They bought the land in 2014 and opened West Lake Campground and RV Park three summers later, just as Williams Lake was being evacuated under the treat of a raging wildfire.
For Wendy South and her husband Phil, it was a no-brainer to open up their 40-site campground and let the fire evacuees displaced from their homes stay there for free.
Located just a two-minute drive from West Lake Provincial Park, they arrived with their trailers, tents and boats and set up camp with the lake to keep them occupied. So began what’s become a thriving business.
The 10-acre site at 19649 Blackwater Rd. (12 kilometres south of Highway 16 West) has 35 sites with full or partial electrical/plumbing hookups as well non-service sites. It also rents a bunkhouse RV and a private cabin.
The Prince George couple got the idea to build a campground after their car was T-boned on a California vacation and they decided to pitch a tent and stay in a less-than-desirable Hollywood inner-city campground. The West Lake property was already zoned as a campground and they’d seen the 40-acre property listed for several years before they bought it. During the pandemic, they changed their business plan and began to offer monthly rentals.
“We’re booked every weekend and through the week I’m at 85 per cent capacity – I only turn over about 10 sites nightly,” said Wendy. “All those guests (about 25 sites) have stayed with me so now I’ve got regulars, some of them are on their third year staying with us and they come in May and leave when I close in September.”
The campground will close on Sept. 17, about two weeks early, so the owners can work on improvements postponed in the spring because of lingering snow.
