teardrop Trailer.

There are nice long spots for RVs, as well as a large parking lot for vehicles across the way.

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Earl Rowe Provincial Park Map

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Navigating the Park

We found that navigating this park without having the map in hand, was a bit of a nightmare.

In fact, we did get lost at one point, which ended in us needing to reverse our trailer out of a tight spot, but that was our fault.

We found that the day-use area at Earl Rowe, as well as the campground areas, were difficult to navigate without looking at the map.

While the campground areas of the park are pretty small, there weren’t as many signs as we usually see in other parks to help you find your site.

Parking

In general, we found there to be enough parking throughout the park.

There was a small parking lot in the Riverside Campground, a large one at the main entrance to the park, and one by every comfort station.

The day-use area also had several large parking lots in various parts of the park.

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Earl Rowe Provincial Park Camping

Earl Rowe Provincial Park accommodates a variety of camping styles. From car camping to tenting, group camping, barrier-free camping, and RVs up to 32 feet (9.7 metres), you will find it all.

You will also have the choice between electric or non-electric sites.

Unfortunately, not all types of camping can be accommodated at all sites, so you will need to watch for this when making your reservations.

Earl Rowe Provincial Park has 2 main campgrounds – Riverside and Westside – with a total of 400 campsites.

The campgrounds are divided into 8 different campsite loops. In the Westside you will find the Meadowbrook, Trillium Woods, Boyne Meadow and Fletcher Field loops.

In the Riverside Campground, you will find the Heydon Way, Salmon Run, Rabbit Loop, and the Blue Heron loops.

The Riverside Campground, where we were staying, is down the road from the rest of the park and is gated.

We were given a small cardstock ticket with a bar code which was needed to lift the gate and let us in. This was something we had never seen before either.

Campgrounds at a Glance

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Our Campsite Experience

During our visit to Earl Rowe, we stayed at campsite #126 in the Riverside Campground.

The campsite was pretty big, and you could easily pull your trailer through without having to back it up. Our tiny Teardrop almost seemed dwarfed by the size of the site!

While there were plenty of trees to the rear of the site, we had no division from our neighbours to the one side.

On the other side (this was a corner site), there was some privacy. The site also sits right across the street from the comfort station.

This was convenient when we wanted to shower. But we did notice the additional foot traffic.

Also, being at the entrance to the campground circle, there was more vehicular traffic.

And one last thing to mention, we did hear a train whistle throughout the day. It wasn’t too close by, and at night, we didn’t hear it at all.

All in all, we did enjoy the campsite. We were able to position the camper and our tow vehicle to give us some privacy from the road.

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What Amenities Does Earl Rowe Offer?

Comfort Stations

There are several comfort stations in the Campground areas at Earl Rowe.

Comfort stations with showers are located in the Westside Campground in the Fletcher’s Field, Boyne Meadow, Trillium Woods and Meadowbrook loops, as well as at the Riverside Campground in the Heydon Way loop.

Comfort stations without showers are located in the main day-use area, at the Westbeach Campground, and at the group camping area.

That said, each campground loop (except Meadowbrook and Heydon Way) also has either a privie washroom with running water and flush toilets or a vault toilet.

The Day Use Area at Earl Rowe Provincial Park has two comfort stations with running water and flush toilets.

You will also find one privie washroom at West Beach and one near the boat launch.

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Laundromat

There are two Coin Laundries available at the park.

You will find one in the comfort station in the Riverside Campground area. The other is a separate building located at the entrance to the Westside Campground.

The machines appeared to be clean and in good working order during our visit.

There were two sets of machines (2 washers and 2 dryers) in the Westside Campground.

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Park Store

The large Park Store is located near the East Beach in the day-use area.

The park store sells Ontario Parks merchandise (like my patches!), toys and souvenirs, as well as a variety of items that you may have forgotten when packing for your camping adventure.

Of course, John’s favourite part of the Park Store was their ice cream counter! It was huge!

They had a pretty big selection of Kawartha Dairy Ice Cream, as well as a couple of non-dairy sorbets, and a three-flavour slushy machine.

I’m sure that this place will be quite busy once the hot weather sets in! You will even find a picnic shelter located just steps away.

Another thing that you will find at the Park Store is the canoe and paddleboat rentals.

This area is located next door over from the Park Store entrance (in the same building).

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Visitor’s Centre

Earl Rowe Provincial Park does not have a Visitor’s Centre (contrary to what you will find on the Park Map).

