Fairbank Provincial Park: Video Review

Britt: Of course, the best s’mores are made when your husband remembers to get cookies that have chocolate on them, so that you don’t have to juggle the chocolate and the graham crackers separately.

CAMPSITE TOUR (1:35)

Britt: Alright, we are here. We have arrived at Fairbank. We do have a bit of a privacy panel put up there with the tarp because we had somebody moving in across the road with a dog.

And surprisingly, he wasn’t the issue. Willow was the one who was mostly upset with the fact there was a dog in our presence. Which we’re still working on.

She’s still a little unsure how she feels about other dogs, but this is creating enough of a privacy barrier that, as you can see, she is well settled.

So is he.

We have our tents here. We are on site 117. It is not the most private site.

You can see through here. As I said, that is a clear shot right through to the sites across the road.

Over here, that’s actually a campsite there. There’s nobody there right now.

And back here behind us, it looks like you have this gorgeous wooded view that you don’t have to worry about anybody. But anytime somebody drives down the road over there, it’s right there.

So, anybody walking or driving down the road is directly right there, looking into your site, too.

It has been a little bit of a challenge with them, but they are doing really well. We are so proud of them.

We are about to head out and check out the hiking trail – there’s only one here.

We’re going to check out the hiking trail. We’re going to check out the lookout area and the dog beach. They’re all kinda in the same vicinity.

So, we’re going to walk over there and see what we can find.

WA-SHAI-GA-MOG TRAIL (3:07)

John: Of course, the one time I volunteer to do the intro for a trail…

We’re just about to head on the, I’m going to hack this up though, Wa-Shai-Ga-Mog Trail. It’s only like a 20 minute hike.

Britt: It’s the only trail at Fairbank.

John: Ya. It’s the only trail here. So, let’s see what it has to offer.

Willow! Good girl. Oh, you’re going to go that way, eh?

Coming up to the first lookout here. Not bad. Pretty good view.

Britt: Of course, with every trail, there are plenty of good smells to stop and enjoy along the way.

DESENSITIZATION TRAINING (4:30)

Britt: Another great training exercise with them. You’ll see Lucifer’s here. We’ve got Willow over there.

We are near the dog beach. So, there’s dogs over there. There’s people. There’s bikes, which is Willow’s trigger.

And we’re just exposing them without them being too close. With lots of pets. Lots of treats.

We’re just helping desensitize them to being near those threats, those risks. And they’re doing really well!

DOG BEACH & EXERCISE AREA (4:59)

John: Okay, so Willow and I are at the dog exercise area.

I’d say it’s not that shabby of an area. Eh, Willow?

Now, she’s not going to go in, cause she’s going to go back to the site and tangle around me, and have dinner, and that will be pretty much be it for tonight.

But ya, that’s the view that you get over here.

And over here is the dog poop drop-off. You can see that they’re out of rolls. So, just be responsible and bring your own bags to dispose of puppy poop.

DAY USE & LOOKOUT (6:19)

John: And over in the day use area, there is a little seating area over here.

It looked like it used to be an old pavilion. A single picnic table over there right now. But there’s a little path down to the water where Britt and Luc is at right now.

Willow, come on!

Hey, Goose! Down here, you get this view.

DOG BEACH FUN (7:25)

Britt: Hi, guys! Lucifer, in you go!

John: Willow! Ya, shoulda brought the long lines.

Britt: Yes, cause shaking in the water is so effective.

MEALTIME AT THE CAMPSITE (7:52)

Britt: Some days you just want something quick and easy. A little pasta from a can never hurt anyone.

John: Mini ravioli. Can’t say the name.

Britt: These two are exhausted because we just came back from some dog beach fun. We walked down to the dog beach and back, too.

You can see Lucifer’s trying to beg for food, but he is also fighting it very hard, trying to keep his eyes open, too.

I think they’re both going to sleep very well tonight.

PACK UP TIME (8:26)

Britt: Well, the tents are gone. John’s packing the car over there.

Lucifer’s been helping me during pack up here, on his little wearable waist leash. Willow was helping John, but we still need to work on her work ethic a little bit.

She decided she was going to lay down and refuse to stand up while he was trying to pack up the tent. So, she’s now just here on her waist leash – relaxing and supervising the process.

Eh, girl? Was it too much? Are you tired, sweet girl?

But all we have left to pack up is what’s here. Everything else is in the vehicle. My little worker bee is ready to help do the end.

He’s always ready to go.

ONE LAST BEACH VISIT (9:17)

Britt: Are you happy?

Woop! Oh no!

Yup…

Good boy, Luc!

