Weekend Camping Trips from Vancouver #5: Haynes Point

This is the fifth in a series of posts on weekend camping trips you can take from Vancouver. All the camping trips listed will be to sites within a day's drive of the city, and all will be at provincial campgrounds. If there's a particular site you'd like reviewed, please reply with a comment to this post!

Haynes point is located 2 km south of Osoyoos, which makes it about a 4.5 hour drive from Vancouver. It's right in the heart of the Okanagan's mini-desert (it's not quite a true desert, since it gets a few millimetres too much rain), which makes the drive an interesting one. As you approach Osoyoos you drive through tons of vineyards, then through rough land that really does look desert-like, then down to the lake.

Haynes Point is a unique park in that the campsites are all on a long spit that extends more than halfway across Osoyoos Lake, which means that almost all of the campsites have direct access to the water. And all along the spit, you can stand in the middle of the road and see the lake on either side of the spit.

There's not a lot of hiking at Haynes point, just a short interpretive trail that does offer raised platforms with a nice view over the desert landscape. But with a lakeside campsite, and the unbelievable heat of the unfiltered Okanagan sun, you're unlikely to want to go for a hike anyway. Your best bet is to station yourself on a chair up to your knees in water and make your way through a good book. A spin on an air mattress is also highly recommended.

Haynes Point has no shower facilities, but there are flush toilets (set up just like they were outhouses -- they're almost charming in a way).

On your way back to Vancouver, take a detour to the NK'MIP winery for a tour and samples, and make sure to hit some of the Okanagan's fruit stands for fresh peaches!

You can find out more about Haynes Point, or make reservations, here.

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Weekend Camping Trips from Vancouver #5: Haynes Point

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