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Day Use Area

Earl Rowe has two large day-use areas.

The main day use area is located on the east side of the lake, and the second one is located by the Westbeach.

You will find picnic tables, water taps and washroom facilities in each of the areas.

There is a basic children’s swingset in the main day-use area closest to the beach.

Earl Rowe has four large picnic shelters which are available for rent. You will find them at Fletcher’s Mill Pond, Greenbush, East Beach and West Beach areas.

We found the day-use areas to be just ok. They all had plenty of trees for shade, large grassy areas, and plenty of parking.

There were also plenty of picnic tables in the day-use area. Unfortunately, we also noticed quite a bit of goose poop.

You can reserve your daily vehicle permit to guarantee your day-use spot at this park.

Permits can be obtained up to five days in advance.

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Earl Rowe Provincial Park Swimming Pool

You will find a pretty huge pool at Earl Rowe Provincial Park. The pool is located right off the West Beach.

You will also find a convenient change house and washrooms located near the pool.

That said, we are not sure if the pool will be operational for the 2024 season.

The pool was not open when we visited in early June, so we looked into it a little further. There is nothing about the pool on the park’s website.

However, we did find an article stating that the pool has not been operational since 2020.

Apparently, repairs needed to be done in 2023. Whether that happened is anyone’s guess.

So again, if you are coming here for the pool, you may be in for a big disappointment.

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Earl Rowe Provincial Park Beach

Earl Rowe actually has two beach areas – East and West Beach – that are walking distance from one another.

The East Beach, which is the larger of the two beaches, has plenty of amenities.

You will find a canoe rental area (which was still closed during our visit), a floating dock with benches, beach volleyball, picnicking, and a swing set.

While both beach areas are quite large, we found the sand to be rocky, and even muddy-looking at the water’s edge.

There was also algae forming and plenty of goose poop along the water.

Also, the water itself did not look appealing AT ALL!

Keep in mind that Earl Rowe Lake is just a giant man-made pond. There is very little to no movement of the water.

While this may be perfect for canoeing or paddling, I would not want to swim in that water.

We visited the first weekend in June and the water was murky brown (you could not see the bottom even at the water’s edge), and there was scum floating everywhere.

While there were signs posted everywhere that the water is tested frequently, we know from experience that this beach does get shut down often in the summer for having poor water quality.

Our advice is if you are looking to come to Earl Rowe just for the beach, find somewhere else to go.

Another thing to be aware of is that there are no lifeguards on duty, and dogs are not allowed on the beach at any time.

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What Services Does Earl Rowe Offer?

Earl Rowe has all the usual services found at other Ontario Provincial Parks.

Water

There are two sanitation areas in Earl Rowe Provincial Park.

One is located at the Riverside Campground, and the other is located at the Westside Campground between Boyne Meadow and Fletchers Field Campgrounds.

Westside Campground

You will find one water fill station at the Westside sanitation area.

The Sanitation Area is actually just a straight, single-lane road. There is no bypass lane.

Riverside Campground

You will find three different water fill stations at the Riverside sanitation station.

HOWEVER… only one of them is labelled as potable water (with a blue hose).

And just a heads up, the hose is not threaded, which was a huge pain even with our handy Rubber Hose Connector.

The other two are on the opposite side of the sanitation loop and are on the passenger side of the road.

These taps had a red hose and a strange L-shaped nozzle-type connection that looked like a sprayer.

And speaking of water taps, there were plenty of them at pretty close intervals located in each of the campground loops, as well as in the day-use areas.

Although some were pretty hidden! The one located right across the street from our campsite was literally tucked into the forest!

If the map didn’t tell us it was there, we would never have found it!

There are also no individual campsite water hookups at Earl Rowe.

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Dump Station

Just like with the fill station, there is only one dump station in each sanitation area.

Westside Campground

As we mentioned above, the sanitation area is actually just a single-lane road without a bypass lane.

The dumping station is first, followed by the water fill station.

Riverside Campground

The Riverside sanitation station is a full loop with an entrance/exit at each end of the loop. Again, there is no bypass lane.

The single-lane road is clearly marked for the direction of travel.

When you enter from the main campground area, you will find the dump station first, then the fill station.

So with only one sanitation area in each campground, just expect it to be busy around check-out time.

⛺ Pro Tip: If you are staying in the Westside Campground, you will not be able to use the Riverside dumping station due to the gated entry.

