Author: Camp That Site

Montague Harbour Provincial Park – 8 Tips To The Most Beautiful Campsite

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Montague Harbour Provincial Park

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I consider myself very lucky, 16 years ago my parents started their dream by selling their home and moving aboard a 52 foot cabin cruiser. We spent many great summer holidays on the boat, but as the kids got older there just was not enough room for all of us to sleep. That is where the camping came in. We would head over to Montague Harbour Provincial Campground and set up our sleeping spots. The trip to Montague starts with a short ferry ride from Tsawwassen to Galiano Island. This camping trip was a bit different because we were tenting. The cost of taking the trailer on the ferry was just too high, and because we planned to spend most of our time on the boat it was not necessary to bring it over. With only 28 sites in the park reservation are recommended during peak season and it does fill up early. There is an overflow field for tenting and this area does have a couple of hidden gem. The park does not have hook ups, it only offers pit toilets and half the sites are walk ins but if you make the trip you will not be disappointed.

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Our first trip was August 2012 and we were in site 5, which is half of a double site, but it was all we could get. The site was big so sharing it with a stranger was not that bad, but we were far from the beach and the wharf. The second trip was in August 2013 when we booked walk in site 40. We had a view of the ocean, but the site was not very level and we felt like we were on display to all other campers. This is where the hidden gem comes in. We moved to the over flow area and found a site down at the water, in the very far corner, behind a tree and off on its own. It had beach access and complete privacy. We spent the rest of the trip at this site.

The campground offers a lot to do. There is a shell beach good for hours of beachcombing as well as plenty of walking trails. If you have kayaks it is a great harbour to paddle around and you will often see seals, otters and other sea life. Fishing off the dock is a very popular activity. Galiano Island is known for its artists and there are many small galleries and artisan shops to poke around. We also visited the local pub on the island and what is neat is you can catch the complimentary pub bus right from the campground gate and it will take to you to the Hummingbird Pub. The food and service at the pub wasn’t great but the bus ride made the entire experience worth it.

Here is my advise for this campground.

View from first come first serve, hidden gem site.
View from first come first serve, hidden gem site.
  • Campground Highlights
    1. Views from walk in sites
    2. Beach – great  for  beachcombing and walking
    3. Hiking trails
    4. Harbour – great  for kayaking or canoeing
    5. Group  campground – its an amazing site but you would need a group willing to tent and walk in.
  • Campground Lowlights
    1. Pit toilets
    2. No showers
    3. Ferry costs and restrictions
  • Things to do:
    1. Beachcombing
    2. Hiking
    3. Shopping
    4. Fishing
    5. Kayaking/canoeing – can  be rented at the Marina
  • Links
    1. Hummingbird Pub – http://www.hummingbirdpub.com/
    2. BC Ferry’s – www.bcferries.com
    3. Montague Harbour Marina – http://www.montagueharbour.com/

Blue Lake Resort – 10 Highlights To Greet You At The Top Of The Crazy Road

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Blue Lake Resort – Boston Bar, BC

View of the lake from our hike

The summer of 2017 our annual  group camping trip brought us to Blue Lake Resort.   For previous 4 years we had camped in the Cariboo but all of our kids are now working full time or going to school so we needed to find a location within a couple hours of Vancouver. We also required 5 campsites, with at least a couple being lakefront, one cabin and, oh yeah, we all wanted to be together.  We knew this would be a tough order so when the folks at Blue Lake Resort said they could accommodate all our needs we were thrilled and confirmed our reservation.

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Before we booked we did some research on the resort and, as expected, there were many pros and cons. Our biggest worry was the access road from the highway to the resort. Many reviews claimed it was very steep, full of pot holes and narrow so if you met a vehicle coming the other direction one of you will have to back up the to allow for passing. This made us a bit nervous because we all have RV’s that range from 20  to 26 feet and not all of us tow vehicles often. That being said, the resort fit the bill in all other areas so we decided to take the risk

THE INFAMOUS ROAD

I can say the reviews are accurate! The road is everything it promised to be, very steep, very narrow, and very short, only about 1.8 km long. We were lucky not to meet an approaching vehicles on either of our trips. Playing chicken while towing a trailer up hill was not something we were looking forward to. We drove cautiously (AKA slowly) and were able to navigate the road fairly easily. The resort gives tips on the best times arrive and leave and I would recommend following the check in time rules. It really is your best chance to avoid having vehicles meet on this perspicacious road.

