darlington provincial park

Great for a full day outing, or just a short excursion, especially if you enjoy the great outdoors. Why not take the whole family?

Looking for a last minute weekend getaway close to home, a friend and I booked a campsite at Darlington Provincial Park in Clarington. We picked a lakefront lot with a view of Lake Ontario. This isn’t the type of “wilderness” camping that I prefer but when you’re looking for simplicity, something like this will do. To read more about my experience at Darlington Provincial Park, check out my blog post: http://thecarpediemproject.ca/travel/darlington-provincial-park-clarington-ontario/

We booked here Labour Day weekend while attending another event in the area. We camped at 5 provincial parks over the summer and were equally happy here. The site was large and private (and we quite enjoyed the sound of the train). There are numerous trails that were suitable for biking or walking. Other parks let the grounds and beach 'go' and call it a natural. I quite enjoyed that the beach was groomed. The grass and gardens were well taken care of as well. The bathrooms were clean which is a plus. Staff was friendly and I highly recommend getting an ice cream at the store... you won't be disappointed! Overall a wonderful holiday weekend and a place we would frequent if it weren't 2+ hours from home.

Strong exhaust fumes from highway 401 traffic.Noisy trains travel near by.Rocky beach.Crowded entrance

It's a beautiful park. Ample camping bays. The park has a camp store. Nothing much in the store. Camp fire wood is expensive. Bowmanville is just a couple of minutes away. Right on Hwy#2 in Bowmanville is the Bowmanville Mall. There's Metro. You can get all your supplies there. Booking online is more expensive. It's better to call them in advance-it's cheaper I think.

All night train kept everyone awake.(Hilltop location) Lake side & Cliff side might be quieter due to beach sounds...not sure. Beach was the best part & giant ice cream for kids. Going back? I think not.

A nice park overall, very convient when travelling the 401 and you need a place to stop. Good facilities, and the beach of lake Ontario is really nice. Most sites are pretty good and there is a variety to choose from. Nice view of Toronto from a far distance.The only sore spot here is the din from the 401 is always in the background.Good wash-rooms, and are up to date. Good staff too. I would recommend this park to stay at for short to medium stays. Overall rating of 7/10.

Brilliant program, great staff, highly educational and really good value for money.But sadly, a great pity about the roar of traffic and the whistles of trains throughout the night.Ontario Parks put on a great one-night, two day program for newbies to camping. They provide you with just about everything you need, including a tent, screen dining shelter, propane stove, pots and pans, cutlery, crockery, cooler box, ice, fishing lessons and tackle, firewood, air-mattresses - you name it, it's part of the very modest $80 price. The only thing you need to take is food (something cold for lunch the first day and something to cook on your first night and for breakfast the next day).We took the program on 5th Aug - two parents and 12 year-old daughter who had never camped in Canada before. The first morning was excellent, new Coleman tents provided for each group, two very knowledgeable Park Wardens to show us how to put up the tent and dining screen, a short chat on do's and don'ts in the park and when camping in general. They help out if you get yourself in a muddle, like when you try to slide the grey pole into the red colour-coded hoops and your tent looks decidedly wonky!After the tent-erecting and a cold lunch comes arguably the best bit of the program - Fishing!Michael, a very knowledgeable and experienced fisherman and Warden, provides a lesson on fishing do's and don'ts, fish identification, knot tying and practice casting before everyone is allowed to borrow a rod and try their luck in adjoining McLaughlin Bay, a body of water separate from Lake Ontario. A lot of fun and if you're too squeamish to put your own worm on, Michael will keep a very straight face, not roll his eyes and put it on for you! My daughter caught 4 fish on her first try at fishing and is now a committed fisherman - er.. girl. A wonderful experience.Later in the evening we got a short lesson on how to use propane stoves safely, were given our stoves and canisters and turned loose to cook ourselves dinner. Following that and a short lesson in safe fire-lighting, we were given a demonstration on how to light a fire, given our firewood, a fireside treat and bid good night.We were free to stay up as long as we like and a while later, after getting a good fire going and enjoying our treat, fatigue set in (putting up a tent and a screen is hard work if you lead a sedentary lifestyle) and we turned in for the night.Now comes the bad part. The terrible part. During the day, the noise of traffic on the adjoining 401 and the rail-line isn't that noticeable. It's certainly audible but if you're busy doing stuff you hardly notice. The same cannot be said during bedtime when the noise seems to become a solid roar of sound. The road traffic is bad enough but the regular trains trump that noise level every so often. And because of a level crossing on the road to the park, the engine drivers have to use the whistle, and use it they do. The best way to describe our night is a series of short, light naps (not deep sleep because of the traffic noise) between trains. A great pity because the program is great, the staff Kyle and Michael knowledgeable and super-helpful but we had a terrible night.If I had to do it again, I think I'd take along earplugs, a stiff nightcap of the liquid kind or possibly both.

