The Parry Sound District map, which details Georgian Bay's eastern shoreline between Key Harbour and Port Severn, is coded to show provincial and national park lands, Crown land, patent (privately owned) land, and First Nations land. You can order a copy from the Parry Sound District office of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) for $11.38 including shipping, by calling (705) 746-4201. (For maps showing Crown land in other MNR districts, call the local office. Prices and availability will vary.)

Legally, anyone can picnic, pick berries, explore, and camp on Crown land. Bob Griffiths, district manager for the MNR in Parry Sound, explains that there's a policy limiting campers to 21 days in one location. If there's no fire ban in effect, a small campfire, using deadfall, is allowed, though the MNR would rather you cooked on a camp stove. All garbage, of course, must be removed. Occasionally, some sites become overused and may be posted "no camping" until they recover.

One caveat when using the map: Even at its fairly large scale (1:125,000), it's not easy to decipher the ownership of the smallest among those 30,000 islands this stretch of shoreline is famous for. Nor is private property always posted.