Metro Vancouver could add dozens of new overnight campsites as demand grows

Finding a campsite anywhere near Metro Vancouver in the summer can feel like a competitive sport.

But now, the regional district is looking to explore opportunities to add more campgrounds in the region.

On Wednesday, the district’s parks committee signed off on a plan to work on adding new campgrounds across the region, after staff identified 19 potential sites in a report studying camping opportunities in Metro Vancouver.

“Campgrounds are extremely popular, often booked out within the day that the camping is open,” said John McEwen, chair of the regional parks committee. “Between 2022 and 2024, demand has increased from 65 to 85 per cent.”

The report says camping in Metro’s existing regional park campgrounds was effectively sold out on weekends from March through September last year, with staff reporting “many turnaways” at group sites. 

More Canadians are also staying closer to home and shifting away from traditional tenting toward RVs, cabins and “glamping”-style stays with more amenities, the report adds.

McEwen says that’s colliding with how the region itself is growing.

“It makes sense with a lot of the new homes being created in the Metro Vancouver region, apartments and condos and those that don’t have outdoor space,” he said. 

Metro Vancouver currently offers overnight stays in eight regional parks, including two multi-type campgrounds that serve both tents and RVs.

The new study looks at significantly broadening that footprint. It outlines three potential wilderness camping areas, 12 potential group camping sites in parks such as Pacific Spirit, Burnaby Lake, Kanaka Creek, Crippen on Bowen Island among others and four multi-type sites at three other regional parks. 

McEwen says this could bring camping much closer to where many people actually live, including on the city’s west side at Pacific Spirit and in urban pockets around Burnaby Lake.

He says the hope is to give more residents affordable options that don’t require long drives.

“Our rates are about $30 a night for campgrounds, and that’s affordable,” he said. “A lot of people aren’t able to go long distances or have the equipment to go long distances."

Conservation groups say that could also take pressure off nearby provincial parks, which have been swamped by demand since the pandemic.