Welcome to the Old Campground

When Riding Mountain National Park laid out its original development plan in 1931, a five-acre parcel just outside the Clear Lake townsite was surveyed for a new campground. It was thoughtfully designed:

• 10 blocks of 24–32 lots each

• 16 kitchen shelters

• 4 washrooms

• Two rare log refrigerator buildings where campers stored perishable food

• And a striking rustic community hall—Jamboree Hall—built in 1933 as the social heart of the campground.

The campground grew quickly during the Depression, doubling in size to 565 lots as workers and their families sought long-term seasonal stays. Work crews living in the Park often reunited with their families here for the summer. One of the most well-known was the Creed family. Vic Creed, who supervised the construction of the Clear Lake Golf Course and became its first greenskeeper, lived in the campground seasonally for many years with his wife Ann and their son Lloyd.

Before cabins, the preferred accommodation was the wall tent, a canvas tent with a gabled roof that often gained wooden floors and partial walls, making them look surprisingly cabin-like.

Communal life flourished. Kitchen shelters—beautiful 1930s structures made from peeled log posts and open gable roofs—served as the evening gathering places for extended families and clusters of neighbours. Water was pumped from wells, wood stoves warmed the shelters, and the campground’s grid of paths and facilities formed the same layout you can still walk today.

By the 1950s, wood cabins began to appear, many small plywood-backed structures built with 2×2 framing. Families like the Carters and Mintys hauled them in and out every season, storing them through the winter. Cabin life had arrived, just not yet permanently.

In 1960, a new Wasagaming Campground opened, and the original campground transitioned into the seasonal campground.

As stays grew more permanent, Parks Canada added new kitchen shelters and continued maintaining the communal structures. Electricity was brought to certain trailer lots, but the layout of the original 1930s campground remained intact, a layout still recognizable today.

Everything changed in 1978, when Parks Canada allowed permit holders to leave their camping units on their lots year-round. No more hauling buildings in and out and storing them off site for the winter.

And with that, the modern Clear Lake Cabin Area, now known as The Old Campground, was officially born.

The old tents and trailers soon vanished. Cabins grew larger, sturdier, and equipped with more comforts. Building regulations emerged to guide this rapid growth, first limiting cabins to 24' x 16', a size that conveniently aligned with garage packages sold at hardware stores. Many families built their summer home for around $5,000!

Over time, the regulations evolved to the familiar 16' × 32' design with a sleeping loft, creating the look of the OC today.

The most transformative update to the Cabin Area in recent history arrived in 2013, when water and sewer services were installed granting access to each cabin. For a community built on generations of rustic living, this shift was monumental.

With this change, everyday tasks became easier::

• Cabins could add indoor washrooms and showers, eliminating nightly walks to the communal buildings.

• Kitchens could have running water, meaning no more heating pots on the stove or hauling dishpans to the slop sinks.

• Families could enjoy longer stays with the convenience of fully functional seasonal homes.

As cabins adapted to these new services, building regulations continued to evolve. The allowable footprint and standards now support modern layouts that fit growing families, making it easier for children, grandchildren, and extended relatives to return each year for summer holidays and weekend escapes.

Despite these updates, the Cabin Area’s character remains deeply rooted in its past. It’s still a place where neighbours gather at the cook shacks, kids race between cabin rows, and generations return to the same beloved lots that have anchored family memories for decades.

Despite the evolution from tents to wired cabins, the spirit of the old campground remains woven into daily life:

• Jamboree Hall still stands at the head of the area, just as it did in 1933, serving as a heritage gathering place.

• Kitchen shelters- some from the 1930s, some added later, continue to serve as social hubs.

• The two historic ice houses still exist, one now a storage building and the other converted into a kitchen shelter.

• The campground’s 1930s layout, pathways, and communal traditions live on, making the Cabin Area one of the most historically intact camping landscapes in Canada’s national parks.