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Manning Park in Princeton Canada

Manning Park near Princeton British Columbia Canada, 1-6 days, June   More Pictures  |  More Info

Manning Park proved to be a big beautiful piece of Canadian outback and encompasses 100's of thousands of acres. It is located in the Cascade mountains of Southwestern British Columbia about 190 miles east of Vancouver. Rugged heavy forest coupled with multiple water features from streams and rivers to lakes and ponds make this place well worth a visit.

 

Manning Park, about 30 miles west of Princeton, is the most popular destination in all of British Columbia so if you want to avoid the crowds and have great weather go in early June.

Activities include: horseback riding, mountain biking, hiking, fishing, canoeing or kayaking, sunbathing on the beach areas, and in the Winter skiing, cross country skiing, sledding. Some people swim here but I can't take the 50 degree water, though it is crystal clear and certainly inviting.

Manning Park is a year round destination for some folks, since it never closes. Just pick your season though I personally do not like to Vanabode in night time temperatures below 40 degrees for long.

lightning lake manning park british columbia canada picture

Above: Lightning Lake provides extraordinary inland kayaking on clear protected waters. We helped this couple from Europe carry their inflatable kayak the rest of the way to the lake. They have camped here 3 other years as a testament to how well they like it.

lightning lake hike picture canada

Above: Kelly hiking one of the many trails within the Lightning Lake campground area surrounding many lakes and bodies of running water.

We visited and hiked through the Lightning Lake campground and Spruce Bay Beach portions of this park and loved them both. There are plenty of showers, bathrooms, places to picnic, hikes, grassy areas to park a lawn chair, pull offs, free and paid parking or camping spots. Entrance to the park was free.

Once done with the outdoor activities we headed back to the resort entrance we had passed on our way in to hit the Manning Park resort. We paid a small $5 "day use fee"which gave us access to a massive hot tub, huge indoor swimming pool, hot showers, private bathrooms, gym and shady parking. They don't advertise this so consider it a Vanabode special and ask for it at the guest counter. We had the place to ourselves as everyone else was out at the park or hiking or in their hotel rooms. There was nobody supervising the hot tub or pool and this was a Saturday in June.

manning park resort in british columbia canada hot tub and swimming pool picture

Above: Here's the Manning Park Resort hot tub and swimming pool we got to use without any company for two hours. Afterwards we took private showers, and handled all bathroom duties in the big clean bathrooms adjacent to the pool. This is a real bargain and I highly recommend you take part when Vanabode camping through this area. In fact if you camp around here use it every day if you can.

The resort itself is attractive. Amenities include tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, exercise gym, playground and recreational center plus the indoor swimming pool and hot tub. They also have dry and steam saunas but I don;t recommend shier use due to the possibility of breathing heated water that may have mold or germs into the lungs. You can rent canoe, kayak, row boat and mountain bike rentals during the summer months.

This page is part of a 20 day, 2,866 mile, Vanabode trip.
See van camping Nevada Washington Oregon Canada for an overview of this particular trip.
Visit travel destinations for our master list of 100's of cool places visited that we have reviews on.
Vanabode travel and live anywhere in America on $20 a day including food, lodging and transportation.

You could easily have some serious fun with both outdoor and indoor activities here nearly year round at Manning Park Princeton Canada.




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