mara provincial park

Visited this park 3-4 times. We were never there for camping purpose. Thus the visit was always free. For people who like peace and quiet, and pet owners who want to off-leash walk their dogs, spring, fall, and winter are the best seasons. You may see 1 or two people during the entire visit. Sandy beach with a beautiful view of the lake. Walking trails are easy. During "closed" season, this is a nice park to stroll around with dogs.

My family and I stayed at Mara in August of 2013 and had pretty crappy weather for the long weekend (it rained). We were given the option of two lots- the first one was right beside a creek and was inhospitable - bugs and debris were everywhere. Thankfully, the second spot was not as bad and we were able to camp out here. Unfortunately we left our tent the tiniest bit open when we left for a few hours and any food that was not inside closed containers were ransacked by racoons and/or squirrels. Outhouses were pretty dirty, but the showers were clean - recommended to take showers at night, when there are less people. Beach is small, but good.

This park has a great beach. Our campsites were in the non-electric back-woods portion of the site, so they were fairly private and quiet, my only annoyances were that they were too far from the lake and beach, so we had to trek over with the car and kids. Also the outhouse facility by our sites did not even have a light or beacon; at 2 am even with a flashlight it was a challenge. Be forewarned, the raccoons are stealthy and will take things from under your nose! If its not on your lap, it will be taken. Lock everything up in your vehicle including garbage before going to bed. Otherwise, showers had great pressure and the main facilities were generally clean. Because of the beach and great swimming area, this is an above average park.

Revisited this beach as an adult with friends. Small, slightly crowded but cozy beach with nice sand and nice slow slope to deeper water. Private boats park a little uncomfortably close to the buoy lines. Good family beach. Note: the restrooms were Absolutely disgusting! Worst ontario beach washroom that I have seen in years! What a shame, really contrasted with my childhood memory of a decent working washroom.

My husband and I and our two children booked a two night stay at Mara, but due to weather only spent one night. The campsites are really quite average, not much privacy, close together, decent shade, but gravel/sand cover. The campground has a nice beach, but the playground is abysmal (metal slide!). We have been to Mara three times now and what brings us back is that we really like how close this site is to Orillia. If you need a pharmacy, groceries or camping supplies, it is all just a short drive into town. Also it about a 10 minute drive to a water front playground and splash pad which is an excellent spot for young kids. Our two kids alternated between the beach, swimming, the splash pad and the playground, with a break for ice cream somewhere in the middle of all of that. The beach is well watched, with 2 life guards on duty when we were there. The water is nice, not to much seaweed, and is quite shallow for some distance out. I highly recommend this playground/beach if you have kids and you're staying at Mara.Regarding the campground - we may be back, but our next trip is to Bass Lake, also in Orillia, to see if the sites are any nicer.

Maras sites were fairly good. IfYou don't mind not A lot of privacy as that doesn't bother me. Beach was very clean and water was beautiful!! My biggest peeve was the showers stations and washrooms. We have travelled to various provincial parks and they have all been at the same very high standards. Mara was not. It was constantly disgusting. And I don't mean the floors as obviously they will get dirty from mud. I'm talking about the toilet seats!! Wet toilet paper mixed with muddy foot prints all over the seats!!! Obviously there were certain people being disrespectful for other people. We won't go back there.

Mara Provincial Park has a large beach, which is unique to the provincial parks in the Lake Simcoe area. It is a large sandy beach, meant for swimmers of all ages, unlike what is found at McRae Point, Bass Lake or Sibbald Point. However, it also has a nature trail through a wetland, not far from the beach. I was there for a short visit, in fact shorter than trips to other nearby provincial parks as I was in more of a walking than a swimming mood.I found the wetland trail to be so muddy that you would need rubber boots for much of it. There was some heavy rain in May and June, but my visit was in July and that rain had not occurred for several weeks. There are some short wooden plank sections, but otherwise, heavy mud. They are better off making a boardwalk for most of the length of the trail, if they want it to be a destination. It would also be safer. A similar situation caused the closure of a nature trail at Sibbald Point, about 40 minutes away, in June. The beach is really the predominant natural feature of this park though. Nature walks and hiking seem to be more of a feature at nearby Bass Lake or McRae Point. I personally find wetland trails to be interesting, as you can encounter interesting plants and animals. Frogs and birds can be spotted there quite easily. Bring your camera if you want to take your chances. Just be prepared for a very sticky, muddy walk.