The Resort

  • Site 1

Once at the resort we were directed to our campsite and met up with our friends. We were in Lake Site 1 which claimed to have a private dock and great views. Our friends were in Lake Site 2, with the other families being across the road in sites 3, 4 and 5. We were all close together and very near the beach, exactly what we were promised.

We arrived on a Friday afternoon and the resort was very busy. It is large resort with a beautiful beach area but the beach is really too small to accommodate the number of guest at the resort. Our campsite looked right onto the beach area giving us very little privacy and our “private dock” was not so private. Many of the beach visitors made their home on the end. You might think that is not a big deal but they had to walk through our site to access the dock so it was a bit annoying. Due to the large crowds and openness of our site we felt it necessary to lock our trailer door whenever we were away from the site and we kept our cooler and belonging locked in the truck when not in use. This is not how we usually feel when we camp so our initial impression of the campground was not great.

As the weekend proceeded we found that the rules at this campground were very loosely enforced. I think this could be in part because many of the sites are seasonal leases and those guests had a sense of ownership to the space. For example the resort has a  “dogs must be leashed” rule but I think there were more dogs off leash than on leash with very little regard for pooper scoopers. There was also a large number of vehicles driving to the beach area beside us but no designated parking area. The downside was vehicles were parked everywhere and made it difficult for us to move in and out of our site. Another concern was the lack of presence by the staff. BC was in the midst of the worst forest fire season ever with tinder dry condition’s. On our second night a family near to us started a real campfire. As soon as we noticed this large fire, one of our group walked over to inform them there was a campfire ban. Their response was that they had seen so many real fires in the resort and they thought it was okay to have one. I am pleased to report they put it out right away. The lack of staff patrolling is what lead to this dangerous situation.

Needless to say that by Sunday afternoon I wasn’t loving this campground but then it happened…. All the weekend campers headed home and the campground quieted down. There were still several families around but it wasn’t the chaos of the weekend and we started to feel like campers again. The traffic to the beach turned from vehicles to walkers, people didn’t traipse onto our dock and dogs were on leashes. It was an entirely different feel and relaxation started to set in. We stayed until Wednesday of that week and I am glad we did because my impression of the resort was very very different by Wednesday and there were far more pros than cons. If you plan to visit this campground I really would AVOID the weekend.

Here is my advise for this campground

Recommended Sites:

  1. It is difficult to determine what sites are good because many of the sites are seasonal leases and not open to the public but here are my thought.
  2. Lakefront sites are worth the money (except site 1). You get a private dock and most sites are well treed for privacy.
  3. I don’t want to list any more sites because the resort has undergone some renovations since are visit and many of the sites have changed.

Campground Highlights:

  1. The lake is beautiful: it is quite small but still very clear and warm. The size was perfect for kayaking, canoeing, swimming, fishing and floating. No gas engines are allowed on this lake so it is also very quiet and relaxing. A great place to spend a day.
  2. The beach: the resort offered a beautiful sandy beach with a roped off swim area, several dock and 2 swim platforms to swim out to as well
  3. Lake Front Sites: there are several sites that are lakefront and these come with private docks. Most docks have signs to advise guests they are private docks and, although this was not the case for us, this kept other guest off the private docks.
  4. The trails: we were pleasantly surprised by the number of hiking trails around the resort. We took one hike to the top of the mountain and had a great view of the lake and resort. There were several other trails around the resort for easy short dog walks.
  5. The weather: Boston Bar is known for its dry hot climate and we were not disappointed. The weather was perfect for all camping activities
  6. Hook ups: Our sites had water and electricity and provided enough power to have our air-conditioner run without issue.
  7. On site store, playground, outdoor movie theater, laundry and boat rental. Great for extended stays or family entertainment.
  8. Sani-Dump: We didn’t use the resorts sani-dump so I cannot comment on its condition but at least they had one which is a nice convenience.
  9. Litter free: although I did comment on the lack of staff presence I can say that several times a day all the garbage’s were emptied keeping the resort looking clean the rodents and bugs to a minimum.
  10. No motorized vehicles are allowed on the lake which makes it very quiet and relaxing.
  • Bocci in the dirt, an added challenge
  • Great view from our hike

