West Harrison Camping and Reservations has announced that all of the campgrounds it manages west of Harrison Lake in British Columbia are expected to reopen in time for the Victoria Day long weekend after several locations were closed in late April due to safety concerns involving hazardous trees.
According to a statement shared on the company’s website and social media channels, group sites along with the Chehalis River, Grace Lake, and Ten Mile Bay campgrounds have already reopened.
Weaver Lake was scheduled to reopen at noon on Wednesday, May 13, while Twenty Mile Bay was expected to reopen at noon on Thursday, May 14. Wood Lake was slated to reopen on Friday, May 15, at 2 p.m.
“We really appreciated all the support we received from campers, and we are sorry for any inconvenience these closure have caused,” the management company said. “Thank you from the Management and Hosts at West Harrison Reservations.”
The reopening follows an order issued on April 27 by Recreation Sites & Trails BC (RSTBC), which required the temporary closure of the Chehalis River, Grace Lake, Twenty Mile Bay, Weaver Lake, and Wood Lake campgrounds for safety reasons.
According to FraserValleyToday, the provincial agency cited approximately 400 danger trees identified within the recreation areas and noted that entire campgrounds would need to remain closed until tree removal and mitigation work could be completed.
The closures came during the early stages of the spring camping season, a period that is typically important for campground operators and tourism-related businesses preparing for increased visitor traffic ahead of summer travel demand.
Sts’ailes, which has managed six recreation sites on the west side of Harrison Lake for the past 15 years, previously expressed concern about the timing of the closures and the level of provincial support provided for recreation site management.
“The decision by the Province to wait until now–when the camping season is well underway–to inform us that it identified trees that could be dangerous is deeply concerning, frustrating, and costly,” said Sts’ailes in an earlier statement.
Morgan Ritchie, heritage and environment manager with Sts’ailes, also linked the issue to broader operational and funding challenges affecting public recreation infrastructure.
“These closures are a direct result of insufficient funding available to RSTBC and years of negligence,” Morgan Ritchie, heritage and environment manager with Sts’ailes. “So even when we are able to reopen campgrounds, we may continue to face challenges until the Province places more value on recreation in British Columbia.”
For campground owners, outdoor hospitality operators, and public land managers, the situation highlights the operational risks associated with deferred maintenance, environmental hazards, and seasonal preparedness.
Tree risk management, infrastructure inspections, and coordination with public agencies can significantly affect campground availability during peak booking periods.
Industry professionals may increasingly face pressure to balance guest safety, environmental stewardship, and operational continuity as weather-related impacts and forest management concerns continue to affect outdoor recreation destinations across Canada and the United States.