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Garbage and Recycling

There was a small area located next to the entrance to the Riverside campground with both garbage and recycling bins.

There is also a second garbage and recycling area located at the Westside Campground.

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Wi-Fi

Earl Rowe is one of the few campgrounds that we have been in where there was consistent Wi-Fi.

In fact, I was able to write the majority of this blog post while sitting in our Teardrop during a brief period of rain!

That was a first!

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Things to Do at Earl Rowe Provincial Park

1. Go for a Hike

Earl Rowe Provincial Park is home to a few different hiking trails. We found them to be a little chaotic and not really well-marked.

In fact, we didn’t see a single Trail Head sign, just a bunch of smaller signs scattered throughout the park.

The trails themselves were also quite varied. They would go from a well-groomed trail to muddy patches, grassy areas, trails that were barely there, and then back to being well-groomed.

If you have mobility issues or are pushing a stroller, the hiking trails at Earl Rowe are definitely hit or miss.

And look out for the mosquitos! We got eaten ALIVE on the trails when there were no mosquitos anywhere else in the park!

I noticed a lot of areas with standing water and even drainage pipes along the pathway, which would be a major cause of the mosquitos.

We walked along parts of this easy trail that connects Earl Rowe Dam to the pool along the edge of Earl Rowe Lake.

It was groomed for the most part and passed right by the Park Store.

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This trail is a loop that goes around the entire park.

We seemed to come across signs for this trail everywhere, but could not find a trailhead!

This is a shared-use trail that allows for walking or biking. But just a heads up, not all of the trail is groomed or appropriate for biking.

A portion of this trail includes a moderate incline that leads to the Lookout Trail. This part of the trail is rocky, narrow, steep and even muddy.

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We took this easy trail from the main road (near the fish ladder), through the woods, and to the Westbeach.

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We decided to hike this trail after noticing the lookout tower symbol on our park map. It took us a bit to figure out how to access the trail.

We started out on the Rainbow Run Trail near the laundromat in the Westside Campground.

From there, we followed the trail until it met with the Lookout Trail.

You are passing through a variety of conditions on these two trails.

From groomed wide trails to grassy fields with a single narrow track, muddy and marshy areas, pine forests, and rocky uneven ground.

The only thing that was common throughout was the mosquitos!

And just a heads up, the trail gets quite steep just before you hit the lookout.

The lookout was nothing fancy. It was literally a concrete pad with two benches.

The view was nice in the sense that it overlooks the valley below. But I wouldn’t say it was spectacular by any means.

At this point, you could easily get out of the park and onto the concession roadway by means of a short path. We chose to continue the trail and hike down the opposite side.

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This short and easy trail is called the resource trail as it has a variety of plaques teaching visitors about the flora and fauna in the park.

Unfortunately, many of the plaques were not in great shape.

Sadly, this seems to be in keeping with the general state of this park.

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This trail connects campers to both sides of the park. We chose not to do the full trail, as it just isn’t convenient if you are on foot.

If you have your bicycle with you, you may want to give it a go. Just know, that the path is not paved.

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2. Go for a Boat Ride

With the calm water in Earl Rowe, canoeing would be awesome. In fact, we saw plenty of kayakers and even paddleboarders on the water during our visit.

The lake is pretty scenic too so a sunset paddle would be incredible.

Boat Launches

Earl Rowe has one boat launch located between the Greenbush picnic area and the Park Store.

Boat Rentals

Rentals are available during peak season and include the use of lifejackets and paddles. Paddleboats are also available for rent.

You can check at the Park Store for rental hours.

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3. Try Your Hand at Fishing

Earl Rowe Provincial Park is apparently quite popular with the fishing crowd (there is even a fish on the park patch).

Fishing is available in both the Lake and the river area just below the dam.

And just like some of the other Ontario Parks that we have been to, Earl Rowe offers a Tackle Share program where you can borrow all kinds of fishing equipment.

The park also has a Learn to Fish program.

Fish Ladder

And speaking of fish, during our stay, John and I were curious to see what the fish ladder looked like.

According to the website, you can see rainbow trout using the park’s fish ladder in the spring. And in the fall, the salmon use the ladder during their spawning season.

We noticed a small parking area off the traffic circle in the main day-use area. From there, we had no idea where to go, or if there was a trail to take us to a viewing area.

