By Kayak, By Car - 2 Unique oTENTik Camping Experiences with Parks Canada

Published May 23rd, 2025

Photography by Jay Kana

April of 2025 was the first time I slept in a Parks Canada oTENTik. It was at Point Pelee National Park in Leamington, Ontario, a touch outside of Windsor.
It was quite the experience and made such an impression that my partner, Steph, and I decided to double up and take our oTENTik adventures a step further via the 1000 Islands National Park, a touch outside of Kingston, Ontario.

What makes these two Parks Canada experiences unique is that Mallorytown isn’t as popular as some of the others yet it offers a remarkable experience with many modern amenities.
The other, MccDonald Island, is, well, an island and the only way there is by kayak, canoe or boat.

Here’s your guide for how to spend the night in a Parks Canada oTENTik in these two very different and delightful locations. 

Mallorytown Landing 

Only 30 minutes east of downtown Gananoque along the beautiful Thousand Islands Parkway, is home to Mallorytown Landing. 

There are two oTENTiks here on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, with the sunrise lifting itself above the water in the morning and the ambience of the sunset spilling onto the water in the evening.
Here, you’ll enjoy proper bathrooms with running water, a shower and an outdoor area for washing dishes (opposed to the indoor setup at Point Peele) all within a two minute walk from two out of the five available  oTENTiks. MT-A and MT-B are the two closest to the bathrooms, while MT-C, MT-D and MT-E are up to an additional two-minute walk.

There are designated parking spaces very close by, as in a thirty second walk close.
The standard amenities are here, which include a fire pit, picnic table, a wildlife-proof locker outside and a BBQ. This one was charcoal whereas Point Pelee was propane.

After a hearty dinner of BBQ’d hamburgers and salad, get the fire pit roaring, pull up a famous red Parks Canada chair and soak up the sights and sounds of the outdoors.
With it’s just-far-enough-outside-of-the-town location, look up to enjoy the stars on clear nights. I finally managed to take some decent star pictures with my good ol’ iPhone 13 and yes, there’s a decent amount of cell signal here. Not a lot but enough to stay connected.

Inside the oTENTik is the familiar set up with a table, chairs and places to sleep up to six people. Be quick on opening and closing the door to keep the bugs out and if you need to sleep in nearly absolute darkness, make sure the blinds are fully closed as the sunrise faces the front door.

The appeal with camping at Mallortytown Landing are the running water toilets, showers and ability to duck into town quickly for any forgotten items or an emergency. 
If it’s your first time in an oTENTik and you want/need more of the glamping side, this will be ideal for you.

Overall experience rating: 10/10

McDonald Island

As an avid kayaker, this was an exciting adventure and the best part is that it’s fairly easy to do.
Steph and I rented a two-person kayak from the consistently excellent team at 1000 Islands Kayaking. Our reasonable rental cost included several dry bags, a waterproof map and chart, an extra paddle and very kindly of them, a thermos with hot water so we could have hot coffee/tea. The kayak had watertight storage compartments in the front, middle and rear and as we packed light, everything easily fit.

It’s approximately two kilometres from 1000 Islands Kayaking to McDonald Island

It’s approximately two kilometres from the kayak launch at 1000 Islands Kayaking to McDonald Island and it’s crucial to check the weather often the day before, day of and day of departure as it can quickly change.
We took the scenic route there as the weather was clear and calm and paddled leisurely as we weren’t in a rush. If you can do the same, I recommend it as there’s so much to see and soak in by kayak along the St. Lawrence. 

Remember this when you go; even though the Parks Canada McDonald Island sign is on the north side of the island, access is only on the south side, so you’ll have to kayak around (it’s a short paddle…three to four minutes) to reach the beach to dock and unload.
It’s easy to see/spot as there’s a dock there for bigger boats and space for kayaks and canoes.

We got ourselves on land, unloaded our gear and put our kayak far enough on land that it wouldn’t get swept away.
If you want to use a cart to haul your gear to the oTENTik, turn left on the trail and they’re about a one minute walk where the garbage bins and firewood are stored. We opted for the cart.
Our oTENTik, 2B, (one of three on the island) was a two minute walk from shore and with a light amount of gear, we were settled in quickly.

Know there there’s no running water on the island. There’s an outhouse close to shore with hand sanitizer.

Smartly, Steph picked up three cans of chilli, which she put in her camping pot and heated up over the fire pit. Add in some tortillas and a couple of drinks and it was quite the meal.
What made it better? The sunset which faced us and our oTENTik.
There’s also a bit of cell service here so we listen to the Leaf game by the fire, called it a night and had a good sleep.

We woke up to rain, which was ok as it was in the forecast. It was slated to stop around 9:00 am so we packed up and planned to leave around 9:15.
No issues repacking the kayak and this time, we took the direct route back to 1000 Islands Kayaking.

We had the option to stay at Gordon Island, which is nearly five kilometres away by kayak  but with rain in the forecast for our departure day, we played it smart and safe.
This was definitely one of my favourite kayak excursions and if you can do it, you should!

Overall experience rating: 12/10 

You’ll have time between these two oTENTik experiences and if you’re looking for things to do, let’s stay with the theme of land and water.

Take a Hike at Jones Creek

A short five minute drive from the Mallorytown location is Jones Creek, also part of Parks Canada, where you can enjoy a variety of hiking trails. Smartly, the trails are clearly marked and the route we took landed us at the famous Parks Canada red Muskoka chairs.
These are easy to moderate hikes.
Bring your bug spray, stay in the middle of the trails and enjoy Canada’s great outdoors.

A Boat Cruise from Ivy Lea

This quaint part of the 1000 Islands offers a superb one-hour boat cruise via City Cruises.
You’ll circumvent Boldt Castle, along with other scenic spots along the way. Stay inside or enjoy the upper deck’s fresh air and breezes as you cruise this radiant region of Canada,
Audio commentary is  pumped through speakers in a variety of languages outside of English and French.
There’s free parking and this is a splendid way to spend time on the water.