Canvas Camp
Eco glamping — Algonquin highlands, Ontario

Hand-pitched safari tents on 400 acres of old-growth and lakeshore. A real bed, a wood stove, hot water under the stars — and nothing between you and the dawn chorus but a single layer of canvas.

  • Off-grid, never roughing it
  • Two-night minimum
  • Dogs welcome on the trails

Built with, and watched over by, the people who keep this country wild

Highlands Land TrustSlow Travel CollectiveWildwood ProvisionsBoreal Coffee RoastersThe LakekeepersTrailhead Society
Inside the canvas

A tent you'd happilylive in for a week.

Every Canvas Camp tent is built for the long stay — insulated, lit, warm, and quiet. You bring a bag. We've thought about the rest.

The bed, first

A king frame, wool toppers, and a duvet rated for a frost-edged October night. We start with the sleep and design outward — a retreat you can't rest in isn't one.

Wood stove, always lit

A cast-iron stove with a season of split birch stacked at the door. Strike a match, watch the canvas go gold.

Hot water, off the grid

Solar-heated rain catchment feeds a copper rainfall shower. Steam rising into cedar at six in the morning, no boiler in sight.

Lit by the sun

Rooftop panels and a silent battery wall run every lamp and kettle. No generator hum, no diesel smell — ever.

A real kitchen corner

A two-ring stove, seasoned cast-iron, a hand grinder, and a larder of provisions from farms you passed on the drive in.

What the land gives back

400
Acres, ours to wander
1
Lake, swimmable to the far shore
Bortle 2
Dark enough to see the Milky Way cast a shadow
22km
Of marked forest trail from your door
How we tread

Premium can meanlighter, not louder.

We bought this land to keep it standing. Everything we build is designed to leave when we do — and to give back more than it takes while it's here.

Nothing poured, nothing paved

Tents rest on timber platforms set on screw piles. Pull three bolts and the forest floor is untouched — no concrete, no scar left behind.

Closed-loop water

Rain is caught, filtered, warmed by the sun, and returned to a reed bed that polishes it clean. We draw nothing from the lake.

A larder from down the road

Eggs, sourdough, maple, and greens from farms inside an hour's drive. The shortest supply chain we can walk on foot.

Half the land stays wild

200 acres are covenant-protected and will never be built on. The tents share the edge; the deep woods belong to the herons and the deer.

Choose your clearing

Four tents. Four kinds of quiet.

Each one sits alone, out of sight of the others, chosen for a different mood of the forest.

Sleeps 2

Lakeside

Steps from the water, with a private dock and a morning swim before anyone else is awake. Loons for an alarm clock.

Sleeps 2

Cedar Hollow

Tucked in a stand of old cedar, deep-shaded and cool clean through July. The most hidden tent we pitch.

Sleeps 4

Ridgeline

High on the escarpment with a deck built for the sunset and a sky that goes fully dark by nine.

Sleeps 4 + dog

The Meadow

Open grassland edged by birch, a fire ring, and room for the whole family — two-legged and four.

From the guest book

People arrive tired.They leave changed.

I haven't slept like that in years. The stove ticking, the canvas breathing, rain on the roof — I forgot I owned a phone. Three days and I came back a different speed of person.

M
Mara Whitlock
Stayed at Cedar Hollow, October

We packed expecting to rough it and got the best shower of my life, outdoors, under the stars. My kids talked about the dark sky for a solid month afterward.

D
Daniel Osei
Stayed at The Meadow, August

You can feel that this land is loved, not just used. No hum, no fences, no neighbour you can see — just the lake and us. We booked next spring before we'd packed the car.

J
Joanne Pelletier
Stayed at Lakeside, June
Rates by season

One tent, one night.No hidden resort fees.

Rates are per tent, per night, with the breakfast larder included. Two-night minimum, three on long weekends.

Quiet Season

Late autumn through early spring.

$245/night CAD
  • Any tent, lowest rates
  • Split birch delivered daily
  • Breakfast larder stocked
  • Frost-rated wool bedding
  • The trails to yourself
Most popular

High Season

Summer and the colour weeks of fall.

$365/night CAD
  • Lakeside & Ridgeline available
  • Swim dock & canoe included
  • Breakfast larder stocked
  • Guided dawn paddle, weekly
  • Late checkout on request

Whole Camp

All four tents, the land to yourselves.

From $1,400/night CAD
  • Up to 12 guests
  • Private chef on request
  • Wood-fired lake sauna
  • Built for retreats & celebrations
  • A dedicated camp host

Before you pack.

Is it really off-grid?

Fully. Solar runs the lights, kettle, and water heater; the wood stove handles the warmth. There's no mains power and, gloriously, patchy cell signal — but a hardwired emergency line, and Starlink in the main lodge for the night you truly need the world back.

What's the bathroom situation?

Each tent has its own private copper rainfall shower with solar-heated water and a composting toilet, both in a cedar wet-room joined to the tent. No shared block, no walking across the dark to find one.

How cold does it get, and can you actually stay warm?

Shoulder-season nights dip near freezing. The wood stove and our frost-rated wool bedding keep the tent genuinely toasty — most guests end up sleeping with the stove door glowing and the canvas flap cracked for the cold air.

Can we bring the dog?

Well-behaved dogs are welcome at The Meadow and on every trail. We ask they stay leashed near the lake to keep the loons and nesting birds at ease, and there's a towel-down station waiting at the door.

What happens if it rains the whole time?

Honestly, it's the best soundtrack we sell. The tents are fully waterproof with covered decks, the stove makes the inside cosy, and watching the lake disappear into rain is something most people never slow down enough to see.

The forest isalready awake.

Tents are released one season at a time and the lakeside clearings go first. Find your nights, zip the door open, and let the dawn chorus do the rest.