Last week saw two devastating announcements for people looking to weather the pandemic by escaping the city to live in the woods.
On April 8, BC Parks fully closed all their parks to any recreational activities, from camping to hiking.
This announcement overshadowed an earlier announcement the day before, when Recreation Sites and Trails BC (RSTBC) closed all campgrounds. This is an escalation of a previous order from March 20, which saw all infrastructure related to RSTBC infrastructure (including all snowmobile shelters and the Lost Haven Cabin in the Tumbler Ridge area) closed.
The new order closes all Recreation Sites with Camping Facilities. This means that Moose Lake, Stony Lake, Thunder Creek, Redwillow, Boot Lake, Long Lake, Flatbed Creek and Wapiti Crossing Recreation sites are fully closed.
This means that all activities—not just camping—are no longer permitted. This includes things like hiking and ice fishing.
Recreation Trails and Day Use areas without camping facilities are still open currently. However, any Recreational Facility associated with these sites, like cabins, kiosks, shelters, etc. remain closed.
This means that the outhouse at the Shipyard Titanic Trailhead, in addition to being buried under ten feet of snow and inaccessible, is also closed to the public. But the trail itself is open.
While it’s recommended that people not travel from their home communities, RSTBC is leaving the trails open (again, for now) so that locals can still use the trails.
RSTBC is still looking for people to take on the annual maintenance contracts for these sites. “Our intent is to ensure our Recreation sites remain maintained and are ready to go, once this closure is lifted,” writes Denise Booy, District Recreation Officer.
“I recognized that this is frustrating and upsetting news to many of us and there are many questions on what this specifically means to you,” she says. “Our public website and Facebook site have been updated to provide additional information on these closures.”
