Manning Park, British Columbia

Manning Park: A great place to stay awhile

These travellers enjoyed a terrific summer season

Hard workers: The long hours and tough labour didn’t discourage this couple from getting the job done. —photo courtesy Jeanette Hillis

by Jeanette Hillis

My husband and I had always talked of working in a campground for a summer. On our way home from the Maritimes in the fall of 2007 we decided that maybe the time had come if it was ever going to happen. We made our choice of park and applied to Manning Park on Highway 3 between Hope and Princeton. By the next April we had been hired and on the 29th of May we pulled into the spot that was to be our home for the next four months. We were a bit apprehensive—we were full-time RVers, it would be the first time in nine years that we would not be able to pick up and travel at the drop of a hat and here we were committing to four months in one spot. Scary stuff for these gypsies. We need not have worried. It was a beautiful spot amid the forest with views of the mountains around us. Friends who also worked here were beside us with just enough trees and brush with a little path between us to keep us private. We only left our mountain home twice the whole summer.

Close encounters: The wildlife at Manning Park included black bears —photo courtesy Jeanette Hillis

An ideal work environment

We soon discovered that we shared our space with many birds, especially hummers, along with rabbits, squirrels, deer and occasionally black bears. The air was fresh and clean and in a week or two we had our own garden of wildflowers around us.

But we were here to work and work we did. We thought we had been living a pretty active lifestyle, but we did it in spurts. This was working a full eight hours at a time. It was still cold and sometimes raining and we were at an altitude of 3,900 feet. We had sore muscles and fell into bed at night exhausted. But we loved it and thrived on it. The fresh air, the beautiful forests and mountains, clear running rivers and beautiful lake, great co-workers, lots of people—what more could we want?

Exchanging stories

We met tourists from all over the world. There were many Europeans, some returning for the second or third time. There were also people from all across Canada and the U.S., Australians, South Americans, Africans, people from the Orient and many from B.C. who had been coming here since they were children and were now bringing their children. Did we miss travelling? No—the world came to us! And on our days off we hiked and canoed and visited with people and explored nearby places, all the things we did when we travelled. And all this was done in a wilderness setting—what we love most.

Flora galore: Wildflowers abound along the trails —photo courtesy Jeanette Hillis

Near the end of the season we were asked if we would come back next year. It didn’t take much thinking to answer, “Yes!” So we will be back in our spot for the 2009 summer season.

Fascinating history

Manning Park is full of history. In 1931 the Three Brothers Plateau was first set aside as a mountain reserve to stop the overgrazing of this beautiful alpine meadow by domestic sheep. Many people came to see the need to protect this area and in 1936 the Three Brothers Game Preserve was formed. By 1941 it became the Three Brothers Mountain Park and was classed as a Class A provincial park to protect the alpine meadows and Lightning Lake areas. Later that year it was renamed Manning Park after provincial chief forester E.C. Manning who was killed in a plane crash within the park boundaries. Some of the present-day hiking trails were made long ago by the Coastal Indians, and by gold miners, trappers, road builders and railway men. You will recognize the names—Skyline Trail, Hope Pass Trail, Allison Pass Trail and so on. The history of the park is interesting reading.

A favourite destination

Manning Park covers 176,000 acres. It is both a summer and winter playground with ski areas, alpine hiking trails, camping and group camping on river or lake and several day use areas for the day trippers. It is easily accessible as Highway 3 passes through the middle of it. For those who do not wish to camp there is a beautiful lodge with cabins and chalets as well as hostel rooms to rent. There is a beautiful old building called the Last Resort that was the employee quarters many years ago and is now available for groups to rent for family reunions and such. There is swimming and fishing and canoeing, places to have fun with friends and places to renew your soul. I think you can tell Manning Park is one of our favourite places.

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