B.C. government creating more than 1,900 new campsites

On our last trip through BC, the farther north of the border we got, the more provincial parks seemed to be privatized and run by contractors, nor wardens. Charging for sewer dumps, appeared to be more popular with the contractors as well. Many sold firewood also. If privatization saves money overall and services to the users remain acceptable, then other than the increase in camping fees, I have no real objections. But if the government agencies in charge of the campgrounds does not have the employees to run what they have now, who is going to run all the new sites?

SideHillSoup wrote:
My 2bits
I noticed two of the campgrounds around here had power added last year.
One campgound put the few elec sites in the parking lot ( paved parking lot) of the public beach and added 3' high x 12 ' long rail fences between the sites.
The other campgound built the new sites in a field on the way into the campgound, on a dirt road, but they did plant a few small trees which will grow in 20 years to add shade.
As for new sites:
The Govt says 1900 new campsites, but only 800 are in " campgrounds" the other 1100 are in backcountry Rec Sites, which in a lot of the cases around here are up dirt roads ( usually old logging roads) or in some cases boat access only sites, meaning your not driving your RV to that rec site. I bet there are a lot of people that wouldn't be dragging there shiny truck and trailer up a dirt road 14km to get to a rec site only to find the place is already full, but there are a lot of people that love the back country camping, so for them this is a good thing.
The biggest issue I see is where they add these new 1100 rec sites and how they manage them. Some of the rec sites have a daily attendant taking money etc, however a lot of the out of the way place are not managed by attendants on a daily / regular basics.
You will sometimes see TV coverage when damage and garbage is left after a huge party at a rec site down around the lower mainland, however up here those same big parties with all the damage and garbage don't make the news and we ( the locals) that usually happen on these places after get stuck cleaning them up.
I hope that these extra rangers they talk about are going to be patrolling and managing the rec sites better and "WAY" more often than they do now.

Bigger the better or more of something is not always a good thing, ( unless we are talking chocolate cake.... grin) ...time will tell.
Soup

X2!
That's the thing with Rec sites, You are always taking a gamble that it will be open after all that driving down some pretty rough roads. Then, we have had excellent spots and were crashed by partyers! We had to put up with them in the middle of nowhere! Some peoples kids eh! I try and get even by throwing bread crumbs on their roof early in the morning when they are still passed out. The crows don't seem to mind!

My 2bits
I noticed two of the campgrounds around here had power added last year.
One campgound put the few elec sites in the parking lot ( paved parking lot) of the public beach and added 3' high x 12 ' long rail fences between the sites.
The other campgound built the new sites in a field on the way into the campgound, on a dirt road, but they did plant a few small trees which will grow in 20 years to add shade.
As for new sites:
The Govt says 1900 new campsites, but only 800 are in " campgrounds" the other 1100 are in backcountry Rec Sites, which in a lot of the cases around here are up dirt roads ( usually old logging roads) or in some cases boat access only sites, meaning your not driving your RV to that rec site. I bet there are a lot of people that wouldn't be dragging there shiny truck and trailer up a dirt road 14km to get to a rec site only to find the place is already full, but there are a lot of people that love the back country camping, so for them this is a good thing.
The biggest issue I see is where they add these new 1100 rec sites and how they manage them. Some of the rec sites have a daily attendant taking money etc, however a lot of the out of the way place are not managed by attendants on a daily / regular basics.
You will sometimes see TV coverage when damage and garbage is left after a huge party at a rec site down around the lower mainland, however up here those same big parties with all the damage and garbage don't make the news and we ( the locals) that usually happen on these places after get stuck cleaning them up.
I hope that these extra rangers they talk about are going to be patrolling and managing the rec sites better and "WAY" more often than they do now.

Bigger the better or more of something is not always a good thing, ( unless we are talking chocolate cake.... grin) ...time will tell.
Soup

Boon Docker wrote:
I thought that power had been installed at many of the sites at Green Point within the last year or two.

You are right. They did upgrade to having all sites at Greenpoint with power. I don't think any rates went up. However Greenpoint is Federal, not Provincial.

Boon Docker wrote:
I thought that power had been installed at many of the sites at Green Point within the last year or two.

Some parks on the Mainland have power at some sites.

On the Island, they just spent a ton of money ripping out all the perfectly good picnic tables and putting in new ones. Seems today's super-size/shape of camping person couldn't squeeze into the old ones! I guess if they spent less time at the table, they could fit in them easier :)

I thought that power had been installed at many of the sites at Green Point within the last year or two.

My pet peeve is that the sites are large enough for the trailer, but the loop roads are so narrow that when you are backing in and you swing the front of the truck around to line up the trailer, the front wheels of the truck can fall into the ditch on the other side of the road. I think they made them for motor homes that can just drive right in. Oh well.

A couple years ago on the Island the park "rangers" had a survey going about maybe putting electricity in. That would have added to the cost! It didn't happen (so far)

I wish they would have sites out in the open so you can use your solar, but they put them all in the thick woods.

Anyway, I do like camping in the provincial parks, and am suitably grateful to the other taxpayers for helping out with that. :)

when I lived on the Island the only time it was hard to find a spot with out a reservation was a long weekend but we could still find them. now that I live in the interior I find there sites are pathetic compared to the provincial sites on the island. most places are hard to get a 30 foot trailer into up here. for the interior it would be nice if they modernize the size of the sites as well as adding more.

Steve

On Vancouver Island the problem is that it is so busy in July and August. The rest of the year the campgrounds are mostly empty. Adding more spaces seems crazy for most of the year.

Who are all those people jamming up the parks in the summer? How many are BC taxpayers? Why is it a BC taxpayer's job to provide camping spaces for tourists?

In fact why should every taxpayer in BC pay for just the few of us who ever actually go camping? Shouldn't that be "user pay?" Or is it user pay already? Do the camping fees cover the cost?

I somehow doubt my $13 a day fee is paying for Rathtrevor being open in February when I am the only camper in the whole park sometimes.

Most of the people in the park most of the year are local joggers and dog-walkers-- hardly any campers.

I don't have a good answer to it all, but I can see why the government doesn't pay any more than they have to on camping spots.

If this relieves the congestion in the other campgrounds, then it's an excellent thing. What they aren't saying is that it just might replace all the campgrounds/sites they took away 15 years ago! They aren't clear on weather they are going to reopen them, or create new ones. Those sites should never of been lost in the first place. As an example,
Loon Lake