Adventurous couple buys off-grid wilderness camp in West Kelowna

A couple from Alberta who sold their house and quit their jobs in pursuit of a less stressful lifestyle have taken ownership of the Jackpine Lake Wilderness Resort in West Kelowna.

David and Genevieve Atchison are living in their renovated fifth wheel RV at the off-grid site spending their days cleaning and revitalizing the area since the purchase went through roughly a month ago.

“For years, ever since we met, we always talked about when we got older, we’d do something fun and fulfilling and it always came back to having a little campground, a place where our kids and grandkids could come,” David told iNFOnews.ca.

It took a few years, and some unconventional life decisions, before the couple’s dream was realized.

They spent decades living in Fort St. John where David was working in the oil field managing a trucking company. Genevieve managed the books for a non-profit society, a job continues to do.

“It was getting really stressful, especially around the COVID era,” David said. “We were playing the same game everyone else was, like move up the ladder and buy a bigger house and all this stuff.

“We moved to Grand Prairie, bought a big house with five bedrooms, five bathrooms and a three-car garage. We’re sitting in the hot tub one day going, ‘what are we doing?’”

The pair continued working while re-evaluating their life and making plans to escape the rat race.

They downsized to a smaller, older house and bought and renovated a motorhome for travelling.

Two years ago, the company David was working for was slated to be sold so they sold almost everything they owned and moved into their motorhome behind their son’s house until winter weather approached and they travelled south.

“We spent the last two winters on the beach in Mexico and we didn’t know what we were going to do with our lives,” Genevieve said. “We just needed to get out of the north. We didn’t want to do another winter there.

“We started thinking we can’t just do this forever and thought about getting a little family acreage for our kids and grandkids to enjoy but it would cost a lot of money with no money coming out of it.”

At the beginning of the year, David was sitting on the beach scrolling on the internet when he saw the Jackpine Lake Wilderness Resort in West Kelowna was for sale.

“I found the advertisement and said ‘holy crap hon, look at this place,’ it’s exactly what we’ve always talked about,” he said.

The pair made a quick decision, sent in an offer and bought the campground sight unseen.

Jackpine Lake Wilderness Resort is an off-grid campground on the north shore of Jackpine Lake, a 42.5 hectare fishing lake roughly 30 kilometres northwest of West Kelowna.

Beside the resort is Jackpine Lake Provincial Recreation Site that has a day use area, boat launch, outhouses and nine campsites rented by the day on a first come first serve basis.

The area is used for dirt biking and quadding and the lake is known as a good fishing lake.

The wilderness resort was previously owned by a local family for more than three decades.

“The owner used to live up here in the cabin in the summer time and he built a couple of sites and fed himself off the lake and land,” David said. “We’re spring fed. He set up a line and gravity fed water down to here.

“His kids didn’t want to take it over but they put a massive amount of work into it for the past six years getting it the point it was ready to sell and they helped us get started.”

When the Atchison’s bought it there were mostly seasonal campsites available where people pay to hold them for the summer.

There’s a cabin for rent and the Atchisons have added two fully outfitted RVs available for nightly rentals.

“Our idea was to take this from just the seasonal sites and make it mixed use where we have rental RVs, one cabin for rent and short-term sites where you can pitch a tent or bring an RV,” David said.

“We wanted to make it accessible for people that can’t afford a truck and trailer, life is expensive,” Genevieve added. “Some people rent both RVs so they can have family get togethers.”

Future plans for the site include a wood-fired hot tub and sauna, a glamping tent and another cabin.

“It’s one of those places we can make into a real destination for a unique, off-grid experience away from civilization,” David said. “It’s peaceful and quiet and kids can run around and be kids.

“The big thing for us is we have a place where our family can come and our grandkids can spend the summers.”

The Atchisons plans to continue spending winters in Mexico as the site is closed in the winter because the access roads are not maintained.

They said they have no regrets about their unusual life choices and call their new property a piece of paradise.

“You only live once and we want to show our kids you don’t always have to stay doing the same things society tells you to,” Genevieve said.  

Most of the seasonal sites are full for the year but there is still availability for the cabin and RV rentals.

Go here for maps and directions to Jackpine Lake Wilderness Resort.