Jayne Seagrave - Camping with Kids in the West: BC and Albertas Best Family Campgrounds

Copyright 2015 Jayne Seagrave

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, audio recording or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher or a licence from Access Copyright, Toronto, Canada.

Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd.
heritagehouse.ca

CATALOGUING INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA

978-1-77203-040-2 (pbk)
978-1-77203-041-9 (epub)
978-1-77203-042-6 (epdf)

Edited by Kate Scallion
Proofread by Judith Brand
Cover and book design by Jacqui Thomas
Cover photo by Mik122/iStockphoto.com. Interior photos courtesy of Jayne Seagrave unless otherwise credited.

Heritage House acknowledges the financial support for its publishing program from the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF), Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

It is difficult to remember, let alone list, the number of people who have been instrumental in assisting with the writing of this book and other camping books over the course of the last twenty years. This work has been researched and written with the help of an eclectic group of individuals that includes fellow campers, family, friends, park staff, and officials. While they remain nameless, these people have given me their time, experience, and knowledge during countless site visits, and through telephone calls and emails. I am indebted to all of them.

The excellent staff at Heritage House Publishing continue to offer support and expertise and have again proved a delight to work with. I am specifically grateful to Lara Kordic and Leslie Kenny for their guidance, insight, and time. In addition, Trevor Julier has supported this work with some excellent photographs and advice on campgrounds, adding to the quality of this text.

Finally, this book could not have been written had I not had the experience of family camping. My two sons, Jack Seaberry and Sam Seaberry, are now sixteen and fourteen, respectively, and have been camping all their lives. They have unwittingly shown me another side of camping, and have enabled me to appreciate the camping experience through eyes offering an alternative perspective. Their insights, enthusiasm, joie de vivre, and love for the outdoors has been a joy to watch develop. Their father, Andrew Dewberry, has been instrumental in developing the boys passions and has consistently been supportive of them and me in all our bonding camping excursions. These three men have provided many fantastic memories and unforgettable experiences. They continue to amaze me with their actions, antics, and unorthodox activities. I could not have wished for better companions with whom to share my camping life.

Since January 8, 1999, my world has not been divided into black and white, rich and poor, old and young, fat and thin, but rather it has been split between those who do and those who do not have kids. For ten years, I camped in BC with only my spouse (and occasionally the provinces mosquito population) for company. Since having children, there are times when I wonder if the mosquitoes would have been preferable to my two sons. As a parent, I know you are not supposed to readily acknowledge what a tsunami having children is, and how they radically influence every aspect of your lifebut they do. And they do alter your camping life.

Over the course of the last sixteen years, I have taken my husband and two sons to over one hundred provincial parks in British Columbia, Yukon, and Alberta. Every summer, we have camped at Alice Lake (north of Vancouver) and much farther afield: our summers are not complete without a camping trip, be that for two days or three weeks. My offspring are now teenagers so persuading them to go camping is not as easy as it was when they were in elementary school. But it still happens, albeit with a few concessions, which often involve finding Wi-Fi, taking additional teenage boys, and allowing them more freedom to wander and explore without parental supervision. These concessions are a small price to pay to get them outside into the wonderful Canadian countryside.

This book includes what I believe to be some of the best family-oriented campgrounds in British Columbia and Alberta in both national and provincial parks. Over ten years ago, I wrote another book about family camping, drawing heavily on my personal experiences taking preschoolers camping in BC campgrounds. This book includes information on fifteen BC campgrounds and ten Alberta campgrounds, and addresses the challenges and benefits of taking kids of every age camping. All of these campgrounds accept reservations. Most offer water-based activities and are close to population centres with medical services, fast food restaurants, and Wi-Fi linksyet are still far enough away to foster that get-away-from-it-all experience.

During much of the year, our time as parents is committed to school or daycare, and piano, swimming, soccer, or hockey lessons. Evenings and weekends are usually consumed with just the basics of preparing meals, cleaning, running errands, and supervising homework. As our children get older, the demands of exams and sports tournaments become even more pressing and the amount of time they spend in front of a computer, cellphone, tablet, or other device increases. Camping is a wonderful, economical way to enjoy your children in a different and stimulating environment. There are fantastic bonuses in travelling with your offspring to unknown destinations, living outside, sleeping under the stars, and in sharing their enthusiasm when experiencing the country from a totally new perspective.

Children who spend time in different locations expand their awareness of the world, and they bring an energy and exuberance to new experiences. They have no social barriers, and make friends easily and quickly. I believe camping is a gorgeous way to escape the city, meet others, learn about the outdoors, gain confidence, and have an adventure. Children will often remember their camping experience for the rest of their lives. I have found no two camping trips are ever the same, even if you do return to the same place. Each camping adventure is unique. It is why I love it, and why I have written this book: to encourage others to follow this path.

The boys, all packed up and ready to go campinga family tradition for as long as they can remember.

FAMILY CAMPING

What you can and cannot do when camping with kids depends on the age of your offspring, as each age brings unique experiences, joys, and challenges. Babies are portable and can be nicely packed away, but can crawl into everything if left on their own. Preschoolers dont have the stamina for long hikes, but at least they are out of diapers, making many other activities far more convenient. Teenagers can be taken on long canoe trips and hikes, but sometimes need to be bribed with promises of cellphone and Wi-Fi connections before they agree to this type of holiday.

Camping While Pregnant

Strangely enough, few books on pregnancy touch on the topic of camping while pregnant. Each woman experiences pregnancy differently: some breeze through it while others have a hell of a time. I had many good nights sleeping in a tent when I was eight months pregnant and would say that if youre feeling up to it, do it.