Can you get it? Momma’s gonna get it. Momma’s gonna get it. Rawr.

Gonna try to get Goose to swim. Good boy! Good boy!

Right to your sister. Aww! Did you bring her the stick?

What’s mommy got? What’s mommy got? Lucifer. Lucifer. Lucifer.

Bring it back to Mom. Thatta boy, bring it back. Hey, get over here with that. Drop it.

Woah, your sister’s going crazy!

Hey, Goose. I don’t know why he pounces like that, but I love it. Good boy! Good boy!

Are you just crazy, Willow?

Good thing I didn’t want to stay dry, girl. You’re splashing me like crazy. Eh, crazy girl?

Go see your daddy!

Oh Goose, I think daddy’s got your stick.

Goose! Good boy! He’s become quite the water dog, eh?

John: Good boy!

Britt: Good boy!

FINAL REVIEW (12:12)

Britt: Alright. So, we talked in our Restoule video about the fact that we lost some footage, and that included our views. And this is another one of them that, unfortunately, we don’t have.

But we’re going to re-record it for you right now and share our thoughts on visiting Fairbank Provincial Park.

GETTING THERE (12:33)

John: Alright! So, Fairbank, not Fairbanks, but Fairbank Provincial Park is in Worthington, Ontario, and it’s pretty much a straight shot from Toronto.

You can take the 400, it turns over to Highway 69, but same road. But that’s about a 4 ½ hour drive from the GTA. So, I mean, day trip.

Just a heads up, you do get put onto a little, onto a road that basically you’ll lose  cell signal and, but, ya…

Britt: Keep going! It means you’re going in the right direction.

John: Ya! Ya! Just make sure you download your maps or have an Ontario paper map, which probably the majority of us probably don’t have.

Once you get onto that road and whatnot, just keep following it and you’ll get there.

Britt: Lucifer is a little bit of a blockade barrier here, but he clearly wants to take part in this.

John: He’s got a prettier.. He’s got a prettier face than I do.

Britt: Oh, little man.

CAMPSITES (13:46)

Britt: So, as you saw in the video, in terms of camping, we had a bit of mixed feelings There are pros and there are cons.

I will say that the sites at Fairbank are not very private.

There were a couple that offered a little bit more privacy. Ours, unfortunately, was on the end of less private of what was available.

But if you are looking for a super private site that you don’t have to set up any type of barrier like we did, like it’s just private all on its own, this isn’t the park to look at.

That said, they do have some amazing sites to consider, depending on your needs.

There are approximately 160 sites, and that includes both electrical and non-electrical.

And, one of the unique things that Fairbank has that a lot of parks don’t is that they have electrical sites on the water. So, you don’t have to sacrifice having electricity if that’s something that’s important to you or if you have a medical condition where you need that in order to have a beautiful water view.

That was definitely a huge perk.

There’s also one group camping site there. So, if you’re looking for a place to bring a larger group, Fairbank has that opportunity as well.

John: Which is pretty cool about the hydro sites being on the water. It’s not a common thing.

BEACHES AND WATER SPORTS (15:06)

John: Speaking of waterfront, we got, Fairbank has two beaches, and…

Britt: One dog beach.

John: And one dog beach. You can see that it was in the day use area for the dog beach.

And, boating and canoeing…

Britt: Lots of lake access.

John: Yeah, you have a lot of lake access. You can bring yours if you have them. You can rent them from the park.

Lots of water sports there to do.

Britt: And I mean, as you guys saw at the dog beach, these guys loved it. But not only did we show you guys how much they loved it, we showed you how pretty the view is, too.

John: It’s a stunning view.

Britt: We could have hung out there all day.

John: Speaking of water sports, we’ve got fishing. Fishing’s pretty big up there.

The common fish that you’ll find… The common fish that you’ll try to catch is lake trout, smallmouth, and, ya, that’s it. Those are the two big common fish in that area.

Britt: So, if you’re looking for somewhere to get out and get on the water, whether it’s just to enjoy a waterfront site, to go swimming, to go canoeing, if you want to bring a boat, like an actual boat boat, not like a paddle, or if you want to go fishing, all of those opportunities are there and it’s a great park to choose for those options.

HIKING (16:42)

Britt: The other thing we enjoyed while we were there was hiking.

There is only one trail. It is an easy trail. It’s a smaller trail. It’s only 0.5 km. And that is the, I’m going to butcher this, I know we butchered it in the video, but I’m going to butcher it now… That’s the Wa-Shai-Ga-Mog Trail.

So that word, just a little background because I was researching and thought this was really interesting, is actually Ojibway for “clear water.” And it was the original name for Fairbank Lake.

