Where to find that city/waterfront camping experience in Kamloops, Okanagan
Waterfront camping is a great way to save money while visiting Kamloops or Okanagan cities.
Visitors have the choice of sitting on a sandy beach or doing some shopping, cooking dinner or going out to dine.
That option has been steadily disappearing in the Central Okanagan but it can still be found in Kamloops and other Okanagan cities.
The last big campground in Kelowna was the Hiawatha RV park with 89 campsites and 94 RV pads. It was sold to Westcorp in 2007 and closed for good a couple of years ago. It’s being replaced by 1,000 rental homes, some in towers up to 17 storeys high.
That doesn’t mean Kelowna is completely devoid of campgrounds but most are small, for RVs only and far from any lake.
The only option for RV lovers next to a lake in Kelowna is Holiday Park RV and Condo Resort at the north end of Duck Lake, almost in Lake Country. While much of the park is for longer term and permanent residents, it does rent RV pads for fully self-contained units.
Heading south, Todd's RV in Peachland was a hugely popular option, until it closed last fall. It was the last privately owned campground on Okanagan Lake but will now become the site of 46 homes.
That means heading to Penticton, which is a different world for those who want both waterfront camping and still have the amenities of a city.
There’s Wright’s Beach Camp RV Park with about 250 sites right on Skaha Lake.
Nearby is Barefoot Beach Resort. It no longer has short term RV rentals but it does have 13 yurt sites and a tunnel under Highway 97 to the Skaha Lake beach. Yurts rent for between $140 and $550 per night.
South Beach Gardens, on the east side of Okanagan River, has more than 250 RV sites and a handful of tent sites across Skaha Lake Road from the beach.
Further south there is the Nk’Mip RV Park on Osoyoos Lake. While it’s next to a luxury resort, has more than 400 RV sites and a handful of tenting sites, it is about three kilometres from downtown.
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Only about two kilometres from town are the Sun Terra Campground and Hotel with 28 RV and five tent sites and the Island View RV Resort with 110 RV sites, although about 40 are marked as permanent rentals.
Heading north from Kelowna, there’s Wood Lake RV Park and Marina at the south end of Wood Lake in Lake Country. It has more than 150 RV sites but doesn’t show any tenting sites and, of course, it has boat moorage at its marina.
Further north, in Vernon, there are three campgrounds on or near lakes.
Dutch’s Campground, is a four-minute walk from Kalamalka Lake with about 69 RV sites and 25 tenting spots, mostly along Vernon Creek.
Swan Lake Campground is on the west side of Swan Lake with about 40 RV sites and a handful of tenting sites.
On the northeast side of the lake is Swan Lake RV Resort which is RVs only with 162 spaces.
Waterfront camping is available in Kamloops but, obviously, it is not on a lake.
Silver Sage RV Park is on the South Thompson River across the Red Bridge from downtown with about 30 RV sites and some shaded tenting sites right on the river.
There are three other RV campsites listed on the Tourism Kamloops website but they are all a 15 minute drive from downtown. Kamloops RV Park, however, has the advantage of being next door to the BC Wildlife Park.
Camping, either in an RV or tent, is definitely cheaper than hotels or the yurts at Barefoot Beach Resort but it’s not for those on a super tight budget.
RV sites listed here are mostly in the $65-$85 per night range and tenting sites can be $40 or more.
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Getting better deals means travelling further afield.
Provincial campgrounds, such as Bear Creek, Okanagan Lake, Paul Lake or Lac Le Jeune, take RVs or tents and only charge $35 per night. The problem is, they can get booked solid in peak summer months.
There are plenty of smaller camping sites away from downtown areas, the most cost effective being free forestry recreational sites along dozens of lakes in the backcountry.
Those often aren’t suitable for larger RVs and usually come with outhouses rather than plug ins and sewage hookups.
There are many resources for looking for more remote camping areas, such as Off Track Travel, Tourism Kelowna, Tourism Kamloops or RV Life. Or, go to a bookstore and buy a copy of the Thompson-Okanagan Backroads map book.
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