Smileys

Sherrie Vanderaa

It was a lovely, warm fall day to walk under the beautifully colored trees. It is a great place to sit by the river or go for a walk along the pathways and just enjoy some quiet solitude.

Ilham Mammadli

I just loved this campground. Very big campground it has. The young guy helped me to pump air to my bike and also saved my life. I was forgot my sleeping bag in home and it was pretty dump. When I noticed, went the guy and asked if he might have emergency aliminium blanked . And he gave me one! So manage to sleep. Also there is nice little pond on the river which way better to swim compared to to the bridge area. Go , enjoy and have fun

Clarry Robicheau

Went to check Smiley's Provincial park today for the first time. It is well maintained (only 1 tree had blown over from a recent wind storm that had not been removed). Overall, a great place to take kids biking as most of the roads are flat and has lots of room for both pediatricians and bikers. It is not an overly large park, but still worth while checking out. There is a fairly large white pine that has been hit a few times by lighting and is hollow in the middle which still continues to grow on top a large quartz rock. Pretty interesting to see as the quartz sparkles in the sun light. There is also a small playground for younger kids and lots of picnic tables. I am sure this must be a busy spot in the summer for campers as there are quite a few camping sites equipped with a place to make a fire and cook food. The wooded trails are quite short from what I could see. My guess this park is primarily used for camping and not so much for hiking. Still worth while checking out especially if you have young kids and want a place to camp on the weekend during the summer.

Jessica Fekeshazy

Beautiful place to go camping! No cell reception/very little reception means quality time with family, friends etc. Beautiful hiking trails, playground for children and a partially paved roadway. The Meander River runs beside this campgrounds, and under the narrow bridge (this is located just before you turn into smileys) are some "honey holes" (my version of deep enough water to swim) to cool off when the sun is scorching (trust me when the sun is out it is hot, hot, hot). If you are looking to get away from the hussle and bustle of city life its only 50 minutes away from Halifax. Also a gas station about a 6 minute drive away.

Krista Whitehouse

I have been wanting to camp in this provincial park for awhile now, and finally got to spend this weekend there. We were tenting and it was a last-minute booking so I wasn't sure about what the site would be like, but the tenting sites around 6-11 are very large, with trees and in a quieter area of the park. Really enjoyed the park, and would like to try some other spots next time. We stayed at site #9, and I have included photos of the site. A couple of drawbacks: The staff hours have been cut so drastically, there is only staff to sell wood or ice between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm every day. It is self-serve. You do it yourself, including getting the wood, creating your own bundle, and paying for it by filling out an envelope and putting cash in it and dropping it off in a box. The staff doesn't have change, so you must bring cash and have the exact amount you need. No debit machines or credit machines. $5.00 for one bundle of wood, and $2.50 for ice. The bundle loading cradle they have for you to measure is very large in comparison to other campgrounds though, so you get a lot of wood for your $5.00. A Natural Resources truck drives around the entire site on what seemed like an hourly basis at night to keep an eye on the place. It seems they can afford to pay them more than the park staff. The staff everywhere seemed very friendly when they were there. Washrooms could have used a little more love. The hand dryer machine was broken in the women's washroom, but they hadn't put out any paper towel, so you were just on your own to drip dry. There are lots of beautiful trails around the park for hiking or cycling. All in all, the park could use more staffing, but we enjoyed our brief time here. It is a bit out of the way, in a remote area, so I’m not sure if we will be back any time soon. Lots of other great campgrounds in Nova Scotia to explore yet.