Lake O’Hara Campground

August 2024 3 nights Reservations at this campground will be hard to come by, but keep trying and look for cancellations! We came from Winnipeg MB to explore this very special place. Listen to all of the other reviews, dress and prepare for all sorts of weather. In mid-August the nights were cold and the precipitation came often (no snow, but we prepared for a bit of it).  Pack toques and gloves and warm socks for the mornings. Make sure you ground sheet is tucked under your tent fly.  The tent pads were mostly level, but we had some pooling that drained fairly quickly. We brought extra rope to secure the tent fly to near by trees  because it was slightly bigger than the pad (we had a 3p back country tent). Bring your stoves and a small cooler. The bear lockers are large, but bring a lock (not for security reasons, but to keep the door closed).  The pit toilets were great, no smell. Only very cold water available. Never saw any hot water (and the taps only had one option) available so bring a small Contigo mug to keep hot/warm water on demand (my husband needs to warm up his night mouth guard). I would arrive to the parking area earlier than expected as it was harder to find parking.  If you time your arrival with the shuttle/bus arrivals, you should be fine to find a spot. Don't lose your bus ride tokens and keep to two bags max. We brought 5 bags and 1 tent, as there were 3 of us (12 yr old included).   Make sure you have no water bladders in the bags going in the back of the bus and stuff attached to the outside of your pack might need to be shuffled to your daypack to be placed on your lap, just fyi. Those are all the tips I could think of that may not have been mentioned elsewhere, enjoy!

An amazingly special place in the heart of rockies to come day hike or camp so I give 5 stars to the location but related to the customer support I only give 1 star. First reservation is more harder than lottery than after many years when you win you will see some personal which they wanna give you check and you should appriciate them! Couple of Parks Canada staff in the lake o'hara team behaving with us was like boss, I don't underestand they are just only staff or owner of the camp?! From the check point to pickup the visitors till the end thier talking and conversation are like talking with the kids, specially when one of them did speech in the bus on the way up or when you are calling them on the phone at 250-343-6433 and wanna get some advise or help! I wish they will take Skills Training Course cources related how to talk and behaive customers for next summer

This is a real nice facility for tent camping. In fact, it’s more like car-camping but without a car. The tent pads are fairly large. Many people had 4-person, stand up tents on their pads. The anchor points may be off the pad but the tent is just fine. They have bear boxes for your food. A storage house for your gear. You don’t have to sleep with your gear in your tent if you don’t want to. Two cook houses with picnic tables and a wood stove if there is no burn ban. Lots of picnic tables in the common area outside the cook houses. All food must be prepared and consumed in this common area. A nice drop toilet. And…..hot and cold running water for dishes or to fill your water for your hike. I am told the potable water can be seasonal. But we had it in early August. The surrounding area is spectacular. The hikes are spectacular. There is a Day Shelter about 500 meters up the road as well that serves hot drinks and some minor food items. You don’t have to bring backpacks to camp here. Many people just bring large gear bags with all their stuff. It’s really a nicely maintained and well equipped campground. Other than sleeping in a tent on the ground, you really aren’t roughing it here. I guess, you could bring a cot if you really wanted to.

We always stay at campground 9. Is shaded. Far from the noise and more private. Campground is clean, well maintained and they have portable water. It’s only 10min walk to Lake Ohara. The store has the best carrot cake. They open at 8:30am and it’s cash only. They usually run out of carrot cake by 9AM so make sure you go early. Get a cake and coffee and enjoy it by the lake… can’t be better then that 🥰

I was super impressed as my first impression. It felt really fancy and super organized and neat compared to other camping grounds I've been to (keeping in mind I've not been to many). Someone else left a review that very thoroughly describes it. The only thing they mentioned that I didn't find here was the hot water. There was only cold water. Some tips from my friend who'se been more than once: after a long hard hike you probably don't want to go up the stairs (some of the pads are up a small set) or to walk far but its worth it if you're a light sleeper. The pads closer to the communal area and washrooms can get a bit loud just due to proximity and even after quiet hours, the bathroom doors swing a bit and can be a bit clanky even when they don't slam shut. Definitely bring a cushy sleeping pad and extra layers for sleeping in if you come in the colder months. Definitely bring a little burner to cook on: the wood stoves they have take FOREVER to cook things on. Most wood stoves I've seen have covers which you can remove so you're essentially cooking directly over the fire but there is no lid lifter available, the stoves dont even look like the lids come off. Bring lights for sure, there's no lighting in the cook houses. Also, maybe a small umbrella or some kind of a food cover because the birds in the area are bold savages and WILL dive bomb your food in the common area!!! (I think they were Clarks Nutcrackers. . . The ravens are very chill and just hang about at a polite distance)