Travel dates: June 29-July 4, 2018
Like with Dunromin in Annapolis Royal, I was very nervous that Woodhaven RV Park, about 20 minutes outside of Halifax, was going to be terrible. Or barely passable at best. But, like with Dunromin, it turned out to be a really nice place and a great central location for checking out Halifax and some points farther west, like Peggy’s Cove (30 minutes) and Lunenburg (just under an hour). I will add some cautionary notes when I get to the section on choosing a campsite, but for the most part I’m happy to recommend Woodhaven for all your Halifax area RVing needs.
Booking and Arrival
The booking process is a little…casual at Woodhaven. I filled out their online form to reserve a spot for Canada Day weekend way back in September, and the response I got was, “no problem. We’ll have a spot for you.” No confirmation number! No site number! It didn’t seem very official. We were a little worried, what with it being CANADA DAY and all, so we called to confirm a few days in advance.
And the guy who answered the phone couldn’t find our reservation.
But someone else could! Phew!
They’ve moved the entrance at some point in the recent past, so that our GPS tried to take us to the old entrance, which is now blocked off. Be on the lookout for the signs, so that you don’t miss your turn! Aside from that, the campground is very easy to access.
Nightly rates range from $40-50CDN for full hook up or W/E sites.
Campsites
We had a lovely, spacious, private site on the end of a row, near the bathhouses (this would be become important later, as our toilet stopped working midway through our Halifax stop….we got it fixed before our next stop, but bathhouses took on a greater importance than usual at this campground):
The biggest complaint I’ve read about Woodhaven is that the sites are cramped and lack privacy. As you can see, our site wasn’t like that at all. But! After walking around the campground, I definitely understand where the complaints are coming from. Much of the campground is rows of sites that are indeed close together and very out in the open. When we were there, it seemed like a lot of these spaces were being used by big RV caravans:
So I’d just be clear when you reserve that you want a site with more space and privacy (assuming you do), because those definitely exist there.
Amenities and Activities
As mentioned, we became very familiar with the bathhouses here. Which were fine and had free hot showers (a rarity in Nova Scotia, from what we saw). There were no exterior doors, so they got a little buggy:
We got the impression that Woodhaven caters more to older folks than to families with kids, but there were a good number of kids around for the holiday weekend. There’s a small pool (we didn’t use it) and a playground. The playground was kind of tucked away in an odd, out of the way place, and we didn’t even see it for days:
There’s all the usual, like a camp store, a game room, and a laundry room. The laundry was VERY crowded while we were there (again, holiday weekend!) and we felt like we were getting dirty looks when our clothes took too long to dry and we put in more quarters instead of taking them out. So maybe try to do your laundry during off hours if you’re there at a busy time and you care what other campers think of you.
Location and Local Area
One of the reasons we picked Woodhaven over other Halifax area RV parks was its central location. It’s only about 20 minutes from downtown Halifax, but it’s also on the right side of the city to make day trips to Peggy’s Cove and Lunenburg very reasonable (or to the Annapolis Royal area, if we hadn’t already stayed there). It’s in a suburban area with shopping fairly close by (it’s actually a surprising distance–maybe 10 minutes to the closest big grocery store, but there are smaller places to pick up a few things closer). There’s a dog kennel right at the entrance to the campground, which would be very convenient if you’re going to one of those day trips destinations. We also found a park in a town nearby with Canada Day fireworks, which was a great alternative to fighting the crowds and traffic in Halifax.
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I love the dogs in their hammocks!
They really liked the hammocks!