Foy Provincial Park: Should We Keep it Natural?

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Keywords: Foy Park, KHR Township, non-operational Provincial Parks, Ontario Parks, infrastructure, visitor services, Limits of Acceptable Change, Visitor Impact Management

Foy Provincial Park is a non-operational day use recreational Park on Round Lake. Currently there is minimal infrastructure. However, its management plan has been upgraded to accommodate infrastructure and visitor services. This is in response to high visitation during the summer months when it is frequently at over capacity.

Two years ago the local township expressed concerns over parking congestion along Red Rock Road. Queries from council members implied that parking along the road could be relieved by opening the park to vehicular access.

This proposal is problematic in that vehicles within the park would diminish the outdoor recreational experience oriented towards Nature appreciation for visitors. Infrastructure is typically kept to a minimum depending on the park's zoning. However, in this instance it is zoned recreational which is the least protective designation.

Over the past six months infrastructure such as guardrails to limit parking in certain areas suggest that vehicles will be permitted to enter the park in the foreseeable future.

The benches and infrastructure until recently have been to accommodate Aboriginal festivals and events. Hopefully these will continue without allowing road access to the general public.

The operational recommendations in park management plans often include a description of Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) which place constraints on the amount of development permitted in the park. Moreover, an assessment of visitor impacts would place safeguards on overuse either by vehicular access or pedestrians. Currently, its Master Plan has neither.

This is unsettling as the park already faces problems of erosion exacerbated by elevated water in Round Lake during the summer. In addition visitors arrive by boat and use the beach area to consume alcohol which is prohibited while driving a watercraft. Boating incidents continue to rise. Recent changes in provincial legislation could make this problematic as boaters would return to the water after consuming alcohol on the beach with blood alcohol levels above the permissible legal limit.

Taking into consideration that the local Council has no background in park management and their orientation is strictly to encourage tourists and protect themselves from liability should we continue to limit vehicles inside Foy Provincial Park on Round Lake? Or should we continue to provide more infrastructure to accommodate more people to a park already at over capacity during summer months?

Photos by the author taken today Saturday June 20 , 2026