August 24, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Fort Nelson, Camping
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As an intro to my blogs to come on staying up the highway at Stone Mountain Safaris, I thought I would throw together a little pre-trip guide to getting everything you need for camping from the town of Fort Nelson.
So let's start with hunting & fishing licenses, available at both local sporting stores, C.M.P Sports and Wapiti Sporting Goods. C.M.P is on the far side of town as you come in from the Fort St. John end off to the left hand side on the frontage road, right next to the Shannon Motel. Wapiti is in the Fort Hotel Plaza on the corner of 50th Ave N (the frontage road on the right hand side) and 51st Street. Fishing licenses can be bought for 1 day, 8 days, or 1 year. Also note that the prices are different for B.C Residents then International Visitors. Both places carry fishing tackle, line, rods, anything you need for a fishing adventure. For bear safety, you can also pick up bear spray at either location.
Next up Food, stock up on groceries at one of the two supermarkets in town, IGA or Overwaitea. Overwaitea is located on airport drive and IGA is just off to your left on the frontage road once again if your coming from the Fort St. John end. There is also quite a few restaurants, mostly located along both sides of the highway on the frontage roads. I always like to grab subway on my way out of town.
You will want to fill up your mode of transportation here with gas or diesel as prices will, if you can believe it, increase further. There are 5 fuel stations located along the two frontage roads that follow the highway through town. They are Petro Canada, Fort Nelson Husky, Shell Service Station, Fas Gas, and UFA. All rates are fairly similar as we are a small, isolated town. Any prices too significantly cheaper would run all the other stations out of business.
For people with trailers or motorhomes, free Sani-dump and fresh water fill up are available at the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum.
If you want to have some cash on hand when you head out on the highway, stop at one of our three banks: C.I.B.C, Scotia Bank, or North Peace Savings & Credit Union. The Credit Union has a drive through ATM and is located just down the road from the Visitor Information Centre.
Obviously I haven’t covered every single thing you need for a camping trip but definitely touched on some necessities. Always remember warm clothes and rain gear, being cold and wet in the outdoors can be miserable. My mom always says dress with lots of layers, since it is much easier to pull clothes off when your hot and not so easy to put clothes on you don’t have when your cold. Be prepared for the unexpected everyone and most of all enjoy the great outdoors!