News that the Yukon Territory’s only Walmart will ban overnight camping this summer comes as a surprise to Maurice and Francoise St-Jules. They have spent more than $200 at the store this trip alone, and like to stay there “because we can buy everything at our door.”
In an email statement, a Walmart spokesperson said rules on overnight parking for RVs and campers vary from store to store, reports the Yukon News, and “depends on a variety of factors including municipal by-laws and the amount of parking required for customers.”
“Our Whitehorse store will end overnight parking this summer following several customer complaints about unsafe parking conditions and debris in the parking lot,” the spokesperson wrote.
Morris Kostiuk, owner of Pioneer RV Park and Campground in Whitehorse, said he’s not holding his breath for the ban. His campground is a 10-minute drive from downtown and has been open for 38 years, with RV camping starting at $35 per night. This weekend is the only time he’s been full all summer.
The rest of the time he operates anywhere between 50 and 70 percent capacity. Kostiuk said he has good reason to believe Walmart is to blame.
“All I know is at that time (Walmart was built) there were five RV parks in the city and now we only have two. There’s a direct result by itself.”
For what it’s worth, Pioneer RV Park is one of the best RV parks on the way to and from Alaska. We’ve RVd to Alaska 5 times and stayed there each time for few days in each direction. Yes, we knew Walmart was an option, but when you dry camp several days prior to reaching Whitehorse, a full service park was a welcome relief. Thanks to Morris and his wife for hanging in there!
We were in Whitehorse twice two years ago during our Alaska trip. We stayed at campgrounds both times, and shopped at Walmart once. The Walmart parking lot was so full of RVs that there was hardly any room for customers to park! I am not surprised they took this action.
We have stayed at the Walmart twice but both times there were so many “resident” RVer’s there that is was difficult to maneuver and find a decent place to park for the night. We have also used Pioneer RV Park and have stayed there many times on our travels to and from Alaska. We no longer attempt to park at the Walmart. Have traveled to Alaska three times now, 2010, 2012 & 2105 and we are looking forward to going once again. I have my two sons and grand-kids living there so when we go will spend 4 months, 2 months with each son.
I was stuck in whitehorse for a month with transmission problems at a repair shop. At walmart I saw many rv’s park for days not moving and some of them look very trashy. I suspect the people who are camping there for days there are local people. I was thinking at the time this may cause walmart to ban over niteing. Looks like my worst fears have come true. I have check the campground mention there and I found them to be a major ripoff of the customer. In some ways I fault the campgrounds them selves for this problem. I have noticed many campgrounds in canada are ripping off the customer. When I enquire about over niting with no hookups I found they usually want an arm and a leg for the priviledge of staying there. I just moved on down the road where I can park for free at the roadside rest areas. There are many in canada.