Frontenac Provincial Park - An opportunity to stay active

Daniel Geleyn | Apr 14, 2021

The Frontenac Provincial Park has been considered one of the greatest asset of the county, and it remains one of the gems of our area to be explored and enjoyed.

Like most of us, the park has been affected by the pandemic, but much of it remains positive as it offers an outlet to remain active and enjoy the great outdoors, especially during the current restrictions.

“The main services offered at the park are backcountry overnight camping and day use like hiking and paddling,” says Ben Chabot, the park superintendent.

Originally from South Frontenac Township, Chabot has been the park superintendent since 2015, although he started working in Ontario Parks much earlier with summer jobs when he was still in high school. These early experiences and his love of the outdoors led him to post-secondary education in natural resources and eventually to his current position.

With a total staff of 18 at the park, Chabot is the only full-time employee. The rest of the staff are seasonal, with many of them being students who work during the busiest season in the summer. Ontario Parks is currently conducting its annual seasonal recruitment for staff, including students. For anyone that likes the outdoor and has the ability to interact with the public, this is a great opportunity.

“The safety of our visitors and our staff is our top priority so we’ve implemented different measures to promote physical distancing throughout the park. We’ve been responding to provincial and regional orders related to COVID-19 and that did include some temporary closure of overnight camping for a short period of time,” says Chabot.

Despite these restrictions, the park has been able to stay open, even for backcountry overnight camping, for most of the year. In fact, there has been an increase of the use of the park in 2020, and that was across Ontario as well.

“We are expecting another busy year again. Backcountry overnight camping is suspended right now, it went into place April 3 as a result of provincial orders,” says Chabot.

It has already been widely reported that camping sites are in high demand for this summer and people are asked to book early to avoid disappointments. Although backcountry overnight camping is not the average family camping experience as the campers must either hike or paddle to their site with all their equipment, the increased popularity of camping this year, largely due to the restrictions to travel out of country, is expected to also drive the demand for this type of adventure.

For the latest information on any restrictions at the park, Chabot recommends to anyone thinking of coming to the park to visit www.ontarioparks.com and follow the COVID-19 link where up-to-date information is always available.