So, to kinda pay homage to that background of the park in that area and its ancestry, they did keep that name on the trail.

So, I thought that was a really cool little fact.

While the trail is an easier, there’s no arguing that it’s an easier hike. It’s not overly challenging. It’s not overly long. It’s not like you’re going to spend your whole afternoon hiking. But the views that it offers…

John: Ya!

Britt: So worth it! There are multiple lookout spots where you can just relax. Maybe you pack your picnic lunch and you just sit there and enjoy it up on the trail.

We stopped and just had a couple snacks with the pups, grabbed a drink while we were there, because we carry our packs with some snacks and our water bottle.

It was just a beautiful place to hang out and enjoy, and see the Fairbank Lake. Just that view of the lake is absolutely stunning.

So, if you are going to go there, the fact that it’s easier makes it more accessible, which is great. It’s an option for even more people, and we highly, highly recommend checking the trail out.

John: Ya, the views from this trail are just amazing.

FIREWOOD (18:19)

John: And probably our favourite topic is firewood. Driving into the park, we didn’t really see anything.

If you did see anything, if you went to this park, leave a comment below, contact us on our socials, so at least we know and we could share that out there.

But I didn’t see anything, so it was just basically park wood.

Britt: And we all know our love of park wood.

John: Yeah, I’m going to try being nice. So, moving on.

Britt: But no, honestly, if anybody does know of a place in the area to get firewood, do let us know. We are very staunch advocates for the idea that you shouldn’t be transporting wood into different areas.

Obviously, there’s risks involved with that, like the Emerald Ashborer.

But we do like being able to support small businesses in the area to get nice, seasoned wood, and we do have places at most of the parks we go to, but we couldn’t find one for Fairbank. So, we would love to hear that if you have any tips or hints or places that you know are a go-to for you.

FINAL RATING (19:29)

Britt: But with that, that really brings us to the end of our conversation and our final rating.

For those that are new to The Kas Pack, we always rate our parks on a three paw scale or a five paw scale, sorry.

John: Five paw.

Britt: So, it is a rating out of five, and it is specifically based on pet-friendly travelling. We look at it from the unique angle of you are travelling with your dog or cat. Is this somewhere that is going to offer the different features that you might be looking for or the accessibility you need for a really good trip.

Now, with Fairbank, there’s kinda, there’s a lot of pros and cons.

Like, I absolutely loved the trail. It was a pretty nice beach. But when we travel, we travel with a reactive pup.

Lucifer is fear reactive, for anybody who doesn’t know, we’re very open about that, very honest about that. So, it’s hard for him to settle in a site that isn’t private. That’s why we put up those privacy barriers and try and create that privacy for him.

Going somewhere where the sites aren’t very private is definitely a hit for us as far as our rating. We look places that we can go in and know that we can kinda set up our site strategically without having to put up a tarp wall and have that privacy.

There just weren’t sites there that really offered that option.

So, with that said, kinda considering both sides of the coin, I think for me, Fairbank would be a 3 paws out of 5.

John: 3 paws? Ya, I agree with everything you said pretty much right there.

Britt: I mean, I would go back if we could nab one of those waterfront sites.

John: Ya, the joys of playing the lottery there. But ya, we’ll have 3 paws.

Britt: So there you have it, 3 paws out of 5 for Fairbank.

This is the last of our 2024 trips. Now that we’re all caught up with all of that and we figured out what footage we have…

We did just get back from our first big trip of 2025, which we aren’t doing a location review for, because it’s an area we are going to do a review of later, but we have filmed an informational type video for you guys about gear we use.

We want to kinda dabble a little bit more sharing tips, tricks, things that work for us, and we decided to do that with our off-season trip, is kinda explain what gear helps us be able to travel in the off-season.

Because there are some unique challenges.

So, if that’s something tha you would find interesting, or if you’re just looking for more reviews, because we have a lot more locations we’re going to be covering this season, including Sharbot Lake…

John: Balsam…

Britt: Balsam Lake, Lake St. Peter.

So, we’re getting out, we’re visiting new places, and if that is something that is interesting to you, if you do travel with your pets and you want to keep up to date on what we’re sharing, make sure to hit that subscribe button and join our community here.

You can turn on the alert and YouTube will actually tell you when we post a new video.

And introduce yourself in the comments. We like to hear about the people that are checking out our videos and, most importantly, we like to hear about your pets.

So, tell us all about your furry adventure buddies, like my little man Lucifer here, in the comments and we will see you on our next video.

John: Oh, uh… Stay toasty!