John Harvey’s voice rises in excitement as he explains his vision of a rustic, low-cost, environmentally sensitive campground slated for three-hectares of Crown land on Centennial Way along the Mamquam River.
The campground will have about 40 walk-in and drive-in campsites, said Harvey of the Mamquam River Access Society, the proponents of the campground.
“The core principles of all outdoor recreation start with camping,” he said, speaking of the need to have an affordable campground in Squamish.
“We have three commercial campgrounds all $30 a night all outside of town. We have three provincial parks all booked solid all summer. We have a whole pile of unsanctioned camping. This will hopefully mitigate some of that.”
Ideally the tenting sites will be offered at $15 per night, Harvey said.
“Kiteboarders, mountain bikers, climbers, paddlers” are among those who might use the campground, he said.
Rezoning for campground was adopted at council May 3. “The whole town really wants it,” Harvey said while walking around the proposed location, which is currently a forested area crisscrossed by makeshift trails and situated across the street from an asphalt plant.
“The Mamquam River campground is right in the geographic centre [of Squamish]. It is beside a beautiful river and it will be pretty bright and light.”
To be environmentally sensitive, the campground will not be fenced in, Harvey said, to allow it to remain a corridor for wildlife, and the campground philosophy will be low-impact and leave no trace.
Harvey, who works for PLEA community services, said he plans to employ teens and those with developmental disabilities to help with the campground.
“I see how well they would fit to this kind of employment,” he said. “So I see employment out of it, as well, as a benefit for the town.”
A few hurdles remain before the campground will be open for business.
So far, the society has spent $25,000 on assessments and needs to fundraise another $130,000 to complete the campground, Harvey said.
“I think people are going to buy in and the money will flow. I have fingers crossed.”
The Mamquam River Access Society has applied for charitable status, which Harvey says he is confident will be granted shortly.
The Crown lease still also needs to be wrapped up, and the society has to work out water access issues with Vancouver Coastal Health.
Harvey said if all goes according to plan, the site will be complete in fall of 2017 and open for business in 2018.
For more information, go to mamquamrivercampground.ca.
