The proximity of a lake and a provincial park offers campers a variety of recreational opportunities.
They purchased the property in 2014, and three summers later, just as Williams Lake was being evacuated due to the fear of a raging wildfire, they launched West Lake Campground and RV Park.
For Wendy South and her husband Phil, offering their 40-site campground as a free place to stay for those who had to flee their homes due to the fire was a no-brainer.
They arrived with their trailers, tents, and boats and set up camp with the lake to keep them entertained within a two-minute drive from West Lake Provincial Park. So began the start of a successful business.
The Prince George couple chose to pitch a tent and camp in an undesirable inner-city campsite in Hollywood after their car was T-boned while they were on vacation in California. This is when they got the idea to create a campground. The 40-acre West Lake property had been on the market for a number of years before they decided to purchase it. It was already classified as a campsite. They revised their business strategy during the epidemic and started providing monthly leases.
Every weekend is filled, and throughout the week I’m at 85% occupancy with only about 10 sites changing hands each night, according to Wendy. All of those visitors (about 25 sites) have stayed with me, so I now have regulars; some of them have been coming to stay with us for three years; they arrive in May and depart when I close in September.
About two weeks early, on September 17, the campground will close so the proprietors can work on upgrades that were put off in the spring due to remaining snow.