Visited this park on a walk in basis for three nights...Site was not bad considering it is a non reservable site....due to some problems we had to stay on one site for 1 night and then go up to the office before 9 the next day to get one of the two sites that should become available after 2 that day. (walkin sites)....Got there at 745......another lady who was already camping was there and had been there since 645 in order to book a site for her son.......and promptly put me in my place saying I was here first and I am served first.....that's okay.....we did get the 2nd site, but my question is....since the sites were non reservable on a first come first served basis...why was that lady able to book a non reservable site for her son who was not coming until the evening....I thought that a walk in site had to be just that....you had to be there......Unfair to travellers (if her son was already there, would have been a different story,,,,I was told that you could not come in in the morning and use the walkin site, and then return home to get ready to come...You have to leave a vehicle or camping gear on the site.Anyway 2nd problem....some families seem to think that when they buy a day pass that entitles them to a camp site (DOESNT MATTER WHICH ONE, AS LONG AS THERE IS NOTHING ON IT.) Happened across from us. The campers on that site had a Rv which they drove to wherever they went to during the day and then returned to find that a family was having a picnic on their site.......you would have thought that the Park rangers that drove around that day would have clued in......big family...no tents.....no sleeping facilities at all....what are they doing on that site....they should have checked...the poor family that had paid for that site had to wait until the family cleared up their mess before they could go on their site....Sites are large, but very dirty due to the shade...no grass......would hate to be there if it was raining....,On a good thought...the young lady that was in the office on August 8 (evening) was just wonderful.......also the next morning.......Probably will not return to this park.

Mara is a very small park, for what that is worth.We booked our site rather last minute and had to accept a site of poor quality and poor privacy, however when we toured the park it appeared as if all sites wery pretty poor for both privacy and quality. The park was only an hour drive from Whitby, so it's good from a convenience point of view, although I would pick Balsam Lake or Sibbald ahead of Mara.Beach was very deep which was nice but was fairly short, still lots of room on a busy day. Swimming was fine, lots of big boats, and generally seemed like eveyone was enjoying themselves.Park is very close to Casino Rama.We had a great trip, and if Mara is convenient for you I wouldn't discourage going there but there are definately better Provincial Parks out there, albeit some with much longer drives.

The size of the site was great and didn't seem too busy in camping areas even fully booked on Canada Day weekend. We were across from washrooms but far from beach. Problems were the mosquitos, earwigs and too many rocks on the beach. No my favourite park but better than Balsam. We booked two sites but they were too far apart due to utility access path. Tons of people on bikes and very busy beach with lots of boats but only one awkward boat launch.

Beach was okay but distance from camp area was a little daunting with young children. Never returned as many campsites further north offered better swimming

small park, but very scenic, not very busy, has boat launch and shallow beach for swimming. there is Camping on site.

This summer, having not been to Mara for a few years, decided to go back with some friends. We were unable to get an electrical site where we usually camped, and booked a general tent site in the 80's. Used the outhouse and one of them was clogged...all weekend. They were not clean, lots of spiders. Part of the problem was inconsiderate folks who would leave the toilet seat up and toilet paper on the floor. The showers were so so and the comfort station washrooms were not clean either.Had a bonfire and retired around 10:45. Several people were sitting around their fire directly behind our tent by about 6 ft. Lantern on full in a tree 2 ft behind our tent. They didn't bother to lower their voices and began to sing around 1:00. It was a complete nightmare. I guess the park rangers were asleep because they were not seen walking or driving around at all that night. We put in a complaint the following day and they came around to take a report from us and our neighbours who were disturbed as well.The beach at Mara is really nice, well groomed however not supervised as there were dogs on the beach running free with some on leashes, though there are signs that clearly state no dogs on the beach. Again, no sign of any park staff.Maybe we just picked the wrong wkd to attend this park but it was really disappointing. I would not return anytime soon. What was a strongly supervised, clean, family park sadly is no longer. My suggestion, go farther north.