Strathcona Park  

The Challenge?

Maintain and operate Strathcona Provincial Park, British Columbia's oldest Provincial Park.

The Crux?

The park consists of more than 250, 000 hectares of wilderness area, including front and backcountry facilities and with multiple stakeholders involved.

Strathcona Provincial Park is an iconic wilderness area that makes up a large portion of Vancouver Island and has a rich history. Designated as British Columbia's first Provincial Park in 1911, the park has evolved into a recreation and mountaineering mecca for every kind and ability of outdoor enthusiast. The vast area is home to pristine, remote wilderness areas that may only be visited by a handful of people each year, yet still require maintenance. The accessible frontcountry campgrounds see tens of thousands of visitors each year and require significant upkeep and investment into visitor services. Strathcona Park is also home to significant bodies of water that house five marine campgrounds. These attract boating and fishing enthusiasts and require patrols. It’s a geographically humungous area with a diverse range of activities to pursue.

Since becoming the operators of Strathcona Park we have undertaken several trail and facility maintenance projects to repair and replace infrastructure battered by weather. These have included replacing bridges, boardwalk, docks and tent pads. We recently converted all of the fly out waste pit toilets to urine diversion, composting toilets. This will reduce the amount of times a helicopter is required to fly into the park by nearly three times! 

A highlight has been overseeing the design and project management of BC's first backcountry groupsite at Croteau Lake. This involved planning a welcoming and accessible backcountry facility suited to large groups. We installed a large yurt for group activities, several tentpads and outhouses. 

The geographically dispersed, remote locations of Strathcona's recreation sites makes for challenging logistics. Careful planning, an organised procurement process and staff well-versed at working in isolated conditions are essential for our success.

Location:
Strathcona Provincial Park, Vancouver Island

Date:
2015 to present (with operations permit to 2024)

Client:
BC Parks

Scope:
• Park Operations