River Refuge

Awesome experience

This was our first boondocking experience, and we had a great time. Elaine and Blake were more accommodating than we could ever have imagined. Their property is a beautiful spot, tucked out of the way, along a meandering river. This is the classic definition of relaxation. We sat by the fire and all shared stories of our travels, and loved it. Thank you to these two wonderful people for showing us such a wonderful time!

You would have to be mad....

Not to stay at this location with these hosts. Unfortunately, the weather during our stay was raining and unseasonably cold. However the small amounts of time we spent with our hosts they were very kind and generous, even when we accidentally ran over a small patch of their wild flowers.

As our activities were very limited to indoor things we spent a lot of time traveling to various local artists studios. We have to say hands down the best studios we found were Eagle Glass Studios and Rose Studios (both just outside of Minden, you can google them). We purchased a bunch of unique stuff from these excellent artists.

We recommend this location as it is quite beautiful and the hosts excellent.

Great place!

This was a wonderfully serene location. Beautiful nature around & especially great hosts. Thanks for your hospitality, we look forward to seeing you again someday.

Norm & Sue

Absolutely wonderful hosts..couldn't do enough for us..from taking us into Minden (30km away) farmers market, to spending 11/2 hours fighting (unsuccessfully) with our RV awning, nothing was too much trouble for them. A wealth of local information! Truly fine folks, a credit to the club 5 STARS!

Super generous couple on a glorious river

We had a wonderful 5 nights at the River Refuge.
This couple was generous, funny, and talkative hosts. They let us use their kayaks on the river, we had a fire over stories and a few drinks, and they even bought us an anniversary cake from DQ.
They have a very friendly dog Buddy, who greeted us upon arrival, helped us bbq, drive our truck, and played with our dog Mia.
WARNING: Do not use Google Maps to find this place!!! You have been warned!!! LOL
On my kayak trip with one of the hosts we saw 3 beaver and woody the woodpecker, it was awesome.
We hope to return here sometime in the near future.
Stay safe and happy travels!!!

An Extra Special Getaway

What a wonderful experience for our first Boondockers Welcome visit!

River Refuge is a tranquil and relaxing place, perfect for our mini getaway. Such a calm and pretty river was a delight for canoeing and wildlife-spotting. It was also lovely to sit on its shores to chat with the hosts and see a beaver swim by.

The hosts were friendly and helpful and made sure we had everything we needed and more. They made the birthday and anniversary we were celebrating extra special.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, and we'll go back again. A big thanks to the hosts for everything!

Great spot with amazing hosts

This was our first experience with Boondockers.com and it will be hard to beat. The hosts are so friendly and welcoming and their property by the river is gorgeous. They had another couple boondocking that night and it was so nice to chat and get to know other RVers. Best of all was their friendly dog Buddy who acted as their welcoming committee.

Great First Stay!

Thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. Being the first use of the new RV, it was a great to be on a nice little piece of land right by the river bank, exactly what we’re looking to get out of these new adventures. Having super accommodating hosts and a elec + water hook up for our first use really helped to ease into it, even with periods of heavy rain. Such a bonus to go paddling down the river in their kayaks the next morning. Feel very prepared for future trips and thank our hosts for setting up for success! Will hopefully visit again sometime soon.

A great experience Thank you

Wonderful time with wonderful people thanks

Great location with amazing hosts!

Our hosts were so welcoming and accommodating, we enjoyed sitting with them around the campfire, playing guitar together and having great conversations.
Always willing to help and advise about the best spots to explore around the area.
When we arrived, they even provided us with a mosquito repellent device and a door step, and when we left, they were willing to assist with everything - just to enable us a smooth drive.
Buddy (their dog) was so cute and welcoming, we connected with him immediately :-)
We really felt at home, even though we stayed for only two nights.
If you are looking for great location with amazing hosts - you got to the right place! We will definitely want to come back.

Our first Boondockers Adventure

We really enjoyed staying at River Refuge with our wonderful hosts.
They have had some great adventures! Hope to return in the fall and sit by the fire and share new adventures.

Truly a river refuge!

We had a terrific three nights at River Refuge, which is a wonderful spot right on the river. There was plenty of space for our motor home and car on the property. This friendly couple was very welcoming, providing a warm introduction to their home and the area, aling with electricity, a topup for our water tank, and directions to "not to be missed" sights in the area. They even offered use of their kayaks and fire pit. We highly recommend "Itasca" and their beautiful property. Many thanks to the two of you for an enjoyable stay - much appreciated!

Great hosts

Had a great evening and overnight visit. A beautiful location with superb hosts. B&E came over for a meet and greet drink, and then left us alone to settle in. Exactly what we needed after a long day driving.
Will return for a longer visit next year.

Once in a lifetime

We kayaked, we fire-pitted, we star-gazed, we met the warmest, most gracious, most fun couple you can imagine. A dream spot under the stars and hidden in the woods, just feet from a long, winding river, with falls to stop and stare at and snuggle near for hours. Our hosts joined us for drinks and dinner, you probably heard us laughing all weekend -- they are sweet, hilarious, and, to newbie Boondockers like us, endlessly helpful, with everything from advice to extension cords to Omigod homemade cheesecake. We thought about writing a terrible review ("If you like flies the size of tennis balls and swampland, then you'll love...") so that we could keep them to ourselves but that's not fair, plus he sort of looks like a retired football player so we better be nice.

River getaway

A very nice stay at a great location. Very welcoming hosts with a fun little furry four-legged family member. Quiet nights. 👏👍

B & E are great people. We had a wonderful time at their place.

