Dogwood RV Park is situated in Surrey, close to Vancouver, Canada. We are posting a review of it because it is one of the very few RV parks that are close to Vancouver, BC. This review attempts to cover all aspects, so you can decide for yourself whether the pros outweigh the cons. We intend to publish similar reviews for all the parks we visit. We also invite readers to submit their own reviews. Share your knowledge, and help us to create a large collection of in-depth reviews to help others in the RV life! Please contact Maggie for more details.
First, here is a brief video review to give you a sense of what the Dogwood RV Park is like:
Location
This park is situated at a city that is close to Vancouver, BC, Canada. This map shows where the park is. You can zoom this map in and out, and also change it from Map view to Satellite view.
Sites at the Dogwood RV Park and Campground
There are many 30-watt sites; but no 50-watt sites. All sites have full hook-ups (power, water, sewer). The map shows a place for tents, but there were no tents when we visited, and the designated tenting area seemed small and very uneven. It is hard to imagine anyone actually camping in a tent there. The water pressure is adequate, but poor. The sites are small, so that our awning was almost touching the neighbor’s rig.
What we found odd is that each arriving RV was allocated to the very next adjoining site, even though the park was more than half empty. Why not space them out, when there was so much available space? Instead, we were stashed together like sardines, for no apparent reason.
Local Attractions at the Dogwood RV Park and Campground
There are two parks nearby, and that is about it. Basically, you are out in the sticks, and will need a car to go anywhere.
Pet Policy at Dogwood RV Park and Campground
The park allows any type of pets, with the usual leash rules. There is no dog off-leash area and no dog run. Interestingly, we saw many people taking cats for walks – some on leash, and some, amazingly, following along off-leash. We found that if we walked to a remote part of the park, near a steep drop-off, we could let our dogs off leash briefly without bothering anyone.
Bike Trails and Hiking at the Dogwood RV Park and Campground
There are opportunities for hiking at the nearby Hawthorne park, and a bike route runs past the park.
Accessibility and Availability
It is quite easy to drive to this park. There are many speed bumps and potholes in the access roads, but they are wide and do not have much traffic. There are also many speed bumps and potholes in the park itself.
General Atmosphere at the Dogwood RV Park and Campground
We stayed at this park during a cold and rainy spell in October, which probably influenced our perceptions. Also, the pervasive smell of marijuana didn’t help. The overwhelming feeling is of a depressing trailer park. We sometimes wondered if anyone at all was actually in the rigs, as we seldom saw human beings.
There were clearly a lot of full-timers who kept a very low profile. It took a lot of effort to get anyone to respond to friendly greetings. Most people just ignored us. Very, very different from our experiences in state parks in the USA, where pretty much everyone is your friend.
The atmosphere is not helped by the gigantic billboard that towers over the park, and the highway that runs right past it. There are also a lot of stored units, gently decaying in the rain. When I was barbecuing in the dark, I found the changing lights from the billboard to be very unpleasant.
Noise Level
The highway right next door ensures it is never quiet. However, the locals were very quiet – subdued, even.
Staff
The front desk is staffed by a very friendly and welcoming young woman.
Value for Money
The price is reasonable for the Vancouver area.
Wi-Fi
The Wi-Fi was very bdad. Basically, you could only access it if you were very close to the office. But, there was no sitting room to sit in while you accessed the Internet. You had a choice of sitting on a bench in the cold and rain, or sitting in the laundry room, where there were two chairs and a tiny table. These chairs were often occupied, so we would carry along our deck chairs and sit in a corner!
This made doing our work very challenging, especially as some of the dryers were deafening. If you are going to have such restricted Wi-Fi, surely you should provide a room with chairs for guests? Especially as their web site proclaims that they have Internet (without adding “in the noisy laundry only!”).
Cable TV
There was very basic cable TV with a few local channels, provided for free.
Cellular Reception
Cellular reception was excellent on our Fido plan.
Washrooms
The washrooms were always clean, and the free showers had a plentiful supply of hot water with good pressure.
Facilities
Facilities are very basic. There is a laundry, washrooms, an extremely basic store, a small children’s playground, and a sani dump.
There is one central garbage and recycling area, and also garbage cans and some recycling scattered around the park. This means that there is usually a garbage and recycling area very close by.
Guest Parking at the Dogwood RV Park and Campground
Guests could park pretty much anywhere they liked, and they did. There is little to no supervision of anything at this park.
Bottom Line on the Dogwood RV Park and Campground
The only positive thing we found about this campground is that it is fairly close to Vancouver. We spent ten days there in October, and felt relieved to leave. I felt sorry for those full timers who would be spending the winter there. For other RV parks in the Vancouver area, take a look at our post on the Anmore Camp and RV Park, and the Burnaby-Cariboo RV Park. To find our more about the Dogwood RV Park, click here.
Weigh up these pros and cons, and decide if this is the RV park for you!
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