Campground Lowlights

  • Group Campground, very dusty and no trees
  1. Access road: as stated above it is very steep and narrow but it is more manageable than we expected. What I can report is the resort has noted they are making improvements to the road so I expect it is better.
  2. Weekend crowds: the permanent leasers seemed to have a run of the place on weekend. Driving to the beach, dogs off leash and traipsing through campgrounds made it an unappealing weekend getaway.
  3. Dirt: It is a very dusty campground and really could use for some gravel in the sites. There was grass field area but due to the dry hot summer this was mostly dusty dead grass offering nowhere to play lawn games as a group or family.
  4. Limited staff presence: although the garbage pick was kept up it didn’t seem like the staff followed up on any other things (as mentioned above)
  5. The bathrooms and shower house is located in the center of the campground making it a fair walk from many campsites. It is also up a steep hill so if mobility is an issue they would not be easy to access. There were some porta potty’s scattered around the campground but I was surprised they did not have any near the beach.

Things To do:

  1. Hiking: there are a lot of hiking option you can walk to
  2. Kayaking and swimming: the lake is great for non motorized water activities.
  3. River Rafting: a short drive (back down the terrible road) will take you to river rafting. Our group booked with REO River Rafting and it was tons of fun. For a detailed review click here.

WOW Golf Course, Penticton BC – Review

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Well the name says it all – WOW Golf:

  • WOW – The view!
  • WOW – The number of balls we lost!
  • WOW – The challenging greens!
  • WOW – I am so glad we had a cart!
  • WOW – That was a fun round of golf!

This unique and challenging 9 hole course is worth an afternoon of golf. We were camping at OK Falls Provincial Park and planned to golf each morning and hit wineries in the afternoon. After a round at WOW Golf I think we might have been smarter to hit the wineries before the golf course.

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Camp That Site, Fun New Look, Topics and Reviews!

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We are back!

After not posting for 20 months I am starting up again. In August of 2017 I had run out of campgrounds to write about and unique stories to tell. I didn’t want the site to become filled with posts not relevant to the topic so I just put it on hold until I could gather new material and feel inspired.

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Come To The Island – 7 Great Reasons To Float On An Island.

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As you know we are social campers, not back country hard core campers. We love to gather with friends and family at a lake and hope for sun. This usually involves several women blowing up individual flotation bed and paddling several feet into the lake. I realize this sound terribly laborious and you must marvel at all the obstacles we have endured.img_5004

  1. How can so many women chat while continuing to floating away from each other?
  2. How can your drinks still be full by the time you reach your destination?
  3. Doesn’t the lake keep pushing us back to shore, resulting in constant paddling.

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Ice Ice Baby – Camping With A Portable Ice Maker!

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69E4B2FB-2077-4479-97B6-9767AC1FF847-959-000003BD23F350F1The older I get, the more conveniences I seem to acquire and a portable ice maker is just another example. We are social campers, meaning, we mostly camp with other families and are often in private campgrounds with hook ups. It also means we go through a lot of beverages!

Regardless of our camp set up we like to keep our beverages in a cooler packed with ice. Nothing says camping like digging around in freezing water and being rewarded with a cold beer. Keeping that cooler full of ice during a hot summer trip is really the only stress we have camping so we decided to buy a portable ice maker. I do agree, if this is our biggest stress, then life is great!

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Lightening Lake – 8 Reasons Why This Is One Of BC’s Top Campgrounds

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Manning9

We camped at Lightning Lake Campground a couple years back on our anniversary but just realized I did not do a complete review. Lightning Lake Campground is one of 5 campgrounds located within E.C. Manning Park. It is by far the most popular campground, making it difficult to get into.  We also stayed at Coldspring Campground the same trip and you can find that review by clicking here.

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Canyon Trail Sign
Allison Pass Sign

There are two loops in this campground.  I would recommend the large loop if you have a choice. We camped here in early September and stayed in site 13. It was a very large level site that had limited trees but because the sites are so spread apart it still felt very private. There are 92 sites in the large loop and they are all generally good. The park is located high in the mountains so the days were  warm but the evenings were very chilly. Camping in this park is a hiker’s paradise with endless trails for every level. The park does an amazing job of providing literature on all, including: the trail name, starting point, level, distance, elevation, estimated time, special features and a short trail description. We did the Canyon Nature Trail and part of the Lightning Lakes Chain. Both were very scenic and easy hikes that almost anyone can handle. There are so many trails it is difficult to decide which one to do.  If you’re lucky, you will see some wildlife along the way.