This place is a hidden gem! Back in the woods along a river and 2 great people willing to share their time and location. We stayed for 3 nights and it was very relaxing. The first day when we arrived, we were greeted by Buddy first. Their very friendly dog. B then followed shortly and gave us a quick tour of the property and locations to set-up. After selecting the best spot for us, we got busy getting things set-up and as it was later in the day, we also made our meal. We even set-up our dining tent, as it's a bad year for bugs everywhere. That evening we sent B & E a message that we were ready to visit and they came right out to our dining tent, where we had a great first visit. They also gave us lots of ideas about what to do in the area, even with the VOVID-19 lockdown, which is hard to do anywhere. The next day we decided to use the canoe to paddle downstream to town. B & E offered to take us downtown in the morning, so we could have our truck waiting for us to drive back. Easier then paddling upstream. There were 2 portages along our route, both beautiful waterfalls. The first portage was a short easy portage and the second one was a little harder due to the steep hill at the end of the portage, but we did it and we had a bit to eat at the bottom of the falls. It was beautiful. Wish we could add pictures to the review. We finished up in town and Nancy's arms had all the paddling they could take, for a couple of days, LOL. The truck was parked in town by a fish and chip vendor and we where told it is a good place to eat. It was very good to just sit at a picnic table along the river and enjoy fish and chips! Thanks, B & E for a wonderful time! Maybe we could Host you some time, and if not, we will be back someday. TheButlers (Ron & Nancy) Cheers!

Hobbit Heaven

Hosts were wonderful and welcoming and generous. Great talks. Quiet secluded river’s edge setting and excellent shaded parking spot. P&J

Excellent time

We enjoyed our stay with these folks. The hot tub was the right temperature and the kayaking on their river was great. The hosts were wonderful and offered us electricity and anything we needed. Our stay was great and we would return to spend time with them again.

Great stay

Thank YOU for the hospitality and the opportunity to meet YOU BOTH. Driver

Our first time using Boondockers

The Itasca folks have a lovely spot on the river and were very welcoming upon our arrival. There was plenty of level space to park our RV. They were quick to learn our aspirations and provided suggestions of things to see and do in the area. Overall, it couldn't have been a better experience for a first time user.

Thank you so much!

Fun and relaxing weekend one a beautiful property

The hosts were so kind and welcoming. We enjoyed their company and their little dog Buddy! The river was so much fun to canoe down and definitely an experience people should check out! Thank you for everything. We hope to see you again this summer!

Incredible stay and day

Hosts greeted us right at the driveway and made our stay very comfortable. We stayed the weekend and with some guidance on the river system and portages from the hosts and buddy we had a great paddle down the most beautiful river for a fall paddle we probably have ever had. Great little spot by the river. Too tired at night to use the fire pit that was offered after a full day of kayaking. Thank you for all your help it was appreciated. Will be back for sure.

Awesome stay, thank you!

Really lovely hosts and property! Very welcoming and the backyard and stream is so picturesque. We stayed one night and hope to come back again!

Awesome stay

We had a pleasure to stay with our hosts and Buddy the dog over the weekend. We felt very welcomed and enjoyed beautiful property and Algonquin park near by. Thank you for having us over at your place. We enjoyed spending evening with you and our conversations. Sorry we couldn't make back on time for dinner and canceling invitation at last moment. Hope to see you in the future. Halyna and Roman.

A very welcoming couple

A wonderful time at River Refuge!

They welcomed me so good that I was shy Loll A charming couple and I will definitive;y go again!
The place is calm, please keep it that way, view on the calm river.
I definitively recommend their place if you want to relax and chat!

An Idyllic Haliburton spot with Fabulous Hosts

Camping can’t get any better than this! Beautiful spot beside the river. So quiet and peaceful. Itasca hosts were so incredibly helpful to make me feel at home and to help with a few glitches with my new to me rig. So appreciated. Electrical and water hookups were great to have and wifi worked very well. Tour of the area’s natural wonders was memory making. Would love to visit again! Thank you so much Itasca!

Good talks

Talked for hours, great people.
My second stay, will stay again

Excellent.

Blake and Elaine were amazing host. Great location, canoeing, hot tub, and many nearby sites to see. Thanks for everything.

Incredible hosts

This is what Boondockers is all about. Fantastic easy going friendly hosts. Great tour guides of the local area. We shared a campfire and a meal. Felt like we had been friends forever. Location is super quiet on the river. Great place to kayak. Thank you for the fantadtic 5 days, even though the mosquitoes thought we were steak. Hope to meet again.

Great hospitality

Enjoyed the site. Loved the company. The falls were awesome. Peaceful night.

relaxing

We had just what we were looking for plus.... thank you for taking us to the two beautiful falls in the area. The two of you made our weekend one to remember. Sorry we didn't have a chance to kayak down the river with you hope to do the later in the season. If you come to Sawdust again let us know we would love to join you.

Can we come back?

It really is a Refuge. Once again we found ourselves smiling as we drove down Hobbits Lane to our destination. Our smiles did not leave when we met our most gracious hosts. Itasca were funny and witty and so very helpful. Our hosts genuinely cared and were ready to assist and guide us with anything we needed. They went out of their way to make us feel welcome. We laughed and shared interesting stories. We felt so comfortable. They have a beautiful river just out their back door! I wish I could post pictures! Looking forward to seeing them again. Thank you Itasca!!

Paradise

Real nice people.
Gorgeous site on creek.
Bizarre weather, snow and ice storm middle of April.
Narrow lane, branches were rubbing on my 11 foot class C.
Would definitely stay again.