During the August long weekend, my husband, sister, sister-in-law and her partner and 7 year old…read moredaughter went camping. As it was a long weekend during COVID times, campsites were hard to find, and we were lucky to snag a spot at Ross Creek, near Shuswap Lake.
The last time I went camping was nearly 20 years ago, so needless to say, I am not a camper (it didn't even occur to me to bring an air mattress, which is something people do now -- I have never camped with an air mattress, but I had no issue sleeping directly on the ground). I don't *hate* camping, but I can't say I *like* it, the main reason being people -- the people I'm with, and other campers. The last camping trip was with my ex-husband and his friends, and it was an utterly AWFUL experience (long, long story), and while the people I was going with were not an issue this time, I was worried about other campers -- I like peace and quiet, and when camping or spending a day at the lake or beach, there is always at least one asshole who BLASTS their music. Regardless of my previous experiences camping and my (realized) concerns about noisy neighbours, I was excited to go -- it was a mini vacation with people I liked. (Plus I didn't have to set up or take down the tent, or do any cooking.)
My husband wasn't too keen on Ross Creek at first, as it was a family campsite with a general store (in addition to being a pretty well stocked grocery store -- they even had Patak's butter chicken sauce -- you could order full breakfasts and meals) and showers and proper toilets, which, in his opinion is "not camping", but it ended up being a pretty decent campsite (my husband went to the general store several times for various items).
Despite the campsite being fairly full, it wasn't crowded, and each lot was a fair size -- we had more than enough space for three tents, a truck, and a table (in addition to the picnic table at each site). While it wasn't totally private (each lot wasn't surrounded by trees), it wasn't bad at all (it also helped that one of the lots beside us was empty), and the washrooms and shower stalls were clean (and I appreciated that the shower stalls had hooks and a chair and enough space so that your clothes and towel didn't get wet). Overall, a pretty decent campsite, and the location was fantastic -- right across from Shuswap Lake. However, there were two things I wasn't please about: the noise, and the washrooms/showers being locked up between the hours of about 9pm and 7am.
As I had feared, people from other campsites blasted their music (thankfully during the day), and the first night we were there, a house located beside the campsite (and just behind our lot) was having a raging party and blasting their music until midnight. While the campsite can't control noise coming from private property, it was still very fucking annoying, and it would be nice if other campers didn't BLAST music.
Regarding the washrooms -- the men's and women's showers/toilets were locked up during the night, and there was ONE handicapped/private toilet open during the night for the entire campsite -- NOT COOL. I guess I should be grateful that the campsite even offered proper toilets and I didn't have to shit in the woods, but ONE toilet for a busy campsite is misleading. That, and the noise, put a sour taste in my mouth. But despite these two major issues, I am still giving the campsite a generous three stars, because I did have fun, and if it were quiet and they didn't lock the toilets during the night (WTF?!), I would probably give Ross Creek four stars. Plus being right across from the lake was awesome.
