I had almost overlooked Esker Lakes Park when making my camping plans but luckily my mom suggested it when we were figuring out which camp to go to together. This park is a quiet little gem. It is a place to disconnect from the world and connect with nature. And by this I mean literally disconnect. There is no cell service here at all. So put away your phones and other hand held devices and enjoy the beauty all around you.
The park may be a bit remote but it is not hard to find. The signs showing how to get there were great! There was a new sign every 5 or less kilometers as well as two big welcome signs.
Despite having come from different directions and having left at different times, my parents showed up at the park only about 2 minutes after I had arrived. We went into the office together to register and I bought my Ontario Parks passport sticker and a bag of firewood. The staff were very friendly and helpful.
The roads are a bit winding with a lot of curves through the park and it was a little tricky to find our site. However, it didn't take too long to find our site (#68). The permit post had a spot for the main permit and another for an additional vehicle permit.
We had asked for a site with a view to the lake. Looking at the map, this site was one of the closest to the lake but there wasn't much of a view. There were too many trees between us and the lake; most of them were old, dead jack pines. But the site was definitely private and the ground was nice and flat for our tents. We were pretty happy with the site.
After setting up camp we were free to just sit and relax and enjoy the dragonflies. And there are a great many dragonflies here. There were large, green Darners that refused to sit still for a picture. And there were bright red White-faced Meadow Hawks that would still and sun themselves on the raspberry leaves. It was so nice to feel free to relax and enjoy the dragonflies. Work had been hectic for me and my parents had been stressed over their RV that needed many costly repairs so it was nice to just forget all that and leave it behind us for a few days.
Our site was not too far away from the comfort station. I headed over there to take a shower.
On the way over I spotted a ground hog who I think lives in the grassy area around the comfort station. The colouring on him was quite striking. We both stopped and eyed each other up for a minute or two until I finally conceded the staring contest and let him win. I walked away and he went back his supper of grasses, clovers, and dandelions.
The comfort station was adequate. It was not very big and it was not very fancy. But who needs fancy when you are camping. The thing that concerned me about this bathroom was that it was never properly cleaned. Throughout the number of days we stayed, we watched the cleaning crew go in and spend less than a couple of minutes in here each day.
| I am not sure what they cleaned but it wasn't the counters. I saw the same dead moth beside the faucet on one of the sinks every single day. So clearly the counters were not wiped or disinfected. |  |
Nor were the showers cleaned properly. A word to the wise... wear sandals or some sort of foot wear when taking a shower here. The water was hot, but you have to keep in constant motion in order to keep the water running so that the motion sensor knows you are there.
 | I saw the same mouldy looking bobby pin on the floor of shower stall every day that I was there. And under the rubber mat outside the shower stall was a big (couldn't miss it) wad of gum that was there the entire time we stayed.  |
There are very few things that I didn't like about this park. Aside from the lack of cleanliness of the bathroom and showers the only other thing that gave me cause for concern was the sign posted outside the comfort station on the Event Board. It stated that an AED device was available at the gatehouse during store hours but when the gatehouse was closed we were to phone the Duty Officer's cell phone. That's great that they have an AED machine in case of someone having a heart attack, but as you may recall me mentioning previously, there is no cell signal in this park. Zero. So, in the case of an emergency, there wouldn't be a way to phone this duty officer after store hours. Looks like a bit of a catch 22 to me.
| On the event board were some events that looked like fun. The park hosts a Halloween event in August. They also have things like Art In The Park and an information session on Undercover Critters,  |  |
We had arrived late in the afternoon so there was limited amount of daylight left on our first day. We decided to make a fire and get supper started before it got too dark. I got out my box of water proof matches. There was only one left in the box (I had another box, so that was not a problem). When I pulled out the match I laughed because the match was smaller than a toothpick! It was a teeny, tiny, baby match! How cute!
Needless to say, we got a fire going using the other matches and enjoyed a nice meal cooked over the fire.
We sat around the fire until it was nothing but coals. Then it was off to bed. The park is so quiet. There is no noise from neighbouring camps. No partying, and no talking. It is oh so wonderfully peaceful. The only noises I hear are that of a loon with a funny sounding call from across the lake, and the sound of something, ever so faintly, chewing on a near by tree. II would never hear the chewing sound if the park wasn't so quiet. Perhaps there is a porcupine up in the tree. But seeing as I was already nestled snuggly in my sleeping bag, I decided that was something that could be investigated tomorrow.
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