Did the universe send us a symbolic gift of encouragement? We were certain of it when, years ago, we received an Alberta license plate bearing the letters CFA. We recognized it as an acronym: Camp Free Always.

"B.C." stands for "Best Camping"

Camping free has long been our creed. We wrote a book about it: Camp Free in B.C. But sometimes camping free-of-charge isn’t feasible, as on our recent drive through British Columbia. It was late. We considered pushing deeper into the night. We knew of a free campground ahead in the foothills. But another long drive the next day was necessary for us to catch the boat on Lake Chelan, in Washington, where we intended to backpack. (We’ll describe that magnificent trail in our next post.) We didn’t want to be exhausted when we began hiking. So we caved to convenience and pulled into Okanagan Lake Provincial Park.

We’re ashamed to admit we spent $30 to pitch our tent there. The campground was meticulously maintained. The endlessly hot shower was soothing. But $30? Too much. Especially given the campground location: immediately below the highway. We couldn’t listen to the water lapping at the lakeshore. We had to wear earplugs to drown out the vehicle noise so we could get the sleep we’d invested in.

The experience reminded us that Camp Free in B.C. is an important, valuable resource. Yes, some provincial-park campgrounds (smaller ones in less desirable locations, with limited facilities and no showers) charge only about $22 per campsite per night. But many campgrounds in B.C. remain free of charge or truly cheap: just $12 per site, per night. And because these are mostly beyond paved roads, they feel wilder than provincial parks and are often much quieter. You want to find them? Pick up a copy of Camp Free in B.C.

Camp Free gives you detailed descriptions of, and complete driving directions to, 350 free-of-charge campgrounds (plus 80 low-fee ones) throughout southern and central British Columbia, including Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, the Okanagan, the Shuswap Highlands, the Rocky Mountain Trench, the Cariboo Mountains, and the Chilcotin Plateau.

You’ll find Camp Free for sale at all Indigo-Chapters bookstores, and in the book sections at Mountain Equipment Co-op stores. You can also purchase Camp Free directly off our website. Or from Amazon.com.

To jumpstart your free-camping adventures this summer, here are some of our favourite, free-of-charge, B.C. campgrounds. We rate each of these “destination,” meaning they’re worthy of a multi-day stay, not just a utilitarian, overnight stop.

Toquart Bay, page 53, SE of Tofino, on Vancouver Island

Nimpkish Lake, page 72, S of Port McNeil, N end of Vancouver Island  (ideal for kite-boarding & windsurfing)

Cal-Cheak, page 122, at the confluence of Callaghan Creek and Cheakamus River, SW of Whistler

Lillooet Lake and Duffey Lake, page 130, in the Coast Mountains, NE of Pemberton

Seton Dam, page 135, W of Lillooet, in the Coast Mountains

Ashnola River, page 168, near Keremeos, close to Cathedral Provicial Park

Harmon Lake, page 183, near Merritt

Wragge Beach, page 272, near New Denver, in the West Kootenay

Little Slocan Lake, page 280, NW of Nelson, near Valhalla Provincial Park, in the West Kootenay

Glacier Creek and Howser Glayco, page 292, N of Kaslo, in the West Kootenay

Mitten Lake, page 306, between Golden and Radium Hot Springs

Quesnel Lake, Crooked Lake (and 30 other free campgrounds in the vicinity), page 433, in the East Cariboo, W of Wells Gray Park

Owen Lake, page 474, SE of Smithers

Beaver River, page 495, NW of Robson Provincial Park

We just returned from a week-long backcountry research trip in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, where we were checking access roads, hiking trails, and campgrounds.

As for campgrounds, B.C. is rife with very inviting options—from Vancouver Island to the Coast Mountains, throughout the Okanagan, across the Chilcotin Plateau, and along the west side of the Rockies.

We visited numerous West Kootenay campgrounds and stayed at several.

Provincial Parks are beautiful, but we think they’re expensive. For example, you’ll pay $18 per site/per night at Davis Creek, and $28 per site/per night at Kokanee Creek. Both these provincial-park campgrounds are on Kootenay Lake. They’re beautiful and well maintained. But $28 a night? Ouch.

Our book, Camp Free in B.C. (http://www.hikingcamping.com/camp-free-bc.php), gives directions to 350 free-of-charge campgrounds throughout B.C. It also describes 80 campgrounds where you’ll pay only $10 to $12 per site/per night. We think this is a reasonable price for these more popular campgrounds because they require significant upkeep.

On our drive through the Rocky Mountain Trench (Radium south to Cranbrook), we were happy to find a free-of-charge site at Johnston Lake campground on the Friday of Canada Day weekend. We had the beach all to ourselves.

On Saturday—the busiest camping day of the year in Canada—we found a free-of-charge site at Little Slocan Lake campground.

