by Mathieu Powell.
Writing Impacts.
If you want to plan a family camping trip before the end of the summer, consider Gordon Bay Provincial Park. It’s a classic, west coast campground and beach situated on Lake Cowichan about an hour and a half outside of Victoria. The campground is situated under an impressive canopy of a second growth forest of Douglas Fir. Apparently, Gordon Bay was one of the first places on Vancouver Island that was logged in the early twentieth century, probably because the lake made it easy to transport the logs by floating them out.
There is plenty of reported wildlife living in the area. Everything from raccoons and red squirrels to black bears and beavers. We didn’t see any. The only wildlife we saw were the creatures we brought along with us: Our kids.
This is not the campground for you if you’re looking to escape into the quiet solitude of nature. Throngs of children raced to and fro through the campground. Upon arrival, we attempted to keep our kids in our own site, but it took only ten minutes of their unabated pestering for us to relent and release them into the wilds to join their new friends. Just ask Chantel T. who wrote an entry on Trip Advisor entitled “Not Calm Camping” http://goo.gl/zhesnq. Chantel, I confess to being one of those MIA parents you wrote about. Unfortunately, I can’t apologize. The stolen moments of relaxation were bliss!
As parents, my wife and I often find it difficult to meet new people. That’s why campgrounds like these are terrific for our social life. The kids connect us. We had troops of kids parading through our campsite, joining the birthday party and eating our hotdogs. Eventually their parents wandered over and we struck up a conversation. For parents, camping is networking.
Gordon Bay’s amenities are excellent. The washrooms include decent showers and flushing toilettes. The roads are safe for the kids. The path to the lake is flat and it opens out into a beautiful little beach edging cool, clean water. A mountain vista rises from the shore across the lake. It’s tranquil and beautiful.
Swimming, boating and a good book for the adults while the kids built cities of sand was a great way to spend the afternoon on the beach. By five, the sun disappeared behind the tall trees lining the beach and it quickly became chilly.
After hot dogs and corn for dinner, then we all gathered around the fire for marshmallows. I was glad we had a fire. I thought the fire ban meant all fires were off limits, so I was initially very reluctant to even go. For me, camping without a campfire is like writing without tea. However, a good friend who was joined us on the trip informed me that propane fed fire pits are allowed and they brought theirs along. I admit I was a bit of a snob about it at first. A propane fire pit seemed too artificial to replace a real camp fire, but I reluctantly agreed. Eventually came to like it. 
No need to search for kindling, no need for logs, and best of all, no need to forever move your seat to get out of the smoke! Just turn the knob and voilà! No fuss, no muss. I soon forgot it wasn’t a ‘real’ campfire and we all talked long into the night around it while the kids drifted off in our laps.
Once Gordon Bay Campground has recovered from our kid’s visit, we’ll be back. Maybe we’ll meet you there and I’ll show you my new propane fed fire pit.
If you decide to take your family camping, remember to reserve your site through this website: https://secure.camis.com/Discovercamping
Happy Camping!
Mathieu Powell.
Writing Impacts.