The park was founded as the
Toronto Helios Society in 1972. The park officially opened as a nudist camp in 1973. In May 1984, original owners Eric and June Jarvis could no longer operate Toronto Helios as a club for nudists only and were changing it to a
trailer park open to the general public. From 1984 until 2001 the land hosted a variety of non-nudist businesses including an attempt to open a
KOA campground. On February 12, 2001, Carol and Larry Bean purchased the assets of Town & Country Resorts Inc. out of bankruptcy with the plan to return it to its former status as a nudist camp. They renamed it
The New Forest Family Naturist Resort. The next several years were spent upgrading and repairing the facilities. On December 22, 2006, Carol and Larry sold the property to Linda and Stéphane Deschênes. The park was renamed
Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park for a variety of marketing reasons and as a wordplay on their last name (Deschênes being French for ‘of the oaks’). A child abuser began to frequent the park, who was asked to leave after it was discovered he had a criminal record. The club is recognized by the
International Naturist Federation, the
Federation of Canadian Naturists, the
Fédération Québécoise de Naturisme, the
American Association for Nude Recreation, and The Naturist Society. Bare Oaks adheres to naturist principles and rejects clothing-optional policies in favour of mandating nudity for all members and visitors. Bare Oaks has been criticized for its practice of admitting children to the site free of charge, and encouraging the co-mingling of naked children and adults. In 2016, a music video for indie rock artist
Brendan Canning was filmed at the club. ==See also==