On Sunday, we found a site at Wragge Beach, on Slocan Lake. It cost $12, but it’s worth it. While there, we met the camp caretaker: Kim Roshinsky. He’s a long-time West Kootenay resident and an avid traveler. His enthusiasm for camping, hiking and fishing is infectious. His curiosity and sense of humour are refreshing. And he does a superb job of making people feel welcome and comfortable yet ensuring they respect the campground and their fellow campers.

We hope you’ll go camping in B.C. this summer. Not just once, but several times. Free campgrounds are numerous. And camping can be deeply revitalizing. You’ll return home soothed by the serenity of nature.

“Have you hiked the West Coast Trail?”

It’s a question we often hear, and it always annoys us because the implication is that it’s Canada’s premier backpack trip, which it definitely is not.

It’s revealing that we don’t hear this question from experienced hikers. They know the WCT isn’t stellar, so it doesn’t spring to mind during conversation. The people who eagerly ask about our WCT experience do so primarily so they can tell us about theirs. That’s usually because the WCT is the only backpack trip they’ve ever completed. They chose it because a coastal trail strikes them as exotic and because this one’s been overhyped.

Once they learn we’re not WCT fans, they seem relieved they don’t have to rave about it. They admit it didn’t live up to its billing. “Too crowded, too muddy, too much clearcut forest visible just beyond the narrow margin of mature trees,” they say. “And having to hike the WCT as a one-way through trip,” they add “is an expensive hassle.”

From now on, after our inquisitors admit the WCT was an accomplishment they’re proud of but wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as they’d hoped, we’ll ask if they’ve heard about the East Coast Trail.

If they haven’t, and they’re curious about it, here’s what what we’ll say…

The 260-km ECT is in Newfoundland, along the Atlantic Ocean, north and south of St. John’s. Yesterday was our fourth consecutive day on the trail, and we think it’s vastly superior to the WCT.

The Newfoundland coast is more dramatic than Vancouver Island’s because it’s more consistently vertical. Beaches? They’re rare here. But the plummeting cliffs, towering sea stacks, open headlands, and rocky terraces appear to go on forever. And the trail is always surprisingly close to the edge. Often a single seaward step would land you in the frigid water if you’re not vigilant. It makes for exhilarating hiking.

Yesterday, on the 23-km section between Shoal’s Bay Road and Bay Bulls (our favourite so far), we hiked past a blowhole called “The Spout” that erupted in a 15-m geyser every two minutes. Later, we watched a submarine-sized whale cruise by. In between, we feasted on blueberries.

These weren’t the begrudging, pluck-one-here, pluck-one-there blueberry patches we’re accustomed to in the west. This was a cornucopian profusion of berries in which every casual grasp resulted in a full palm: eight to twelve luscious, purple orbs. “Picking” doesn’t even describe it. We were milking these bushes.

And during that entire, glorious day we encountered no other hikers on “our” section of the ECT. We had it all to ourselves on glorious, September Sunday.

Much of the ECT is in stunted, boreal forest granting frequent views of arches, pinnacles, sheer fissures, deep caverns, and countless waterfalls leaping from land to sea. But long stretches of the ECT cross rolling swaths of “tuckamore”- a melange of tightly-knit, ankle-to-knee-high coastal vegetation allowing you to see to the entire horizon. The 11-km section from Petty Harbour to Cape Spear (North America’s easternmost point) is mostly tuckamore, which gave us the odd but pleasing sensation we where traversing alpine/maritime meadows.

The ECT is extremely varied. The section from Shoal’s Bay Road to Bay Bulls is wild, lonely, rugged. From Petty Harbour to Cape Spear, the trail is less remote, more tame. Near St. John’s, the ECT is downright urban, comprising elaborate catwalks and staircases. One of these sections begins at the harbour city’s north end, in the historic neighbourhood called “the Battery” and climbs to the top of Signal Hill. Another ascends generally north from Quidi Vidi (a tiny bay). Both are invigorating, very scenic, and can be appreciated in a one-hour, out-and-back hike.

Notice we haven’t said anything about “backpacking.” That’s because we’ve been dayhiking the ECT-an option you don’t have on the WCT.

You can backpack the ECT, if you’d prefer. We’ve passed beautiful campsites with spacious tent platforms hidden in the forest. But it’s possible to dayhike the entire ECT, spending each night at a seaside inn or B&B. Or you can stay several nights in the same lodging and pay your host to shuttle you to and from whichever section of the ECT you choose to hike each day.

The ECT is to coastal scenery what the Canadian Rockies are to mountain scenery. Though very different than New Zealand’s world-famous Abel Tasman Track (north coast of the South Island), the ECT is equally rewarding. If you’re an avid hiker, the ECT should rank high on your life list.