After years without being open for overnight stays, Robert Service Campground reopens for Yukoners and visitors alike to pitch a tent and spark up a campfire on May 18.
The campground, located within Whitehorse city limits, is accessible by the recently reopened Robert Service Way and the Millennium Trail, which remains closed due to landslide threat. The campground did not reopen for overnight stays in recent summers due to the COVID-19 pandemic and construction of new campground facilities.
After its reopening, the campground’s season will run until Sept. 8. It is divided into 68 sites good for up to two tents each and two larger sites that can accommodate up to 25 people each. The campground is tent-only and does not accommodate trailers or have electricity hookups but does boast wi-fi access, washrooms, lockers, a playground, firewood for purchase and coin-operated hot showers.
Construction on new campground facilities is ongoing and can be expected by campers between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. over the coming camping season.
The project that is under construction is a building that will house washrooms and other facilities that was approved for construction by the city in early 2022. At that time the city scaled back the design to bring the project back under the $2.9 million that was budgeted for it.
The campground had been in private hands but on land leased by the city for decades before Whitehorse took over its operation in 2018.
Contact Jim Elliot at jim.elliot@yukon-news.com