Discover Wild Ontario

Crown land in Ontario: what you need to know

Ontario has more accessible public land than most people who live here realise, and most of it can be camped on for nothing. It also has a set of rules and a land-status system that trip up first-timers every summer. Here is the short version.

Who can camp for free, and for how long

If you are a Canadian resident, you can camp free on most Crown land in Ontario, including Crown land covered by water, for up to 21 days on any one site in a calendar year. After 21 days you have to move at least 100 metres. Most non-residents of Canada need a Crown land camping permit to camp north of the French and Mattawa Rivers, currently priced per person per night, with exemptions for people under 18, Ontario property owners and a few other cases. The current fee and the full list of exemptions are on ontario.ca's Crown land camping page. Our Crown land camping rules guide walks through the details, including fires, garbage and what "site" means in practice.

Where Crown land actually is

The province says Crown land represents 87% of Ontario, but that figure hides a sharp split. South of the French River and Mattawa line, and especially south of the Shield, most land was patented to settlers generations ago and is now private. What is left is scattered: pockets around Bancroft, Haliburton and the Madawaska Valley, small blocks in Land O'Lakes and the Kawarthas. North of that line the picture flips, and from Sudbury and North Bay up through Temagami, Chapleau, Thunder Bay and Kenora, Crown land is the default and private land is the exception. If you are starting from a city, the Crown land near your city pages show what is realistically within a drive, and how to find Crown land explains how to read the map layers once you get there.

Parks, reserves and Crown land are not the same thing

Provincial parks and conservation reserves sit on Crown land, but they are managed under their own legislation and their own rules. In a park you book and pay for a site, and backcountry camping needs a permit. In a conservation reserve, camping may be allowed but activities are more restricted and vehicle access is often limited. On general-use Crown land, the free-camping rules above apply. The map colours these differently for exactly this reason, and it is worth knowing which one you are looking at before you drive three hours. Our Crown land vs parks and reserves guide lays out the differences, using places like Algonquin and the Crown land around its edges as examples.

Before you go: confirm the designation

Our map shows Crown Land Use Policy Atlas designations, which are policy areas rather than surveyed lot lines. Private lots, mining claims, leases and reserve lands can exist inside an area shown as general use. So use the map to narrow down a region, then confirm the specific spot in the Policy Atlas, check with the local MNRF district office if the status is unclear, and obey signs on the ground. The same applies to fishing and hunting: the map tells you where you can probably stand, but the fishing licence and zones guide and the hunting on Crown land guide cover what you need in hand once you are there.

All Ontario guides →