It’s
worth the effort to visit this world-class city...
(Motorhome row at Indian Line Campground features
full-service sites with a scenic view.) |
In
the Toronto Sun, dated Friday June 8, 2007, an article
by Zen Ruryk dealt with the concept of an RV Park for
Toronto. The title read: “Toronto councilors put
the brakes on efforts to get the city involved in creating
an RV Park”.
The article contained several opinions from leading Toronto
politicians, which can best be summarized in these quotes:
“I don’t believe this is a core function of
the city – to provide an RV site” said Councilor
Kyle Rae, chairman of Toronto’s economic development
committee.
“The committee decided to take no action on creating
an RV site”, but, Rae said, he “would welcome
an application from the private sector to create a park
for motorhomes.”
“A municipal report said there is no location within
a one hour-drive of the city that provides amenities for
upscale RV enthusiasts.”
Camping in the Greater Toronto Area has always been a
bit of a challenge for RV enthusiasts, with land values
so high that RV park development just can’t compete,
and traffic so dense that you really have to know your
route, or the highway system can become a maze that is
difficult to negotiate.
Despite the challenges, RV camping in Toronto is a subject
that is very close to our hearts. Karen was born in Toronto,
and our two children were born at Toronto East General
Hospital. I was born in Hamilton, but lived most of my
adult life in Toronto. We are very proud of Toronto, but
we learned a long time ago that Toronto is not very RV
friendly, and this article just goes to show that Toronto
City Council knows very little about RV’ing, and
the great benefit it can bring to regional tourism.
If the Toronto Sun article foreshadows the course of Toronto’s
RV future, the city would create a RV resort for motorhomes
only, not all RVs. The article also said that there is
no suitable location within a one-hour drive of Toronto.
As I write this article, Karen and I are staying at Indian
Line Campground in my class “A” motorhome,
in a very nice scenic site with full hookups. While our
site and about a quarter of the RV sites in the campground
are fairly nice by today’s standards, the park as
a whole needs to be upgraded to provide a greater number
of fully-serviced sites. It only seems appropriate for
the City of Toronto to focus some attention here - Indian
Line Campground is located at 7625 Finch Avenue, Brampton,
only two minutes from the 427 Highway, we are about a
15-minute drive down the 427 Highway to the QEW Highway
which feeds the Gardiner Expressway. Fifteen minutes east
on the Gardiner and you are in the heart of downtown Toronto.
Indian Line Campground is a campground that was designed
back in the late sixties or early seventies. There are
247 sites, some have electric and water hookups and some
have no hookups. Sixty-nine sites have a sewer hookup.
The electric hookups offer 15 or 30 amp service.
The campground advertises that; "You can do it all
at Indian Line Campground, swim, fish or simply relax.
If it’s more of an urban adventure you’re
after, you can’t beat the location of this first
class tourist campground. Located just outside Toronto,
Indian Line Campground has excellent highway and public
transit access to many attractions in Toronto. Indian
Line Campground is a family oriented campground and a
convenient stopover for tourists.”
Indian Line Campground is the closest campground to downtown
Toronto and has a great location right on the Humber River,
but at this point in time, and in the campground’s
current state, it is not what one would describe as a
first class campground, as it may have been back in the
seventies. This gem of a location in the Greater Toronto
Area can best be described as a campground that needs
some work to bring it up to today’s standards. Indian
Line Campground is owned and operated by Toronto and Region
Conservation Authority. Their logo reads “Toronto
and Region Conservation for the Living City”. It
certainly doesn’t seem to be beyond the scope of
the City of Toronto to refresh the Indian Line Campground
and RV Resort.
With the Canadian National Exhibition, Steelback Grand
Prix, Toronto Argonauts football games, Toronto Blue Jays
baseball games and even the Brampton Battalion OHL Hockey
games (early games in September and October), Indian Line
Campground is a great location to visit in your RV.
We now need the Toronto councilors to reopen the “RV
Resort for Toronto” agenda and look at the Indian
Line Campground and the improvements that could help bring
the campground up to today’s standards. In other
words, bring it into the “Living City”, and
let’s make Toronto much more “RV friendly”.
The Toronto Sun article also refers to a municipal report
that states that “there is no location within a
one hour-drive of the city that provides amenities for
upscale RV enthusiasts”.
This is simply not accurate. RV enthusiasts who would
like to visit Canada’s largest city have some excellent
alternatives to camping within the GTA. There are several
really fine RV campgrounds within a reasonable drive of
the City of Toronto.
Just about a half hour north of Toronto is the beautiful
Toronto North KOA and this campground has full hookups
with 50-amp service. Located at Highway 89 and 400 it
is very easy to get to and has lots to offer. To the west
of Toronto, just about a half hour drive, is the Toronto
West KOA. This is another fine campground with lots to
offer.
To the northeast of the city, Cedar Beach Trailer Park
on Musselman’s Lake is a very scenic location, about
45 minutes from the city (when traffic is light).
Not far west of the greater Toronto area is the Milton
Heights Campground, which is located at highway 25 and
401.
These are all first class RV campgrounds, and we have
enjoyed staying at all of them over the years, but if
you ever have been in rush hour traffic in the Greater
Toronto Area you would never want to travel these highways
in a motorhome, or with a travel trailer in tow. The 401
Highway is the busiest in North America and it goes day
and night, so the best way to visit Toronto with a motorhome
is to tow a car, or rent one when you arrive. For trailer
travelers, your tow vehicle provides easy access to the
city.
So we reflect with disappointment on the decision by the
City of Toronto to shelve development plans for additional
RV camping locations. It seems strange that the largest
metropolitan area in Canada would take this approach,
since during the course of our travels, we have visited
many destinations that offer excellent RV camping facilities
within a short drive of a major city, including Calgary,
Regina, the B.C. lower mainland (the greater Vancouver
area), and a number of U.S. cities - but in the case of
Toronto, aside from the limited facilities at Indian Line,
your RV camping alternatives are an hour or so from the
city centre, and not within the area served by the city
transit system.
The only solution for RV enthusiasts who wish to visit
Canada’s largest metropolitan area is for the City
to acknowledge the fact that Toronto needs a first class
RV park, and Indian Line Campground is the perfect location
for a top-rate RV resort.
Take Care & Happy RVing,
M.B. and Karen Wilson
The Wagon Masters
wagontrains@msn.com (Page Top) |