Turns out, the only way to SEE the fish ladder (and I use that term very loosely), is from the main roadway.

Not only that, but the entire ladder is totally enclosed, so you probably wouldn’t even be able to see the fish anyway. Not to mention, the dam is also fenced off with barbed wire.

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4. Go for a Bike Ride

Biking is allowed on all park roads and most trails.

Some of the park roads are paved, and some are gravel. For the most part, they seemed like they were in pretty good shape.

We would definitely not recommend biking on the Lookout Trail, however.

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5. DO NOT Go Swimming!

While this park does have the facilities to go swimming, technically speaking, we would advise against it.

Not only does the lake water not look appealing, but the beach isn’t much better.

And who knows when the pool, which is meant to be the alternate option, will open.

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6. Do Some Birding

While we are not birdwatchers at heart, we still noticed quite a few different types of birds in Earl Rowe including my favourite, Cardinals.

I think the biggest surprise for us was the gorgeous Pileated Woodpecker we saw next to the laundromat.

He was digging in the dirt right next to where we parked. That was definitely something I had never seen before.

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7. Take Part in the Discovery Program

From what we can see on the website, a basic Discovery Program is offered at Earl Rowe.

During July and August, kids can pick up a Discovery Activity Book, and use the equipment and materials provided to explore the park.

While our kids are a little too old for the Discovery Program, they really did enjoy it when they were younger.

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Is Earl Rowe Provincial Park Accessible?

We found Earl Rowe to be a pretty accessible park.

All the comfort stations allowed for barrier-free access to both flush toilets and showers.

Earl Rowe also has four campsites which have been designated as barrier-free.

You will find two (#90 and #102) in the Riverside Campground in the Heydon Way loop and two (#230 and #242) in the Westside campground in the Fletcher Field loop.

These sites were actually quite nice and had well-maintained paved concrete pads.

All the public buildings, including the Camp Store, are also barrier-free.

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Are Pets Allowed at Earl Rowe?

Yes. Dogs are welcome at Earl Rowe Provincial Park.

Pets are allowed at the campground and on the hiking trails but must be leashed at all times.

Dogs are not allowed on the beach areas, however.

I was miffed that there was no pet info available on Earl Rowe’s website, however!

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Useful Tips for Visiting Earl Rowe

One of the biggest tips we can give you for visiting Earl Rowe is to keep in mind that the park has three separate entrances.

One entrance is for the day-use part of the park and the Westside Campground. Here, you will find a gatehouse where you can purchase your day pass.

The second entrance (which we mistakenly entered through) is for the group campgrounds only.

The third and furthest entrance is for the Riverside Campground only.

And while there is a trail that connects the Riverside Campground to the day-use area, it would be a pretty far walk, or a moderate bike ride to get there.

It’s not a lot of fun when you have to constantly drive to the day-use area to access the hiking trails, pool, and all the other activities going on in the park.

This is one of the main reasons that we did not like Earl Rowe Provincial Park.

One last tip that we thought we would share, is that Earl Rowe offers Camper Storage.

They actually have a gated yard off the day-use area, where you can pay to store your trailer.

This is handy if you plan on visiting this park often, or if you live in the area.

We have never seen this service offered by another provincial park before.

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Is There Winter Camping at Earl Rowe?

No. There is no winter camping available at Earl Rowe.

That said, the day-use area and trails, as well as the campground loops, are available for winter hikes and snowshoeing.

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FAQs

What kind of fish are in Earl Rowe Provincial Park?

Earl Rowe Provincial Park is home to various fish species, including bass, perch, pike, and catfish.

Are there bears at Earl Rowe?

No, there are no bears at Earl Rowe Provincial Park.

Is the pool open at Earl Rowe Provincial Park?

The pool at Earl Rowe Provincial Park is currently closed for maintenance.

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Our Park Rating

We give this park 2 out of 5 stars for having:

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Final Thoughts

Earl Rowe Provincial Park was not one of our favourite places to camp with our Teardrop Trailer.

While the campground, our campsite and the comfort stations were quite nice, the amenities just weren’t there.

From a subpar beach to wonky trails, and a non-functioning pool, we feel like Earl Rowe has seen better days.

Having been to this park as a teen, and enjoyed it, things have definitely changed.

So while John and I did have a really nice time on our weekend in Earl Rowe, if we had been visiting for more than a night, or had our kids with us, it may have been different.

We would not recommend this park.

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