Hiking Trail information can be found on this link and it’s worth reading.

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After completing your hike you can then enjoy some time at the lake. The campground is located next to stunning Lightning Lake, which is perfect for kayaking, canoeing and, if the weather is warm enough, swimming. They offer boat rentals at the lake for those who want to give it a try.  Some trails require a short portage.  The park also has several horse and bike trails. If you like the outdoors this is the campground for you.

Boat Rental information can be found in this link.

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Here is my advise for this campground:

Recommended Sites:

  • Large Loop SitesColdspringsite1
    • Let me start by saying this is a great park and I would be happy to have almost any site. Even the poor sites are not that bad.
    • Lake front sites are the top pick with no one behind you and lots of privacy
    • Site 38 back onto the lake and gets lots of sun.
    • There are not many double sites but, if you can get one, site 12/13 is huge and very private.
    • Site 49 is very large with lots of privacy.  Great if you have a big rig.
    • Site 51 is also very large but does back onto the group site.
    • Sites 15 & 16 back onto the amphitheater with the playground right in front.  If you have kids this might be great.
    • Site 37 is very open to the road and picnic area.
  • Small Loop Sites
    • Double site 99/100 is very large and flat with forest behind.
    • Double site 136/137 looks poor on paper but is actually a good site.  It is set back from the road and has lots of privacy
    • Double site 134/135 lacks privacy and is open to the road.
    • Avoid site 112, the picnic area is exposed to the camp road.
    • Avoid sites along the back road due to traffic noise and lack of privacy

Campground Highlights:

  • Large, clean shower houseIMG_2485
  • Great kids park, playground, amphitheater, grassy areas.
  • Easy access to lake with great picnic area
  • Endless trails and hikes that are clearly marked.
  • Large and private sites with wide access roads for RV parking.
  • Boat rentals nearby
  • Horse trails
  • Sani dump nearby
  • Manning Park resort store and restaurant close
  • Pet friendly area.

Campground Lowlights:

  • Due to high altitude this park gets very cold at night
  • No hook ups
  • No cellphone reception but you can access Wifi at the resort if needed.
  • Very difficult to get a reservation and there is no First Come First Serve sites

Things to do:

Otter Lake – Tips For The Best Sites In This Piece Of Paradise!

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Otter Lake Provincial Park -Tulameen, BC

We used to visit Otter Lake Provincial Park every year with friends and I completed my first review back in 2015. I was excited to head back to Otter Lake and even more excited that we were camping in one of my suggested sites. As our trip approached it became clear that BC was in one of the worst forest fire seasons ever and the area about 20 km east of the campground was being evacuated. We were a worried whether we would be able to access our campground and how thick the smoke would be around us. As it turned out we were lucky, although we could see a haze and smell the smoke, we managed to have a relaxing weekend away.

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As we headed off to Tulameen I was interested to see if the road was in any better shape than  10 years ago.  The answer is NO. Although it is okay for RV’s, it does have a lot of “watch for rocks falling” signs and  it was clearly still an issue as told by all the rocks on the road.

On this trip we camped with my sister and her husband in double site 14/15, which was a recommended site on my first Otter Lake blog.  This is a waterfront site with a steep path to our own private beach. We had kayaks with us so it was great to be able to leave them on the beach to use at our leisure. The site is very treed and level with a nice view of the lake. It offers lots of privacy and we barely even noticed the generator noise from the site beside us.
Our plan was to relax for the weekend so we really didn’t venture out much. Saturday morning my dad and brother-in-law headed to a nearby lake to try their luck at fishing and Sunday we drove into town to go for a walk on the Kettle Valley Trail. It was a great weekend away and the campground was as beautiful and pristine as I remembered.