Great private sites. We are koa and good sam members but decided to give ontario parks a go. Awesome campsites that were heavily treed. We stayed in hilltop section. Bathroom and showers were not maintained. Bathroom needs paint and cleaning. Showers were o.k. but were kind of small. Not many childrens programs.Great for campers looking for wilderness feel. I reccomend staying out of hilltop. Train and traffic can be heard. Beach was nice but a lot of alge. Ice cream was a big hit for the kids and my wallet at only 2 dollars for two big scoops.Best campground in the Durham region

Sites are small, camping was not good at all....the trains that toot their horn every 1 hour sounds like it is coming thru your campsite...there were 10 of us none of us will ever come back...so many better parks:-)

There was a mixup with the camp reservation (totally my fault) and the girls at the front were extremely friendly and helpful. They were able to get us into a site with hydro because a site was vacant due to a no-show. (Whew). We came to this location so that we could have a visit with family members in Ajax on the Saturday, but wanted to squeeze in some camping. The site was clean, some locations had a great view of Lake Ontario. The site numbering was a little confusing (we were site 41) which was directly on a main road. Lots of traffic, we could hear the highway in the not so distance and the trains would blow their horns until dusk and started again at dawn. Not necessarily a quiet, relaxing site, but it was an away. It could have been worse. There was no swimming for this family. The site is only a few miles from a nuclear plant lol I told the kids they could swim if it wasn't so cold and if they didn't mind glowing for the next 10 years... *Smile*...Shop on site for last minute items. $2.99 for 2 rolls of super thin paper towel and $3.50 for a small box of sugar cubes.. *yikes*. Lesson learned.We will not be camping here again, for the distance from home, we would prefer a quieter camp site. I forgot my memory card for my camera so there are no official photos of this experience.

We went to DPP for 3 nights from June 28 to July 1st, we were a big group close to 15 people. We booked 3 camp sites at the rate of $40/night/site and that included permit for one car.The park is almost an hour away from Toronto which was a good thing, the bathroom facilities was available all over the place and it included showers. The things that I didn't like about DPP are:- Camp sites are closed to each other as there is no privacy compared to the camp sites I went earlier.- The $40/night/site is a bit high compared to other camp sites we went before.- The worst among all time is the freight train horn sound that keeps passing-by every 20-30 min even at night.It was a nice experience but it would't be on the to-do-again list!!!Enjoy...

Darlington Provincial Park is a nice close escape that is close to Toronto. If you know what to expect and accept the pros and cons you will have a good experience.First the Pros:Less than an hours drive from Toronto (Good if you want to camp from Friday night then drive home early Monday morning to get back to work)Good hiking and walking trailsFeels like you are in the outdoorsGenerous camp site sizesDecent amenitiesI would rate this as above average for RVs, below average for tent camplingSurprisingly not rowdy with teenagers and people in their early 20s. (I thought a camground this close would be noisy with the younger folks. We had a site beside two such groups and they were very considerate and we could not here them after 10 PM.Cons:You can hear the highway as background noise if you are near the East side of the camp grounds (which is where I think the best sites are.)The train is definitely not back ground noise and they have to honk their horns at the at grade crossing near the entrance to the park. If you are used to city noise, you will not have a problem sleeping as the sounds are familiar. If you are a light sleeper or wake up with unfamiliar noises, this may be an issue.The beach is a nice walk, but I would not enjoy swimming in the water.All in all, I would stay here again for early and late season camping where swimming is not important to me, however I would choose a different place in July and August with better swimming options.

Very beautiful park and the nature is so fresh. The best way to spend your weekend out of busy city traffic and noise! Here you can be re-united with nature. You can simply breath its soul!The best place to watch migrating birds – warblers in spring, waterfowl and raptors in fall – or resident terns and plovers. Park has 4 trails:Burk Trail 1.25 km (30 minutes) moves through fields, meadows and mature forest past a pioneer cemetery to a scenic lookout over Lake Ontario. Here you can watch for the elusive Coopers hawk at the bluff and songbirds in the meadows.McLaughlin Bay Trail 1.5 km (1 hour) is a hiking trail from McLaughlin Bay. Using this trail you can travel through a marsh ecosystem into the transitional zone between wet and dry land. If you are lucky you can come across a waterfowl such as the Great Blue Heron. Robinson Creek Trail 1 km loop (30 minutes) follows the Robinson Creek through a forested ravine full of mature willow, maple trees and a diversity of plant and animal life. Waterfront Trail 2.6 km (1 hour) is a small section of a 350-km, multi-use trail that follows the shore of Lake Ontario from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Trenton.Please enjoy my pictures and try to visit this park! You will not be disappointed!

We were camped at the Lakeside campground at Darlington in the second weekend of June. The campgrounds in Darlington overall are very beautiful and being spring, the morning grass greeted us with bright green hues & trees were lush and green. The air is beautiful. It is a magical feeling. The biggest advantage of this park is it’s closeness to city on the east end (similar to Bronte Creek on the west end). One does not realize how close they are to the city; the park is so secluded. The campsites are very decent, most have no slopes and fair bit of privacy (more than some other parks I have been too). The biggest disadvantage would have to be what everyone has already stated about this park – the trains with their blaring horns. This is very true. We took a white-noise machine with us and barely noticed the toots. They have a habit of particularly sounding their horns near campgrounds – I presume because the park entrance road crosses the tracks. We explored the log-cabin where they have insect displays for kids. Not to my liking much. There is an amphitheatre where they air 70’s Lorax musical. The kids don’t seem to understand it much but I saw some adults enjoy it. The best hiking in this park is the shortest trail – takes all of 20 mins to walk through, and it is the Robsinson Creek trail. Very beautiful. Put lots of bug spray before going here. The park also has a day-use area which on weekends becomes very crowded and noisy by the city-dwellers. There is a store/restaurant that opens at 9am. They sell Keurig K-Cup coffee for $2 and carry refrigerated muffins (also $2). I’m not normally a fan of pod-brewed coffee but this was pretty decent. There is also a restaurant styled menu of quick snack-type food (fries, etc). And great icecream for $2.25 – two large scoops good enough for two people. Ice cubes sell for $3.