Camping at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park

Last weekend, we took Sully on his very first camping trip. We talked about going camping all summer, but there never seemed to be a weekend that worked and sites book up so far in advance. I'm not an experienced camper by any means, but it's something that both Jim and I want to make a part of our children's lives. I think camping is a great learning and life experience, especially tent camping! We may have only gotten out once this year, but I already feel better prepared for the years to come!

Thanks to some recommendations from a coworker of Jim's, we decided to camp at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. We wanted something with a different landscape and somewhere new in the province we hadn't been before. We were also confident that because Writing-on-Stone is so south, we'd probably luck out with warmer weather so late in the camping season. And luck out we did! During the days, the temperatures hovered around +30C (86F), and while our first night was pretty chilly, our second night was really warm.

Anyway, the drive to the Park is about 3 hours for us, so we decided to make the mini-vacation a bit longer and got a hotel room in Lethbridge for the night before. Which means, it was only about an hour from the hotel to the campsite which was perfect. We stopped to see Albertosaurus and climb the hoodoos at the Milk River Visitor Information Centre on the way.

The campsite is located just down the hill from the Writing-on-Stone Visitor Centre, and is nestled amongst the hoodoos and the Milk River. It's not visible at all from the road so it was quite a pleasant surprise when we arrived. Our site we booked was huge, and really well shaded, which I was very happy for. There's a day area for visitors, with lots of green space, picnic tables and a playground. There's a little store where you can by some amenities like firewood, ice and ice-cream, and right beside it is flush toilets and pay-showers. The rest of the toilets in the campground are pit toilets (but very clean). 

We spent two nights camping and I easily could have spent a third night there. Sully fell asleep both nights in his play-pen, but ended up in bed with us usually around 1 a.m., which actually worked out well since he's a little furnace and kept me nice and warm! Our days were spent hanging out around the fire - seriously, Sully was entertained for HOURS just picking up and throwing rocks, washing rocks in the dish basin, collecting pinecones - flirting with the little girl at the campsite next to us.

We also visited the playground and went for lots of walks. There's actually a really nice beach down by the river, and although there was a water advisory, most people still went in, either to swim or float on it. There are also trails starting at the campground that will take you up through the hoodoos and to the visitor centre. Or you can drive up to the visitor centre and hike from there. There are also guided tours you can pay for. Honestly, it was much too hot for this pregnant momma to do any hiking during the day, but we did explore the Battle Scene trail one evening. Of course, my fear of rattle snakes was at an all time high the entire time we were out on the trails, but thankfully, we didn't spot any! 

All in all, it was a fantastic trip and it's amazing that everything went so smoothly. We didn't forget anything major, we all enjoyed ourselves and I only had to get up to use the washroom the first night! #pregnancywin And of course, it goes without saying, it was great to disconnect (no cell service down in the campsite!) and just soak up all the time with my little family.

We will definitely be back to camp there again next year!

P.S. If you missed it - I talked all about what food we ate while camping in this post from last week!


Do you like camping?

Are you a tent or trailer camper?