At Awenda the water and the bed are in different places. The campgrounds sit under maple and oak, six of them, and the drive down to Georgian Bay is where the sand is. Ontario Parks calls Methodist Point Bay, the park's Third Beach, the sandiest and most protected beach on that shoreline, and that is where the day goes. Midland and Penetanguishene are the last towns on the way in.
Several natural beaches share that Georgian Bay shore, each a drive from the loops, so the towels and food ride in the van and camp is not a walk from the sand. You pick a loop for power or quiet rather than for a view of the bay.
From camp, the Beach Trail runs out toward the shoreline and back, the walk after breakfast. The Bluff Trail is the long loop, a morning given to maple and oak on the campground side of the park.
Wolf is the campground to reserve if the van needs power. All of its sites have electrical hookups, and some Hawk sites do too, per Ontario Parks' camping page. If your listing expects a hookup, make that reservation first and let the van come second.
Deer and Bear are radio-free, so the forest stays quiet after dark. Snake is radio-free, pet-free, and generator-free. Book the loop for the sleep you want, then lock the site before you book the van. If you need more sleeping space than a campervan, look at Barrie RV rentals.
Camping runs early May through mid-October. Outside that window the loops will not take the overnight, even though the park still opens for day-use, including winter. Summer weekends fill, so treat the campground reservation as the first booking and the van as the second.
Springwater Provincial Park
Toward Barrie, Springwater is the picnic ground, the hiking trails, and the playing field. You come with lunch, walk the trails, and let the field take the afternoon. Ontario Parks runs it as day-use with no camping, so the van is parked for a day, not a night. In winter the same grounds stay open for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, which is the outdoor day after Awenda's loops have closed for the season.
West along Georgian Bay, Collingwood takes the Craigleith night. On Lake Simcoe, Orillia is Mara and McRae Point, and Newmarket is Sibbald Point. Toronto is the Algonquin Highway 60 corridor, and Barrie is a stop on the way north.