Here’s a creepy activity to keep you entertained: go exploring through an abandoned prison in Northern Ontario. Better yet, you can pay a small fee to the landowner and explore it legally and worry-free. It’s known as the Burwash Correctional Prison or as Camp Bison Prison Farm, and its history is pretty crazy.
So the Burwash Correctional Prison was originally built in 1914. And when it started out, the area was remote and isolated. At one time, it could hold up to 1000 inmates. But it never actually reached full capacity. Once the original structure was built, prison workers began developing an entire community around it. They built a hospital, a church, a post office, and even a blacksmith and a barbershop.
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Eventually, the name of the institution became Camp Bison Prison Farm and grew into an entirely self-running community. Some prisoners grew fresh produce while others worked at their makeshift grocery store.
Now, as the community in Camp Bison Prison Farm was developing, so was the rest of the world. And over time, roads were built and the facility was no longer in the isolated area it once was. On July 10, 1974, the government decided that the cost of running the prison was too high. Sure enough, the whole thing was shut down.
Today, the structure of the main prison still stands in creepy disrepair. However, it is private property. So if you’re going to go exploring, make sure you contact the Camp Bison Prison Farm for legal access to the site right here.
BURWASH CORRECTIONAL / CAMP BISON FARM
Where: Burwash Trail, Killarney, Ontario
