Home Camping in the Lower Mainland Our Summer Weekend Camping RV Holiday at Harrison Hot Springs

Our Summer Weekend Camping RV Holiday at Harrison Hot Springs

August 4, 2024

We spent a weekend camping at Harrison Hot Springs in a rental motorhome and it was so much fun! Let us tell you about our amazing experience.

This wasn’t our first time camping in a recreational vehicle, and it certainly won’t be our last! It was so much fun, and so convenient! This also wasn’t the first or last time we’ll be vacationing in the Harrison Hot Springs region. It’s such a beautiful place, and so close to Vancouver too!

On our holiday we stayed a couple of nights at Sasquatch Provincial Park and one night at Kilby Provincial Park. Both were wonderful. During our stay we explored area museums, toured the area on our e-bikes, and went on a boat trip around Harrison Lake with Shoreline Cruises. It made for a most lovely, memorable and relaxing weekend.

MAJOR RV SHOW IN THE FALL

Our camping trip was sponsored by the Snowbird RV Show which takes place at the Tradex Centre in Abbotsford this year on September 19th to 22nd. It’s a fabulous event for anyone wanting to buy or learn about recreational vehicles, equipment and travel.

Brands you’ll see at the Snowbird RV Show include BCRV, Fraserway RV, Get-Away RV, O’Connor RV and Traveland RV. These are the Lower Mainland’s main RV dealerships.

The Snowbird RV Show provided us with the RV we used on the trip in this article for which we are very grateful!

For full details about the show, see the rvshowscanada.ca website.

RV-ing in the Harrison Valley

Have you ever stayed in a recreational vehicle at a Lower Mainland Campground? If not, we highly recommend you try it!

We live in Metro Vancouver and went camping at Harrison Hot Springs in a rental RV. Our holiday started out by us driving from our home on Vancouver’s North Shore to Four Seasons RV in Abbotsford (which is owned by Fraserway RV). It took less than an hour to get there. It’s also only about 18 km from the Abbotsford Airport (which is the port of entry for most of the RV company’s European customers). We checked in, signed all the paperwork, inspected our vehicle, learned all we needed to know, and then headed out on our adventure.

Four Seasons RV is located in Abbotsford at 37117 North Parallel Road which is just off the Trans-Canada Highway. It’s at a convenient location, especially for folks heading east to the Fraser Valley and into the BC Interior. A number of RV companies are located in the Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Langley regions.

RV Outside Harrison-Agassiz Museum — Outside the Harrison-Agassiz Museum

Driving the RV to Harrison Hot Springs

Driving a 24-foot motorhome is surprisingly easy. It takes a tiny bit of getting used to. After just a few minutes, however, you feel like a professional trucker who’s been doing it for years!

We headed straight to Harrison Hot Springs via Bridal Veil Falls and Agassiz. We stopped briefly at the Agassiz-Harrison Museum on our way. That was a nice place, with admission by donation. We then stopped at the Sasquatch Museum at the Tourism Harrison Info Centre as we drove into the resort town of Harrison Hot Springs.

The Sasquatch Museum is in a beautiful, modern and very accessible building. Inside we learned about the history of Sasquatch (also known as Big Foot in some regions of North America). We saw plaster-cast footprints, read display information, and watched an informative film about Sasquatches and the local First Nations. It was all very interesting. There was a model of a giant sturgeon fish there too. We also got some useful information about the region from the friendly folks at the Tourist Information Centre which is in the same building.

If you go to Harrison Hot Springs we recommend dropping by the Sasquatch Museum. It’s a small museum, but very interesting, and admission is free. We also recommend visiting the Agassiz-Harrison Museum too. We enjoyed both places. To learn more about the attractions, visit the official Sasquatch Museum and Agassiz-Harrison Museum websites.

The final destination on our first day was Sasquatch Provincial Park which is about a 12-kilometre drive from the resort town of Harrison Hot Springs. Before heading there, however, we stopped for a picnic lunch by the lake in the town. Harrison is such an amazingly beautiful place, especially on sunny days. The views of the lake are spectacular!

To learn about the Snowbird RV Show in September, visit rvshowscanada.ca.

Picnic at Harrison Hot Springs — Picnicking at Harrison Lake

Setting Up at the Campground

Setting up an RV is so simple! It’s way easier and more enjoyable than setting up a tent. There are no tent poles to put together, no tent pegs to hammer in, and no need to carry multiple armloads of gear from your car to your tent. Finally, there are no inflatable mattresses to have to pump up either.

