There will be no May Day or early spring camping at Katherine Lake Park this year.
In an April 24 press release, the Sunshine Coast Regional District announced that facility will remain closed past May 21 “due to ongoing emergency road repairs."
Campsite operators will be contacting parties that have reserved camp space at the site for the coming weeks to arrange for a refund of fees paid.
Heavy rainfall in February caused significant damage that resulted in a sinkhole on the park access road’s driving surface. It has remained closed since that date and subsequent inspections have revealed that the undersized culvert system under the road had been corroded. Repairs of the road involve replacement of that system and reinforcement of the road base. The press release outlined that the work must be approved by both provincial and federal authorities due to the fish-bearing stream that runs beneath the road.
“We understand that this is frustrating for those who use the park and campground but it’s just not safe to use the road right now,” SCRD’s manager of community services Shelley Gagnon said in the release. She also stated that “the remediation and upgrade of the road will be completed with climate resiliency in mind so that we are building for the future, and other potential heavy rain events that are completely out of our control.”
