MY 2007 BOLER BLOG

[Jayson Wall]

TRIP #1

My 1st trip of the year was the 1st weekend in July.

We headed 1.5 hours west of Winnipeg to Falcon Lake in the Whiteshell Provincial Park and stayed at the Falcon Lakeshore campsite.

The individual sites are pretty big. No problem for a Boler, awning, kitchen tent and vehicle. Infact, you could probably have 3 Bolers on one site. We had water but no power on the site. Different sites feature power and water, or simply just a basic site is also available.

Within the campground itself was a full grocery store, restaurants w/ wireless internet access, beer vendor, lounge, gas station, all the comforts of home.

The campground features 2 beaches, 2 playgrounds, walking trails, biking fishing, and boating.

The bugs weren't bad during the day and livable in the evening.

There were showers and modern washrooms within a short walking distance of most campsites. The washrooms/showers were a old and could use updating, but were cleaned several times daily.

The downsides of this park is that there are no waterfront campsites, the sites could be a little more private. If you stay at the Beach shore camping area, it looks more like an RV parking lot than and camping area.

Here are my campground ratings out of "5"

Site Options: 4
Site Size: 5
Privacy: 2
Washroom: 3.5
Showers: 3.5
Stuff To Do: 3.75
Amenities: 5
Cleanliness: 4
Firewood: $8 for a small bundle

OVERALL= 3.8/5

[Jayson Wall]

TRIP #2

Our 2nd trip of the year was to Spruce Woods Provincial Park for the 2nd weekend in July.

It is located 2 hours WSW of Winnipeg.

Not sure why it's called Spruce Woods because most of the tress are poplar.

The individual sites are pretty small. The sites are "L" shaped and we could barely fit the Boler, awning and kitchen tent on the site. They have parking curbs outling the site and actually the kitchen tent had to go over the curbs Thank heavens there was a bit of a clearing so we could move the fire pit there, otherwise, we'd have to decide weather we wanted a fire pit or kitchen tent.
Most sites have 15 amp power but no water. There are a few basic sites available as well.

We drove around and some sites were actually a bit smaller than ours. We lucked out.
We found bigger sites in the campground but they are unserviced and far from most things.

Other than this, this campground is great! Lots to do. If your into biking and hiking, then this is the place for you. There are LOTS of hiking trails totaling a couple hundred kms. Within the park there is a desert where sand dunes can be seen as far as you can. The are horse and chuck wagon rides down historic paths.
There is not much for water sports here. The Assiniboine river is the main water source so fishing is the only option. There are a few small marsh/lakes in the area with a really nice sized beach area, with really clear water and a large playground.

There is a little store in the park in case you forgot a few things at home.
The washrooms and showers were nearby and were great!! Up to date and clean!

The bugs were a little worse here, but still not bad at all.

The FREE FIREWOOD was a nice bonus!

This area is very beautiful. All within a few miles of each other, you are looking down into a river valley with farmers fields in the distance, then you're in the middle of a desert, to walking by a marsh wetland, then in the middle of a heavy wooded forrest to walking down a beach.

We searched the campground for other Bolers. Again we didn't find any. We did find a Surf Side and a newer Scamp.

There are 2 small towns just north and south of the park about 15 minutes away.

The downsides of this campground are the sites sizes and the ground of the sites are fine sand...so you will get sand everywhere!


Here are my campground ratings out of "5"

Site Options: 3
Site Size: 2
Privacy: 5
Washroom: 4.75
Showers: 4.75
Stuff To Do: 4.5
Amenities: 2.5
Cleanliness: 4.5
Firewood: Free

OVERALL= 4/5

[Jayson Wall]

TRIP #3

Our 3rd trip of the year was to the Turtle Mountains Provincial Park in Manitoba for the 3rd weekend in July. We stayed at the Adam Lake campground.

It is located about 3 hours SW of Winnipeg.

The campground actually runs along the Manitoba / North Dakota border and has the International Peace Gardens within its boundaries.

The actual sites were the best part of this campground. You can choose from basic, electricity, and water and electricity.

The basic and electric sites were small and about the same size as the Spruce Woods sites, but the water & electricity sites were HUGE!

As for stuff to do, there are a few hiking trails. That’s about it. The lake is more lake a shallow pond / marsh. The beach was more mud than sand and the playground structures for the kids were old wooden structures that were starting to fall apart.

There is no store in the campground, so if you forgot anything, a town called Boisevain is a short 15 minute drive away.

The showers were good. They are pretty new and modern. The only problem with them is the ventilation. Once the shower runs for 5 minutes, the room is full of steam and it doesn’t seem to dissipate. So forget about trying to get dry.

There wasn’t much to speak of for bugs, which was nice.

The FREE FIREWOOD was a nice bonus!

We went on a day trip to William Lake, which is also a part of the Turtle mountains park. It is about 15 minute drive east of Adam lake. Although it has now power sites, it looked a lot better. So we will try that one next time.

We searched the campground for other Bolers again.
A-HA!! We found one. Although it was not actually being used for camping we did find one. It was sitting in a cottager’s driveway.