We stayed at Bench Campground at Sasquatch Provincial Park. It’s a great place. The campsites are large, not close together, and very shaded. At our campsite, we pulled in, parked our RV, pressed a button to extend one side of our motorhome and another button to extend the awning. And we were done! All we had left to do was go to the fridge and crack open a cold celebratory drink!

Camping at Sasquatch Park — Camping at Bench Campground

About Sasquatch Park

Sasquatch Provincial Park is a beautiful place to visit and camp at. Like a typical West Coast provincial park campground, there are lots of trees, greenery and shade. The sites are all really nice, and each comes with its own picnic table and campfire pit.

Sasquatch is a particularly nice park for camping. It’s one of the region’s prettiest provincial parks to stay at, but also slightly more basic than average. There are no hot showers or flush toilets. However, there are stations where you’ll find tap water, but only outhouses for washrooms. There is also almost zero cell phone coverage in the park. You’ll find phone and Internet access in a few places, every once in a while, but almost nothing in the campground areas. The park is the perfect place if you want to escape and immerse yourself in nature!

For the above reasons, Sasquatch is a particularly nice place for camping in an RV. It’s great for tenting, and very popular for that. With an RV, though, it’s nice to have the comforts of electricity, hot showers and flush toilets. On our last day it also rained, so packing up the RV was much nicer than packing up a tent.

There are three campgrounds at Sasquatch Provincial Park. There is Hicks Lake, Bench and Lake Side. You pass the entrances to each in that order as you drive through the park. They have 72, 64 and 42 campsites respectively. Of the three locations, Bench is our favourite to camp at (unless you can snag one of the few waterfront sites at Hicks or Lake Side, but they go really fast).

Exploring Sasquatch Park

We took our e-bikes on our camping trip. We took our own hitch-style bike rack from home, and it fit no problem on the hitch of the motorhome. Consequently, at the park, we were able to explore the area on both foot and bike. We walked around Bench Campground, which is where we stayed. Bench is very close to Lake Side. There is a path that includes boardwalks that connects the two. It’s a short walk between them, maybe around 10 minutes from the edge of one to the other.

On our trip we spent a fair amount of time just hanging out with our friends at the campsite relaxing, playing cards, and chatting. We did go for a bike ride, though, on our e-bikes, to Hicks Lake. There we explored the campground and day-use area, and then rode to Lake Side and did the same. We then rode back to our campsite at Bench. The full trip took about an hour.

There are beach areas at Hicks Lake and Lake Side. There is a walking trail around Hicks Lake and partially around the lake at Lake Side campsite. We didn’t do any hiking on this trip, but we have on previous occasions. There are also a couple of small islands on Hicks Lake which we’ve never been on but that you can swim or paddle to. We’re told they are nice (and one of the few places in the park where you can get Internet data connection, depending on who your provider is).

To learn about the Snowbird RV Show in September, visit rvshowscanada.ca.

Exploring the Harrison Area

Other than going for one walk and the one bike ride, at Sasquatch Provincial Park we spent most of our time at our campsite. We went into Harrison Hot Springs, the resort town, though, on our second day. Sasquatch Days was happening. That’s a big Indigenous canoe racing competition in June. There were so many canoes along the beach! It was fun to watch the races. Admission was free. To learn more about the festival, see our article about Sasquatch Days.

(TIP: If you park along the waterfront at Harrison Hot Springs, it’s pay parking. The rates when we went were $2 for an hour, $5 for two hours, $9 for three hours, or $20 for the day. If you parked on a nearby street away from the water, however, it was free.)

Our Trip with Shoreline Cruises

In addition to walking along the waterfront and enjoying the sites of the Sasquatch Days Festival, we also went on a two-hour boat ride with Shoreline Cruises. The trips depart from the docks near the Harrison Hot Springs Resort by the Harrison Water Park, on the far side of Harrison from the road to Sasquatch Park.

Our trip with Shoreline Cruises was lovely. We did the Lake Cruise. It went out around Echo Island, past the edge of Sasquatch Provincial Park (where the park has a beach on Harrison Lake), and then back to where we started. On board we enjoyed some live commentary from our hostess and bought some drinks, a Caesar salad and veggie burger (which was barbecued on the grill on the top deck). The food was very good, and the prices were quite reasonable (especially considering we were a captive audience).

