Taking the Trailer Camping

Minimalism Meets Comfort

In 2009, Emily Kerton and her husband Matt Roy hiked over 1,000 kilometres of the Appalachian Trail. They had everything they needed strapped to their backs or posted ahead to stops along their journey.

“It was a totally incredible experience,” says Kerton. “Things were so simple. [Camping] is minimalism embodied. The more you declutter, you feel calmer. You can’t bring a lot with you, and you start to realize that everything else you have is kind of extraneous.”

Kerton is a passionate, life-long camper, from tent camping with her dad as a kid to years of working with the Ontario Ranger Program at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, fostering a love of camping in other youths. When she had her son Emmitt, the young family of three did some backcountry and tent camping but also started talking about trailer camping, since Roy had great family memories of camping that way.

“I never thought or intended that we would be trailer camper people,” Kerton laughs. “Then two years ago we thought, ‘Hey, let’s do it. Let’s try a trailer.’” And so they set about searching for a lightweight trailer that their hybrid SUV could easily pull, and that would allow them to experience nature with the freedom and privacy they enjoy. They found an ultra-light ProLite Mini trailer manufactured in Quebec that fit the bill. It has no bathroom, but has snug sleeping areas, a little kitchen and a table, and is warm and dry year-round.

“It’s perfect. I’m a total convert,” Kerton says. “It means we can go camping anytime. If it’s freezing cold or super buggy, we always have a place to sit and make crafts or play games, make our food and be comfortable.”

They spend as much time camping as they can at favourite spots around Thunder Bay and across the border in Minnesota.

“We love camping at Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park and Sleeping Giant. Our favourite spots there are the 300 sites—you have to drive around Mary Louise Lake to get to them, and they’re more rustic and private,” she says. Quetico is also a favourite.

They’ve also done some longhaul trips, notably one to Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park. “That was an adventure,” says Kerton. “When you’re pulling a trailer with a hybrid [vehicle], you can’t get very far on a tank of gas and the battery doesn’t last that long. We could only do about 200 kilometres on a tank of gas, so we had to stop every hour and a half. It took us a long time to get there, but there are some amazing parks as you drive out west that we got to experience.”

This included their destination, which is an incredible park but also incredibly hot in the summer, and the little trailer does not have air conditioning. “We spent a lot of time inside the visitor centre reading the information plaques,” Kerton laughs. “But that was great because we also love natural science. Although we were a bit jealous of all the big trailers with their A/C.”

Her favourite thing about trailer camping is that it allows them to experience nature with minimal trappings, just like tent camping, but with a little extra comfort. It enhances the whole experience for them. “We have everything we need, and no more.”