This campground was a big disappointment. Being right on the Canada / USA border we would’ve thought that the govt. run campground would’ve been in tip top shape to attracted people from south of the border.

There is HUGE potential for this campground. It just needs a bit of funding and some elbow grease.

The International Peace Gardens is a short 4 minute drive away. This is a must to see if in the area. This is a beautiful place to spend a day! Lots of different monuments including a tribute to 9-11 from the World Trade Center. They have actual iron I beams from the two towers there on display.

On our way home we parked beside a Surf Side at the Tim Hortons on Portage La Prairie.

Here are my campground ratings out of "5"

Site Options: 5
Site Size: 5
Privacy: 5
Washroom: 3.75
Showers: 3.75
Stuff To Do: 1
Amenities: 1
Cleanliness: 3.25
Firewood: Free

OVERALL= 2.8/5

[Jayson Wall]

TRIP #4

Our 4th trip of the year was to the Stephenfield Provincial Park in Manitoba for the 4rd weekend in July.

It is located about 1 hour SW of Winnipeg and about 15 minutes west of the town of Carman,

We have been here a few times in the past and have loved it.

The available sites for this campground are basic and electricity. All the sites are about the same size. They are large and very private.

Their washrooms were average and the showers are great. They are family type showers and are very large!

As for stuff to do, there are a few hiking trails and biking trails that the whole family can take part in. The lake which is not very big but is used for fishing, boating, water skiing, canoeing, and swimming. There are a few docks along the shores to either fish off of or swim from.

The beach area is nice and the water is warm and pretty clean. The only issue here is there are a few leeches lurking in the water, so bring salt with you to the beach.

There is no store in the campground, so if you forgot anything, you will be driving to Carman to get it.

There wasn’t much to speak of for bugs, which was nice.

We searched the campground for other Bolers again. Didn’t find any this weekend.

We love this campground and are surprised that most Manitobans haven’t heard of it with being so close to Winnipeg. It is a great place to bring a young family.


Here are my campground ratings out of "5"

Site Options: 4
Site Size: 4
Privacy: 5
Washroom: 3.75
Showers: 4.25
Stuff To Do: 4
Amenities: 1
Cleanliness: 4.25
Firewood: Bring your own

OVERALL= 4/5

[Jayson Wall]

TRIP #5

Our 5th trip of the year was to the Blue Lake Provincial Park in north western Ontario for the 4th weekend in August.

It is located about 3 hours ENE of Winnipeg and about 1 hour ENE west of Kenora Ontario

This was our first trip out of Manitoba and weren’t sure what to expect.

Since the campground fees in Ontario are double in comparison to what they are in Manitoba, we were expecting something out of this world.

When we got there, we were a little disappointed with the washrooms. It seems all we found were outhouses with a cold water tap in them. Hmm? Strange.

After exploring around the grounds for a bit we learned that there are 3 levels of washrooms. One being the old fashion outhouse with a cold water tap, the second being a washroom with a low flow camper style toilet with a cold water tap and the 3rd being a full washroom with hot water. They call this a “Comfort Zone”.

All of the sites are HUGE! They have basic and powered sites available. There are a few private sites available, but for the most part, there is not much privacy. Most of the campground is wooded with black spruce and their branches don’t start until about 20 feet up the tree, so they don’t provide for privacy.

The showers here have been the best we’ve seen all season. Lots of pressure and lots of HOT water!

As for stuff to do, there is LOTS! Biking, hiking, fishing, swimming, boating, canoeing, water skiing, snorkeling.

The beach area is nice and long, but not very wide.

Now here is what is best about this place. The water is CRYSTAL CLEAR. You’d think you were in the Caribbean. You can go snorkeling and swim with the schools of fish. It’s great and pretty rare around here.

The water in the lake here is worth the price of admission alone!!

There is no store in the campground, so if you forgot anything, you will be driving to Vermillion Bay which is about 5 minutes away.

You can rent canoes, kayaks and fishing gear from the office.

If you don’t have a camper they have 3 sites for rent that have a tent trailer and a kitchen tent ready to go.

There wasn’t much to speak of for bugs, which was nice.

We searched the campground for other Bolers again. Alas, we found 2 others. Both were 17 footers.

We loved this campground!

At first we didn’t think too much of it, but it grows on you and after a day, you won’t want to leave!


Here are my campground ratings out of "5"

Site Options: 4
Site Size: 5
Privacy: 3
Washroom: 4.25
Showers: 4.75
Stuff To Do: 5
Amenities: 3
Cleanliness: 4.75
Firewood: $5 a bag

OVERALL= 4.5/5

[Bobbie Mayer]

Great reports, Jayson! I wish those campgrounds were near me.

Bobbie

[Andy H]

Wonderful reports Jason !!
Keep up the GREAT WORK !!
Makes me feel like hooking-up the boler and hitting the road...

[Doug Mager]

.....the writeup and pics of Falcon Lake (West Hawk, White Shell) brought back many memories (snif, snif) for me.
I lived (seasonally) in a 12X16 tent at the far end of the campground while working forestry jobs.

Nice job here Jason