Camping season a success for sites in and around Medicine Hat

Scott Richter, business and innovations manager with the city, said their numbers were strong, staying comparable to past years.

Noting the upgraded area of Gas City Campground where 30-amp power, water and sewer were added showing the strongest demand.

“It’s the most desirable area and that area is almost full all season,” Richter said.

“Typically an industry, you’re looking at 65 per cent occupancy and we’re pushing around 73 per cent right now. We’re doing above the curve, if you will,” he added.

“On the weekends, July and August, they’re 100 per cent and plus overflow. Echo Dale is about that 60 to 65 per cent occupancy for the year. So we’re really pleased with both campgrounds and how they’re going.”

Richter said there is lots to do at both of their campgrounds adding to their appeal.

“Gas City Campground is positioned quite nicely, with the pump track being here as another amenity. The off-leash fence dog park. The mountain bike trails. It offers something for everybody. I think people really appreciate those amenities,” Richter said.

“Same with Echodale. We’ve got the swim lake and the mountain bike trails out there. And so there’s always something to do for somebody at either of the campgrounds.”

At Golden Sheaf Park, south west of Medicine Hat, they have seen increased use each of the last four years.

Rob Reid, president and board chair, said their sites aren’t booked ahead of time and are first come, first serve.

This makes their 14-day and monthly sites especially popular, hitting that 90 per cent or higher occupancy range.

“Where people are, they don’t tend to pull out anymore. They seem to be sticking around for that whole entire month so that they can guarantee their spot is going to be there for when they come back on the weekend,” Reid said.

“That’s definitely helped our numbers out when it comes to the monthly camping.”

Aided by events and bands during July and September long weekends, the park has also noticed an increase in daily use with the Golden Atlantis Aqua Park opened earlier this year.

“They’ve definitely helped our day use come out,” Reid said.

“They’ve been able to have a whole bunch of campers that are really happy with having something for the older kids to do, between the ages of 10 and 14 is what we were kind of gunning for, and that’s, I think we’ve got it.”

Reid adds that they have made an expansion on the north side of the park.

“We’ve planted some trees over there, and we’re just waiting for the trees to develop and mature before we make a definitive answer and decision on how we’re going to do that part of the park,” Reid said.

A multi-use court is planned to open at Golden Sheaf by sometime next camping season, with their camping season running April 15th to October 15th.

At Gas City and Echo Dale the camping season will wrap up on October 14th with Thanksgiving long weekend.

Richter looks forward to the potential with camping at Echo Dale.

“There’s future plans and we’ve got some concepts for campgrounds in Echodale. Those 10 sites were kind of a pilot, if you will, to see if we can generate some market,” Richter said.

“We’ve done some market research and there is definitely a market for camping in the area. So we’ll look to continue to explore that and look at those possibilities.”

It has been a busy season for camp sites around Medicine Hat.

With Richter noting they have had campers coming from the southern United States to Gas City.

“We have people as far as Texas and Louisiana coming down and they make it their stop annually to stay here, and they’re just so pleased with the way that it looks. It’s irrigated, which not many campgrounds are,” Richter said.

“The trees and just the kind of the atmosphere that they have. And so they look forward to it all the time,” he added.

“Similar with Echodale, people comment how nice it is out there and how quiet it is. Dark sky, no lights. And some people really appreciate that.”

by Jesse Gill

Camping season a success for sites in and around Medicine Hat

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