Pathfinder Camp Resorts - Parksville — Hotel in Area G (Mid-Oceanside)

This park is fantastic! We used to stay here before the new management took over and the differences are night and day. The staff are all amazing; super friendly, helpful and go above and beyond. They always greet you with a friendly "Good morning!" and are pleasant to chat with. The store is well stocked from treats to food stuffs through to any supplies you might need, and the prices are more than fair...like, seriously CHEAP. They had hayrides, an outdoor movie, a picnic and bike decorating while we were there, which is great for kids. They also have cool four wheeled bike rentals that everyone loved. There are new playgrounds kids love and the outdate to the pool is great! The garbage facilities are also new and upgraded, clean and well-maintained, and they don't hiss at you when you go to toss a bag in the dumpster like the previous owner. As always the beach at the river is the highlight. You can swim, fish, jump off the rocks or just lounge about. Everything from the laundry services to the washrooms has been upgraded. There is also a cool library. I can't say enough good things about our experiences here. We look forward to going back.||To address some of the negative reviews - Yeah, there are kids there. Sometimes, lots of them. It's not a gated 55+ RV park; if you don't like the laughter of children, you may want to seek out a private, members only, aged restrictive park where you can sip martinis and hobnob with the Howell's in peace. Yes, there are people camped within 100 feet of you; I have never seen any RV Park or campground where there isn't. Perhaps you may be looking for the backcountry, but good luck getting your RV in there and there aren't any services. Again, this is an RV park, not BLM land. There are also dogs, and as always there are 1 or 2 careless owners who let their dogs bark occasionally. See also: everywhere else. I did notice that some spots did not have fire pits, but if this park is so busy that you can't get a fire pit, it's usually the time of year where there is a fire ban on, so it's a moot point. If a not having a fire pit ruins your camping trip, you're doing camping wrong. Go by a propane fire set and do better. Finally, yes, there was some sewer smell from time to time; it wasn't bad, and you can always go inside, go to the river, or the pool, etc, etc, etc. AGAIN, it's an RV park, not a Hilton.||We used to dread coming here under the pervious ownership, and only did so because they always had availability, (I wonder why?); we were still leery about returning, even after the new management, but we were more than happy with the current state of things and our time there was more than enjoyable even with the occasional distant barks, the chortles of kids as they rode past, the fire ban which prevented us from using our fire pit, the fact that our neighbours, (who were all wonderful people), were in our line of sight, nor the occasional whiff of sewer as the staff did routine maintenance.||Do yourself a favour and...

This was our first time at this RV resort. We never went when it was formally Parry's, so we don't have any comparison to what it 'used to be'. We realize it is not completely finished, but we liked what they have done so far.

If you've ever been to a KOA in the States, it has a very similar feel - family friendly & great staff that take the time to get to know you. The general store is perfect and had anything you may have forgotten or run out of. But send lots of pocket change for the kids - the candy section is well stocked and has icecream by the scoop!

We have a tent trailer so don't utilize the full hookups, but each site has power, water & sewage. A small hose to attach to water hookup would have been handy in our case as we don't use it directly to our trailer. We'll bring one next time. There are only 2 bathroom buildings but it didn't seem to be an issue as most people must use their RVs.

There is not a ton of privacy between all of the sites, but most sites are quite large and you don't feel like you're right next to your neighbor. There are also many that are pull through which makes it easier for bigger rvs. It's a bit dusty right now because the gravel was new - we were told after a couple good rain days it will start to pack down.

The pool opened the day we got there. Between that and the river, we were back and forth all day! The kids also loved riding their bikes around the campsite (they even have some small offroad jumps) and playing on the 2 new playgrounds - very original and lots of climbing. They did a movie night on the Saturday for the kids for the long weekend, with a prize draw and kept the store open late for snacks.

We appreciated seeing Tony's evening rounds in his golf cart to say goodnight and remind everyone of the quiet time. The staff were very accessible and we always felt safe.

There is a site lock fee, which we have noticed at most of the newer campsites. We paid it to ensure we got the site we had chosen. So it's simple - if you don't care, don't pay it. If you want the specific site you select, then it's worth the one time fee to ensure you don't get bumped around by the computer.

There is lots to do in the area - it is minutes from Rathtrevor Beach and a great mini golf place for the kids, and the dads got to Brigadoon golf course down the street for a morning round. This was our first visit to Parksville, and we can't wait to go back next summer and stay at...

The caretaker of this campground is intrusive of guest privacy and does not communicate with guests respectfully. We were relaxing with friends around the campfire and he felt the need to interrupt us twice around 10pm. First, to point out that fires must be no more than 18” high (our flames were just above the grate right after a fresh log was added, nothing outrageous and burned down within minutes). This visit at 10pm was unnecessary. Then he returned to let us know that 2 vehicles required parking passes, something that should have been addressed during the checkin process, not at 10pm when we were visiting with friends. We were not trying to break any rules but he accused us of ignoring what his staff told us regarding extra vehicles, even though he admitted his staff were new and may have missed some details on checkin. He was very angry the next afternoon because we had to leave for a race before the office opened at 10am, and so could not deal with the parking passes right away in the morning. This was very uncomfortable for us. That evening our kids went to use the pool, and minutes after they jumped in he came and closed the pool. It was still daylight, an hour and 20 minutes before the posted closure of ‘dusk’. No warning, no extra 10 minutes to allow the kids some fun while it was still daylight. He said this is a VIHA rule, but the posted rule is dusk so we genuinely felt we had more time. He also accused us of having too many kids per adult supervision in the pool, but several of the kids were older than he realized, he didn’t bother to ask he just said we were breaking that rule too. I felt really sad for the kids as they had been so excited about using the pool. I will not be returning. I go camping to relax and enjoy time with friends and friends. Instead, I found myself accused of lacking integrity, and I felt like he was watching us the whole time. Sorry for the lengthy post here, I did try to speak with the caretaker about this but he really doubled down on his rules and reasons saying it’s out of his hands. I don’t think he really listened to me. Just beware of...