Book ahead: Elk Valley campgrounds expect a busy season

If you are coming to the Elk Valley in a camper or are otherwise thinking of taking a camping trip this summer, it would be wise to book ahead.

That’s according to Deanna Hill, manager at Snowy Peaks RV near Hosmer, which has all of its 20 sites booked up for a good two years, at least during the spring and summer months, from the May long weekend to November.

“It’s totally booked, I have a waiting list,” Hill said.

Snowy Peaks RV has half of their sites booked by an energy contracting company that has the reservations for the next two years in the above-mentioned months. There is a possibility of them booking for a third year.

“It’s quite a big work crew that’s coming through.”

The rest of the 10 sites at Snowy Peaks RV are taken by long-term stayers and employees who live on site, and are also booked for the next two years.

Hill’s advice is to book ahead and see what the availabilities are, otherwise it may be possible to get stuck somewhere without being able to find a site.

“(Do) a little bit of planning,” she said.

The Fernie RV Resort is a better bet for people looking for campsites, however they are also anticipating a busy year.

Barrons said that the Fernie RV Resort currently has 127 RV sites, 11 tent sites, and five yurts available for booking for summer 2022.

“We are steadily receiving bookings for the upcoming season. At this point, in terms of site availability, I would describe bookings for May as light, June medium, July and August high, September medium. We do still have options available however even during high season, particularly for midweek stays or tent camping.”

“April is already showing a large increase in demand over last year, and we are anticipating that the other months will follow suit, and it will be a very busy spring/summer/fall camping season in Fernie,” said Dana Barrons, admin manager at the resort, saying that they look forward to it.

According to EK Parks, reservations for Mount Fernie Provincial Park only became available on April 1, as they can only be made two months in advance. The park opens on June 1.

“Right now there are quite a few available spots but that will likely change, it is one of our busiest parks and it is common for the reserved sites to be completely booked,” they said in an email to The Free Press.

As for the Elkford Municipal Campground, which has 77 sites, they currently have 80 confirmed bookings for various lengths of time through the 2022 season, running from May 20 to Oct. 10, according to District of Elkford director of community and facility services, Kevin Petovello.

He said that the middle season in the months of July and August are currently booked at a medium rate, and the early and late months, May-June and September-October, are currently booked at a light rate.

According to Tracy Erickson, manager with Mountain Shadows Campground in Sparwood, at least 12 of their 50 serviced RV sites are fully booked by contractors for the 2022 season, which runs from May 1 to late October.

For May, Mountain Shadows Campgound is currently at a light booking volume aside from the long weekend. In June, they are also looking at pretty light booking volume so far, until the last week of that month.

In July, there are no RV sites available at the campground, as they are totally booked. In August, about eight serviced sites will open up around the 15th of the month.

In September, after the long weekend things start to open up more, and Erickson anticipates they’ll be running around 50 per cent capacity after that. In October, only the long-term stayers should still be around, so availabilities will be high.

Other campground options include Kikomun Creek Provincial Park about 42 km southwest of Fernie, or Will-O-Bend Golf and RV Park around Jaffray.

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