Crown Camp Support

Help for Crown Camp for iPhone

What Crown Camp does

Crown Camp answers one question: what does Ontario's published land data say about camping at a particular spot on Lake of the Woods? Tap an island or shoreline and the app checks Ontario's land-tenure records and land-use policy for that exact point.

It covers the Ontario side of Lake of the Woods and Ontario's part of Shoal Lake. Anywhere else is reported as unknown, which is not the same as "not Crown land".

Crown Camp is not legal advice, not a navigation aid, and not affiliated with or endorsed by the Government of Ontario. Posted signs, fire bans, and current government notices always take precedence over what the app shows.

What the results mean

Likely permitted

Ontario's data shows Crown land here, and nothing in it rules out ordinary recreational camping. Usual Crown-land rules still apply, such as stay limits and fire restrictions.

Additional restrictions

Camping may be possible, but something here limits it, such as a conservation reserve or someone else's rights to the land. The result lists what applies.

Not ordinary Crown-land camping

Private land, First Nation reserve land, a provincial park, or policy that does not allow it. Parks have their own camping rules and permits.

Unclear

The data doesn't settle it. Often the spot is within a few metres of a mapped boundary, where the map's accuracy could change the answer. The result says which boundary and how far away it is.

Map colours

Green: Crown land. Crown land is shown, but green is not a camping answer. Tap the spot for the full check.

Grey: patented (private) land.

Purple: First Nation reserve.

Red: provincial park. Park rules apply, not ordinary Crown-land camping.

Blue: water.

Orange outline: conservation reserve. Shown when Policy boundaries is turned on in the Layers panel, along with other policy areas and rights holders.

The Legend button on the map shows the same key.

Common questions

Does it work without cell service?

Yes. All of Ontario's data is built into the app, and checks run on your iPhone. The date the data was downloaded is shown at the top of the map. The data doesn't update on its own; newer data comes with app updates.

Check My Location isn't working

The app asks for your location the first time you tap Check My Location. If you said no, turn it back on in Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services › Crown Camp and choose While Using the App. On the water, a GPS position can take a few seconds and can be off by tens of metres. If that error could put you on either side of a boundary or the shoreline, the result says so.

Why does a tiny island say "Unclear"?

Ontario draws boundaries in different datasets that can disagree by several metres. Near a boundary that could change the answer, the app says "Unclear" rather than guess. If you tapped near the edge of the island, try tapping its middle.

What are the resorts, camps, and marinas on the map?

A short, hand-checked list of businesses on the lake, for finding your way around. Their details come from each business's own website. Services change with the season, so contact them before relying on fuel, food, or docking. A grey question mark is a location someone reported; it has no details and hasn't been checked. These markers never affect camping results.

I think a result or a listing is wrong

Please email with the location (a screenshot is ideal) and what you believe is correct. Results come directly from Ontario's published data, so a mistake in that data can't be fixed in the app alone, but it helps to know. Listings for businesses can be corrected in the next update.

Privacy

Crown Camp collects no personal data. Read the privacy policy.

Data source

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. Source data: Land Information Ontario, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.