favorite camping spot in nanaimo

[nathanenge]

I called TW this morning, as thus far they have not been issued the campfire ban by MoFr. So...it may change by this afternoon, hit or miss. The lady says to make provisions for other cooking methods.
BTW, the phone number on the main page for camping in Nanaimo Lakes has changed to 729-3752.

[sarah1234]

Okay, my summer is almost over and I haven't gone camping yet. We wanted to go next weekend but all the close ones are booked, and we have to go to one with all the amenities, seeing as our 4-month old makes "roughing it" more than a little uncomfortable. Has anyone camped at Englishman River Falls? This one is still open, but I have no idea if it is nice or not. We want to camp somewhere we can swim that is not disgusting (I know that the Qualicum Bay campsite has a "swimming hole" that is just gross, and I want to avoid that type of place). We wanted to go to Rathtrevor but it is booked up. Suggestions?

[riverrat]

Hrm, I dunno about places - have you tried Living Forest?
If you can get a place at Englishman River, at least the swimming is nice. Er, not by the falls, though.

[nathanenge]

Gold River provinvial isn't too too far away...?
how about gold stream near victoria?
We reserved Miracle Beach (suppose to be the best beach by far) provincial for labour day weekend...but I think most campsites do have limited spaces for drop in.
Do each campsite have their own phone number you could call?

[sarah1234]

And then my friend invited us to join her family at the cabin at Horne Lake! YaY! Good suggestions though, I want to try that Living Forest, it looks good.

[spectacles]

I fall somewhere between level 2 and 3 on the 4by scale.

I did a fair bit of camping with friends on Newcastle Island during my teen years. I had a lot of fun there. That's realy the extent of my camping in the Nanaimo area.

These days, I get in one or two camping trips each summer with friends and family at Sproat Lake near Port Alberni. We leave our vehicles at the boat launch and travel about 8 kilometers to the Two River arm and set up on shore for 2 to 4 days. No bathrooms...No Showers...but we bring in a barbeque and camp stove...coolers....tents, mattresses and chairs. We usualy do our cooking over the camp fire. We bring some toys...a foot ball...inner tubes...some golf clubs...etc.

We go beachcombing for firewood. There's a fair bit of houseboat traffic on the lake but there's still plenty of beaches.


Looking west into Two Rivers arm (late September)

[4byfourbyeIV]

The 4by scale??? I.....I like it. I feel so important now that I've set a precednet. I think I'm gonna write a book on the many levels of camping. Although, I may have to stretch it out a bit to fill a whole book. LOL

I actually went camping this year many times in many ways but never had the time to write about them. Once I took a car with a canoe strapped to the roof to Nitninat lake, and once to Kennedy lake, once to Boomerang lake, First lake, and I'm not done yet. Well, maybe if the snow didn't fall, I'd be in a cabin I know of right now.

[4byfourbyeIV]

By the way. I forgot to mention, Spectacles, that if you had an engine on your boat, then you're a 2. But if you paddled, you're a 3. Let me clarify that the difference between 1 and 2 is a ridiculous difference in comfort. And the difference between 2 and 3 is a ridiculous amount of manual effort.

Sounds like a cool way to camp, though..I give it a 2.5 out of 3. lol

Gettin' complicated now...........

[spectacles]

Hi 4by. I had forgotten about Boomerang lake. I was in the Junior Forest Wardens when I was 12. We camped at Boomerang lake one weekend. Nice place.

Re the boat - We have a motor....but the raft is a folding design, so there is a bit of manual labour involved in assembling it. When we started 15 years ago, we used to carry the pontoons and materials to the shore and assemble it in the water. We've made some design changes through the years to simplify things and make assembly easier on our backs. We can carry a fair bit, so we don't exactly pack light. We even brought a Foosball table with us the last two years.

There's a bit of work involved but....yeah, essentially it's a party.

---

Looking forward to your book

[riverrat]

I was in the Junior Forest Wardens when I was 12.

I was in that too! Only fer a bit, though.