Ontario reveals its new provincial park. Here's what you need to know

The Ontario government revealed Thursday the location for their new operating provincial park, saying it will be situated in cottage country just a few hours drive from the Greater Toronto Area.

On Thursday, the provincial government announced it will be transforming Bigwind Lake Provincial Park near Bracebridge, Ont. into a fully operational campground.

The park will offer overnight and electrified campgrounds, backcountry camping and four-season recreational activities, officials said. In total, officials expect the park to add 250 campgrounds, as well as up to 25 new cabins to the Ontario Parks system.

“Parry Sound–Muskoka is home to some of Ontario's most popular provincial parks. Today's announcement reaffirms our government's commitment to protecting these special places,” Graydon Smith, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, said in a statement.

“Residents and tourists will soon have access to another truly beautiful and quintessential provincial park. I have full confidence that Bigwind Lake Provincial Park will become a very popular destination for people to take in the splendor of our area.”

It is important to note the government is not creating a new provincial park. Bigwind Lake Provincial Park exists as a 5,000 acres non-operating park, which means residents can visit the area to go hiking or canoeing, for example, but it is not staffed and doesn’t have camping capabilities.

• Download our app to get local alerts on your device
• Get the latest local updates right to your inbox

The province is proposing a repurposing of this land so it is fully-serviced. This will involve the construction of amenities such as a visitor centre, electric vehicle charging stations and electrified campsites.

It will also involve easy to access biking and walking routes, officials said. The government said it will be engaging with Indigenous communicates, local municipalities and stakeholders over the coming months, but that members of the public will be able to provide their thoughts until August 6 via an online survey.

Construction on the park is expected to begin in the fall of 2024.

Environment Minister David Piccini canoes on Bigwind Lake Provincial Park with his dog. (Provided)

Experts told CTV News Toronto in April they hoped the new provincial park would add to Ontario’s protected lands rather than repurpose already conserved properties.

At the time, the province had announced they would be creating an urban provincial park near Uxbridge.

The park could include up to 532 hectares of provincially-owned land along the Oak Ridges Moraine, in addition to about 598 hectares of Durham Regional Forest and 123 hectares of land from the Town of Uxbridge.

Environment Minister David Piccini said the new lands would be protected under the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act and be counted towards Ontario’s federal environmental commitments—to protect 30 per cent of land by 2030.

• Here's what experts want to see at Ontario's new park

The Oak Ridges Moraine, however, is generally considered protected from development—although last year the province re-designated some lands within the area as suitable for residential development as part of its pledge to build 1.5 million homes.

The other lands could be considered as new protected areas; although the Durham Regional Forest is already owned and managed by Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority.

Daniel Kruas, national conservation director for Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, said back in April that while the announcement of new provincial parks is “Great news”, it appears as though the government is reusing land that is already being managed for conservation.

“It's almost more like a relabeling as opposed to a genuine addition to protecting conservation areas in Ontario,” he said.

“I would like to see it kind of go beyond protecting what's already been conserved. So that might mean additional land securement, additional restoration of areas.”

As of 2023, about 10.9 per cent of land in Ontario is considered protected.