We really enjoyed the boat cruise. It was the second time we had been on it. We had done it once before when we had relatives visiting from abroad. Tickets for the two-hour Lake Cruise trip cost $79 per person. It’s well worth it, especially on a sunny day.

To learn more about boating opportunities on Harrison Lake, see our article about Harrison Lake Cruises or visit the shorelinetours.ca website.

Packing Up and Heading to Kilby in Harrison Mills

We stayed two nights at Sasquatch Provincial Park. On our third day we packed up our things and headed to Kilby Provincial Park which is about 22 kilometres southwest of Harrison Hot Springs.

Because we were in an RV, packing up was so easy! All we had to do was put loose things in the cupboards and make sure nothing was on the counters and at risk of falling over. With the push of a button the wall to our bedroom retracted. With the push of another button our awning did the same. We then went through our departure checklist (which was provided by the RV company with reminders about things like closing all vents and turning off the water). After all that, which took about 10 minutes, we were off. It was all so much easier than packing up a tent!

For full details about the Snowbird RV Show in the fall, visit rvshowscanada.ca.

Kilby Historic Site and Kilby Park

A very interesting tourist attraction that used to be a farm, hotel and general store is Kilby Historic Site. The place also has a café. Just five minutes further down the road from the historic site is Kilby Provincial Park which has a boat launch and beachside campground. On day three of our holiday we headed to both places, one for a visit and look-around and then to the park to stay the night.

Kilby Historic Site

Kilby Historic Site is a first-rate museum and attraction. At the historic site we explored the museum with its general store and hotel rooms. We got to see how ice cream was made back in the day before electric freezers, and we got to sample some too! We also saw a number of farm animals including pigs, a bunny rabbit and goat, plus chickens and a turkey that wandered around the property freely.

Kilby Historic Site is so full of history and things to see. At the museum we were greeted by an interpreter who told us all about the area and its history. He also gave us a free guided tour around the museum’s old store. It was all so very interesting. At the end of our visit we had coffee, tea, a delicious bowl of ice cream and a scrumptious toffee cake in the cafe.

To learn more about the attraction, see our article about Kilby Historic Site or visit the website kilby.ca.

Kilby Park & Campground

Kilby Provincial Park is a really nice campground. It’s a provincial park, but managed by Kilby Historic Site which uses the proceeds it earns to help subsidize its historic site’s costs.

At the park there are 35 campsites in total, with most of them being reservable from early April until early October. They also have a small number that are available on a first-come, first-served basis. All of the campsites are close to the beach (which is long, sandy and beautiful). It’s not a big park, but it’s very picturesque. Also, nice to know, dogs are welcome, when on leash, even at the beach.

To learn more about the park and its camping facilities, see our article about Kilby Provincial Park or visit the kilby.ca website.

Why We Vacationed Close to Home in the Lower Mainland

Some people, when they rent an RV, drive for miles and explore vast areas of British Columbia and other parts of Canada, and even down into the United States. That’s awesome! For our trip, however, we didn’t want to travel far. We just wanted to get somewhere beautiful, as quick as possible, set up, and then enjoy our weekend in nature. That’s why we chose Sasquatch Provincial Park and Kilby Provincial Park in the Harrison Hot Springs region.

The Fraser Valley region is so convenient to get to, and so beautiful too. You don’t have to drive far from downtown Vancouver to get to so many fabulous places!

Tips & Advice

TIP #1: If you get a chance to go camping in an RV, do it! It’s a fabulous way to experience nature while pampering yourself at the same time.

TIP #2: When we go camping we like to take our e-bikes. With Fraserway RV and its vehicles, you can rent a bike rack for a very reasonable price. Or you can take your own bike rack as the attachments are pretty universal. It’s likely the same with other RV rental companies too.

TIP #3: You have to return your RV by 11:00 am on your last day. Human nature being what it is, most people wait until the last-minute to do so. If you want to be in and out as soon as you can, arrive before 10:30 am, but even earlier is better.

TIP #4: If you are from BC and already have ICBC insurance for your own personal vehicle, if you have RoadStar and Roadside Plus coverage, you can use it for your vehicle rental insurance. (Check with ICBC first, though, for exact details and eligibility.)

TIP #5: As already mentioned, you don’t have to travel far from Vancouver to get to world-class parks and amazing camping destinations. The Rocky Mountains, BC Interior and the US West Coast are beautiful, but so is the South Coast of British Columbia which is so much easier, faster and less expensive to get too!