Province Of Ontario Expanding Charleston Lake Provincial Park

Province Of Ontario Expanding Charleston Lake Provincial Park

60 kilometres east of Kingston, Charleston Lake Provincial Park is a family favourite destination for camping, swimming, boating, fishing and wildlife viewing, The Ontario government is proposing to expand the park to give park visitors even more opportunities to enjoy these activities.

As Ontario’s first Adventure Class park, this significant expansion of Charleston Lake Provincial Park will create new opportunities for local residents and visitors alike to get outside and enjoy the benefits of spending time in nature, while protecting it for future generations. We are grateful to our partners in the Charleston Lake Provincial Park Working Group like the Thousand Islands Watershed Land Trust, the Schad Foundation, the Ontario Conservation Accelerator and other key stakeholders who are helping turn a shared vision into reality.
— Todd McCarthy, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

Ontario is proposing to expand Charleston Lake Provincial Park by approximately 2,273 acres (about 920 hectares), which would increase the size of the park by one third. Located directly east of the existing park, near the town of Athens, the proposed addition includes lands that are currently used for a wide variety of activities such as hiking, wildlife viewing, cross‑country skiing, snowshoeing, hunting, biking and ATV and snowmobile travel. The proposal would allow existing ATV and snowmobile trails to continue and there will be no change to these activities during the planning process for the proposed park expansion.

Charleston Lake Provincial Park was also designated Ontario’s first Adventure Class park. Adventure Class parks are a new classification of provincial park that were created to help expand opportunities for outdoor, challenge-based activities in natural settings across Ontario, while protecting natural features.