We made reservations for this campground several weeks ago while we
were in New Hampshire and it was a good choice for a home base while we
explored Prince Edward Island. The campground is located about ten
minutes NW of Charlottetown, the capital and largest city on PEI, and is
conveniently located for many of the things we wanted to see and do.
Although our site is a back-in we were able to pull though to it from
the vacant site behind us; that was nice because some trees might
have posed a challenge to Jim if he had to back in:

This is a large Good Sam park with over 200 sites on 41 acres.
Here's a diagram from the campground's
website. About 90 of the blue sites to the right and left are
seasonal sites, where the RVs are often left all winter (unoccupied, I
assume!).
Our site is about where the red dot is located:

All the sites are on grass, which we like. This is the second time in the
Maritimes where we've had a nice grassy site -- under the camper,
not just next to a gravel or concrete pad.
Even after some rain later in the week there weren't any puddles or mud
near our camper.
Our site is mostly sunny except for two 20-foot pine trees on either
side of our bedroom. There is plenty of room for our slides, awning, and
"front yard" with fire ring and picnic table:
We have 30-amp electricity, water, sewer, and a decent WiFi signal. We
can get three TV stations clearly with our camper antenna (no cable and
we don't have a satellite dish). Our phone signal is iffy but we hardly
ever use it anyway. Our door faces mostly east, and the bay window is
south, so we get a lot of sun.
The campground has restrooms and a nice laundry
room near the office and camp store at the entrance:

Other amenities include a swimming pool, playgrounds, horseshoe pits,
volleyball and basketball, and a game room. One cabin and several travel
trailers are available to rent.
The large RV park (with full hookups) for short-and long-term visitors is
mostly flat. The campground sections with no or partial hookups for campers,
tents, and dry camping are more hilly:


The more remote areas with grass like the one below are good places to walk
the dogs and play ball with Casey if there aren't people nearby:

The campground is called Pine Hills for a reason -- lots of pine
trees on the property and woods in the back.
I've been walking the dogs on
trails back there and through a field full of wildflowers and a couple
little ponds behind the campground:






I don't know if all
that land belongs to the campground owners but I didn't see any private
property signs and no one ever ran me out. I'll show some more of the
flower photos I took back there later in this entry.
There is a large field of potatoes next to the long drive into the
campground:

Potatoes are a major agricultural crop on the island. Someone in Nova
Scotia we met was disappointed in PEI, saying all the potato fields make
it look "just like Ohio." They expected something more exotic,
I guess.
They obviously didn't travel around the island enough! I've seen most of
Ohio after living there for 25 years and I've seen most of PEI in one
week. I think PEI wins the beauty contest. The terrain on the island is much more
varied and interesting to me than Ohio.
LABOR DAY AT PINE HILLS
Half or more of the short-term full hook-up sites were empty the
first three days we were here and no one was camped in the tent, partial
hookup, or dry camping areas.
It was nice and quiet and we were able to walk the dogs all over the
place.
View the first
few days with no one in the sites directly behind us;
open space for playground in
middle of picture, seasonal sites in the distance

By Friday the whole place was full -- it was Labor Day
weekend, which is celebrated in Canada at the same time as the U.S.
Since all the spaces are pretty large I don't think anyone felt
particularly crowded.



All the tents and additional campers limited where I walked the dogs
but we were gone a lot so it didn't matter much.
What did matter was that three young couples from Nova Scotia
who were in sites surrounding ours were noisy and inconsiderate (litter
left behind, kids running amok, etc.). I was surprised. I had a better
opinion of Nova Scotians than that.
After all the weekend folks left it was peaceful again our last day
and night in the campground.
FRIENDLY, CONSIDERATE FOLKS
By far the majority of people we've met in campgrounds and other places
in the Maritimes have been welcoming, helpful, and courteous.
After we got set up and ate lunch we sat outside reading materials we'd
gathered about PEI. Before long we were talking with three neighbor
couples. (Except for Labor Day weekend, we didn't have folks in the
sites right next to us.)
Autumn is fast approaching; the fireweeds are
almost done blooming.
One is a
retired couple from British Columbia who travel most of the time but
still have a house. They winter in Arizona and travel around Canada and the
U.S. in warmer months. They have a 37-foot Tiffin Phaeton Class A.
That would be our preferred brand if we ever get a motorhome.
The couple toured the Tiffin plant in Alabama before ordering their
coach, which is our plan before ever purchasing another RV (any type and either
special-ordered or off a dealer's lot).

While we were talking with them a 38-foot Cameo pulled in and
parked a few sites down from us. We haven't seen very many Cameos up
here. When it looked like they were pretty well set up we went over to
talk to them. They used to live on PEI for ten years. Now they have a
place in Ottawa.
They invited us in to see their interior and we let them inside ours.
They have a 2011 model with a different floor plan than our 2010 36-foot
model. It was interesting to see that they have the same colors and
woods we do -- cabinets, countertops, furniture, blinds, walls,
wallpaper trim, upholstery. Their vinyl and carpeting area little different.
They've done some "remodeling" on their coach, too --
new faucets, showerhead, towel
rods, closets, and such. I took photos of their bicycle hitch, which
they had custom-made to fit on the top of their pin box. We haven't come
up with a good solution for transporting our bikes other than keeping
them inside in transit.


We also met the guy across from us who has SD plates. His name sign says
Brunswick, GA. He and his wife have a condo in GA but travel most of the
time so they have SD residency and mailing service.
They've been here about a week and gave us lots of information about
things to do and see. We've talked to them several times.
During our week at the campground we met other friendly, interesting
folks from Canada and the U.S. In addition to residents, other travelers
are often a great source of information about local activities and attractions
because they're seeing it with fresh eyes just like we are.
SEASONAL CAMPING WITH A TWIST
We also learned about an interesting lifestyle choice when we talked
with an older man who's here with his wife for the summer. It's their
first time as seasonal campers and they love it. So do about ninety other
folks/couples who have sites here.
Seasonal campers at Pine Hills RV Park pay only $1,400 CA for four
months from mid-May or early June to September. That price includes
electricity; many RV parks in the U.S. charge seasonal residents
separately for their individual electrical use.
One of about 90 seasonal sites at Pine Hill;
note the nice deck, flowers, etc. on this end lot.
This couple has a house about 20 minutes away, which surprises us. Why
bother with a new 5th-wheel coach, the wooden deck he's building, and
the campground fee if you have a house 20 minutes away??? We don't get
it.
He says most of the seasonal people here have houses on the island,
and most don't go south for the winter -- they just
leave their RVs at the campground and move back to their stick houses
when it gets cold. According to this man most of them are
retired, not working and just here on the weekends.
I don't fully get it. This is a nice place to relax and socialize but
why pay for two homes so close together? The campground is not even on
the water. In fact, PEI is so small anyone is within half an hour or
less of one of the coasts.
As visitors from elsewhere, we highly recommend staying at Pine Hills.
It was our favorite campground of the
five where we stayed in the Maritimes.
Next entry: a scenic bike ride on the Gulf Shores
Way at PEI National Park
Happy trails,
Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil,
Cody the ultra Lab, and Casey-pup
Previous
Next
© 2014 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil