RockRidge Canyon — Princeton, Canada
Faith-based camp and retreat centre on 1,500 acres near Princeton, BC
On July 1, 2004, about 1,200 people gathered in a mountain valley east of Princeton, British Columbia, for the grand opening of RockRidge Canyon. The day also served as the 50-year reunion of Young Life of Canada.
The camp exists because the organization outgrew its own footing. Young Life Canada, a Christian organization serving teenagers, grew rapidly through the 1990s and reached the point of needing its own camping facility. By its own account the property came to it as a gift, through what it calls a series of miraculous circumstances, and construction aimed for a summer 2004 finish. In 2011, almost 1,900 high school campers and leaders passed through a single summer season.
The place has since grown into a full retreat and conference centre across 1,500 acres. Guests sleep in three dorm lodges of 100 beds each, with log-pole bunks and lounges on every floor, or in Wolfe Creek Lodge, which has 45 guest rooms and tall natural-stone fireplaces. The Pinnacle Dining Room seats up to 500 beneath massive timber beams. The Rock, a lakeside theatre, seats up to 350 behind a 20-foot glass wall facing the water. The newest building is Ashnola Leadership Lodge on Canoe Cove, set aside for small groups with a leadership or reflective focus and for the resident CREW program.
July and August belong to Young Life senior high and junior high camps and family camps. From September through June, schools, churches, businesses and non-profits book stays of one to six days, in groups from 40 to over 400. CREW is a no-cost gap-year program in which young adults live in the lodge and serve in food services, housekeeping or site work, alongside discipleship and leadership training. Beyond the meeting rooms there is a zip line, a challenge course, hiking trails and a lake, with skating and snowshoeing in winter.
Traditions: Christian faith community, Young Life ministry, Discipleship and leadership training, Worship and prayer retreats, Solitude and reading retreats
Programs: CREW Leadership Program, Young Life Senior High Camps, WyldLife Jr High Camps, Family Retreats and Family Camps, Capernaum Family Camp, Weekend for Women, Taste and See Weekend, Group Retreat Rentals