Here is my advise for this campground

Recommended Sites:

  1. Most sites at this campground are large, level and have good privacy.img_7544-1
  2. Double sites
    • I would recommend 24/25 if you want to be close to the main beach. It is large, close to the washrooms and has a view of the lake
    • 14/15 and 12/13 both have great lake views, are large and both have lake access with their own small beaches (although the paths are steep getting to the beach.) They are a bit farther from the public beach and washrooms.
    • 5/6 and 28/29 are both on are lakefront and are otherwise great. 43/44  be the only being double I would avoid.
  3. Single Sites
    • Any of the lake front sites are winners with the exception of 21 because it is very open to the boat launch traffic.
    • If you want a pull-through my top choice would be site 11(picture below)
    • Site 19 backs onto the recycling/garbage area so avoid that one if you can.
    • I would try to avoid 35, 38, 40 & 42. Last year these were first come, first serve sites because they back onto the highway; they are much more exposed and a bit smaller. Having said that, if this is all I could get, I would still take them.

Campground Highlights: 

  1. Beautiful, clean, quiet lake. Great for swimming, kayaking or boating.
  2. Short drive to Tulameen where you can access the KVR trail or public beach
  3. Very large level sites with lots of privacy
  4. Flush toilets
  5. Pet beach
  6. Boat launch
  7. Paved roads for young cyclists

Campground Lowlights

  1. No hooks ups so expect generator noise
  2. No running water so no showers and half the toilets are outhouses.
  3. Very narrow, windy road from Princeton to Tulameen (30 km)
  4. Closest sani dump is in Princeton
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Things To do:

  1. Swimming
  2. Boating, kayaking and paddle boarding
  3. Biking and hiking the KVR trail
  4. Lots of ATV trails

Okanagan Falls Campground – How To Ensure You Get The Best Site!

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Okanagan Falls Provincial Park – Okanagan Falls, BC

okanagan-falls-campground-sign

Okanagan Falls Provincial Park is a small park made up of only 25 unserviced sites which are 100% reservable. The park is now officially called  sx̌ʷəx̌ʷnitkʷ Provincial Park, and is located in the small town of Okanagan Falls. The park lies  below the outlet of Skaha Lake on the Okanagan River. 

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We stayed in this park for 3 nights with my sister and her husband. We were mainly interested in visiting winery’s and golfing so the location was fantastic for us. When you google “Things To Do in OK Falls”, wineries monopolize 11 of the 14 suggestions. We visited 5 of them I can attest to their high rating. They were so good we even joined the Great Estates Okanagan Wine Club which might be the best club I have ever joined, check it out!

Having said that I can say if we had kids with us it would have been the best park because it was not on the lake and it is a fair distance, with a highway crossing, to get to the lake. Other top things to do are biking the Kettle Valley Trail and visiting Okanagan Falls which both would have been great for families. I always like when I can list things to do that I couldn’t get to because it gives me a reason to go back.

Site 4, very open with no privacy

The park was full during our stay and we found it to be very quiet which was fortunate because it is very open with little privacy between sites.  We camped in site 4 in the middle section of the park and it was open to the other sites around us.

The sites are generally large and are all fairly level so maneuvering your RV is easy. There are large shade trees scattered around the park but no real low level trees to offer privacy between sites. There are 8 sites that line the creek area and they are the best choice for privacy and view although I suspect mosquito’s could be an issue. The sites along Green Lake Road would be my last choice due to noise but in reality it is not that busy of a road.

Here is my advise for this campground

Site recommendations: 

  1. Site 16 would be my top pick. It is both long and private which is unusual in this park.
  2. Site 18 & 20 are both wide and long and have nice green space behind them.
  3. Sites 22, 23 & 25 back onto the river and have green space surrounding making them a nice choice.
  4. Sites 11 &13 are smaller but do have some privacy
  5. All the sites in the center lack privacy
  6. Site 5 back onto the host site so not ideal for location
  7. Site 9, 17 & 24 I would rate as poor. They are very open and have zero privacy
Site 11
Site 11

Campground Highlights

  1. Great climate with almost guaranteed hot dry weather in the summer
  2. Small in size making it a quiet get away.
  3. Flush toilets
  4. Close to town for shopping and outings.
  5. Lots of golf and winery’s nearby
  6. Fresh fruit stands scattered everywhere.

Campground Lowlights

  1. No showers or bathrooms with running water.
  2. No hook ups
  3. Due to the heat there is a lot of generator noise as people want to use their Air Conditioners
  4. Limited privacy between sites
  5. Lake is not within walking distance

Things to do