Manning Park: An Alpine Stargazing Retreat

Where to stay · E.C. Manning Provincial Park

Manning Park Resort, Lodge Rooms

Check in on Highway 3 and the wilderness starts at the parking lot.

what it is

mountain lodge (kitchenettes, indoor pool)

the damage

from ~C$110/night in shoulder season, more typically C$150+

rated

★ 4.4 (3662)

from Vancouver

~3 hr by car

The lodge sits directly on Highway 3 in the middle of E.C. Manning Provincial Park, so you check in, drop the bags, and are already surrounded by more wilderness than two people can plausibly use. Rooms come as Queen Rooms, Mini Suites, and Junior Kings, several of them dog friendly at thirty dollars a night per dog, which is less than the dog would tip.

The centrepiece is Loon Lagoon, a fifty foot heated indoor pool with two hot tubs set at deliberately different temperatures, plus a sauna and a steam room. The Pinewoods Restaurant and the Bear's Den Pub are a short shuffle away, so dinner requires no more planning than a dry change of clothes, and some guests visibly skip that step.

Be clear about what this is: a well loved mountain lodge, not a boutique hotel, and some rooms show their mileage. What you are paying for is position. The nearest town is Hope, some 66 kilometres of mountain highway away, which is terrible news for midnight snack runs and spectacular news for the night sky.

The setting

In the resort village at the centre of E.C. Manning Provincial Park on Highway 3, roughly midway between Hope and Princeton, with the restaurant, pub, country store, and pool complex all steps from the lobby.

Getting there

Drive Highway 1 east from Vancouver to Hope, about 1 hour 40, then Highway 3 east over Allison Pass to the resort. Around 220 km; budget close to 3 hours. No ferries, no practical transit; a car is essential, and winter tires are the law on Highway 3 in the cold months.

good to know

Winter ski weekends and summer long weekends book out well ahead. Some lodge rooms are dated and can run warm; pack modest expectations for the decor and high ones for everything outside the window.

Why it works

  1. 1Loon Lagoon: 50 ft heated indoor pool, two hot tubs, sauna
  2. 2Pinewoods Restaurant and Bear's Den Pub steps away
  3. 3Dog friendly rooms at $30 per pet per night
  4. 4Dark night skies, 66 km from the nearest town
  5. 5Queen rooms, mini suites and junior king rooms

Details as of 2026-07-05. Rates, seasons and policies drift, so confirm when you book.