(Bill Bishop is an RV enthusiast based in Ottawa – and living out of his travel trailer for much of the summer)
Anyone having access to a recreational vehicle in Ottawa is certainly blessed with an abundance of campgrounds to choose from in any direction. Whether you have an RV or trailer, if you live in Ottawa, the Outaouais or Eastern Ontario, you’ve got some real gems when it comes to nearby destinations. Let’s explore those in this edition of the Travel-Mor Trailer Sales blog.
RV & Trailer Trip Options Within Easy Distance of Ottawa
When I first started pulling a trailer for camping, I was living in Nova Scotia. Although Nova Scotia is known as Canada’s Ocean Playground there is not a large selection of campgrounds throughout the province. Compared to Ottawa it is quite limited. My sister and her husband, who live in Nova Scotia, are long time campers in various travel trailers and fifth-wheels and they are always impressed by the selection of campgrounds we have within one to two hours’ drive of Ottawa.
It’s not just the sheer number of campgrounds, but the variety that really makes a difference. Whether you are looking for wilderness, family, resort-style, fishing, boating, vineyards, Blue Jay baseball games, music festivals or just a chance to meet some new friends you have a virtually unlimited array of choices. And we have done just about all of it, including camping in the city of Toronto to take in some of those Blue Jays games – we are both long time fans.
RV & Trailer Camping on the St Lawrence
However, by far our favorite area to strike out with our travel trailer and get out of the city is along the shores of the St. Lawrence River – whether it just be for a two-day weekend or for a week or more, we spend more days camping every year along the waters of the St. Lawrence than any other area. It seems it is always our first trip of the year – as it was again this year – and the last trip of the year. We have camped in more than a dozen campgrounds from the Ontario-Quebec border to near Gananoque, on both sides of the Canada–US border.
For us being next to the water has always when been special. There is such a calming effect when just sitting and starring out over a body of water, especially an impressive body of water like the St. Lawrence River.
And it is not just the water, but all of the features and characteristics that go along with that particular body of water. As a river, the St. Lawrence has the obvious like wildlife – especially birds and fish. There is also much activity on the water with various kinds of watercraft – canoes, kayaks, paddle boards (we just bought one), jet skis, fishing boats, power boats and sail boats.
And although other rivers can try and match the St. Lawrence for all of these activities there is one other type of watercraft that is perhaps unique to Canadian rivers as they ply the waters of the St. Lawrence – cargo ships.
There is a certain majesty and romance in watching a large ship going either upstream towards the Great Lakes or downstream towards the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the ships are “lakers”, carrying cargo between ports on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence, but others are ocean going craft carrying bulk materials or finished goods between the ports of the world and the interior of North America. There are websites which track in real-time the name, position, direction and speed of each commercial ship operation in the seaway, either “at sea,” anchored or docked. With a bit of googling you can find out who owns the ship, where it has been, where it is headed and what it is carrying. Watching these ships lumber past the campground is one of our favorite activities and it is not unusual to see five to eight of these ships go past during a day. RV & Trailer Camping on the St Lawrence is an interesting experience.
Modern Luxuries in RV’s & Trailers
Modern RVing often involves using our electronics. Most RVs come equipped with a high definition (HD) television and Over-the-Air (OTA) antennae. And of course, there are our mobile phones. I mention these two specifically because we use them frequently and RV & Trailer Camping on the St Lawrence has some nice advantages.
First OTA reception is dependent on your location – proximity to the transmission towers dictates the number and quality of channels you receive over the air. Note that these are not cable channels but tend to be PBS and network channels like CBC, Global, CBS and FOX. Nowhere do we get the selection of channels we do when we are along the St. Lawrence River, both Canadian and American channels. And they are in HD. In fact, the quality of the reception seems better than we receive by cable at home and I believe it is because the signal is not compressed when OTA.
Now we do not go camping to spend our time watching television, but if the weather is not great it can be a nice option. And when the Ottawa Senators were in the playoffs in 2017 (remember those days??) we were able to watch a game while staying at Coles Creek Campground during the May long weekend on the American side.
As for our mobile phones, we do not want to pay for roaming services while in the United States. However, we always have “Canadian” connectivity when camping along the American side of the St. Lawrence. This has worked for Rogers, Telus and Virgin (Bell). Just set your phones to not roam and/or set it to always connect to your home network. It is very convenient for just checking the weather or finding a local attraction.
Can’t Beat Travel in a Trailer or RV
Taking our travel trailer out for a few days is our favorite type of get-a-way and finding a lot at a campground along the St. Lawrence River is our favorite destination. We will be there once again in a few weeks – the lot is already booked. And as soon as we are set up, we will sit and look out over the water and perhaps a “laker” will be making its passage along the seaway. And we will know once again we are spending time at our happy place, not far from our home from Ottawa, but far enough away from the hustle and bustle of the city to let the world pass by us rather than us trying to pass through the world.
For more information on nearby destinations, or to purchase or rent an RV or trailer, contact Travel-Mor Trailer Sales in Ottawa today. We have a large section that’s priced at good values and backed by the reputation of industry leaders. We love to talk about anything RV, so give us a call or drop us a line anytime!
