Coquihalla Campground

We reserved a site at Coquihalla Campground in Hope, BC and upon arrival, we were encouraged by what appeared to be a nice, well-kept campground. Check-in should have been fast and easy since your site was pre-paid.

Then the clerk informed us that we would have to pay an additional $10 for our car. We drive a 43-foot motorhome and tow a Jeep Wrangler. If you have a travel trailer, your fee covers the trailer and towing car, if you have a 5th wheel, the campsite fee covers the trailer and your tow vehicle, but if you drive a motorhome, they want an extra $10 for your tow car, despite any other RV and car/truck not having to pay. In more than years and 75,000 miles, this was a new one.

I requested to speak to the owner, but that was denied. Finally, after demanding a refund, they phoned the owner and eventually the fee was dropped "for this one occasion only." Well, there won't be a second occasion.

A nice but expensive campground that just lost another customer due to price gouging for unreasonable added fees.

What we liked - huge sites, nicely spaced, level, fire pit and table, full hookups, reasonable privacy, What we didn’t like - traffic noise. Very close to a busy road. I think the sites further in would be quieter.

About a 10 minute drive from Othello Tunnels which is well worth the visit if you haven’t been. http://bcparks.ca/explore/parkpgs/coquihalla_cyn/

This site is owned by the District of Hope but operated under contract. Since it could be a showcase for the District, one would hope (pardon the pun) that they would bring it up to date. Being the site where the original Rambo movie was shot, alone could make it a popular place.
It is very well situated for access to the town of Hope (a developing tourist town), walking trails and other area features. However, it is very tired and the office area has a bit of a logging camp feel to it. About 1/3 fully serviced, 1/3 partially serviced and 1/3 unserviced sites. All well treed. Unfortunately, the serviced sites are near the road and subject to road noise. If you want a serviced site, find out where the service island is on the site. Some side by side sites share a service island and so it’s on the wrong side of the rig.
Cell (4G) coverage is OK, but wifi (provided by Tengo Internet) is abysmal (very slow speed and frequently drops signal, despite 3 booster towers). Since the wifi is free, I can understand slow speed for basic service. But it should at least be reliable and a paid premium service should be available - neither are the case.

I suspect the range of experiences at this campground is wide, depending entirely upon where you get a campsite. The hook up sites near the store and the bathrooms were disappointing -- some are very close to each other and all are relatively dusty. Road noise filters in to most areas of the campground as well. There were, however, several sites down near the river which seemed really great. The river is beautiful, although you wouldn't know it's there from most of the campground due to what I assume is a flood control berm about 4 or 5 feet high. The campground store was poorly stocked and the bathrooms were somewhat dated, but acceptable. This is a City-owned campground which is managed by a concessionaire.