Alberta’s National Parks receive record interest for 2018 season
Posted Jan 15, 2018 9:27 pm.
Last Updated Jan 16, 2018 4:53 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
National Parks in Alberta have received record interest in reservations for the coming camping season.
Visitor Experience Manager Greg Danchuk says Banff National Park has received more than 15,700 reservations since last Wednesday, that’s an 11 per cent increase over the year before.
Danchuk says it’s never been so easy to book a site, thanks to an online reservation system.
“That’s why we’ve opened up the system early,” he said.”For the last two years, we opened the system in January instead of April. There’s still a fair bit of availability from the middle of May through to the middle of June and late June, particularly the middle of the week.”
He added availability is very open for dates after Labour Day, including some weekends.
The reservation numbers come after a devastating summer in which parks were forced to close countless sites due to encroaching wildfires.
Jasper is also reporting record numbers. The national park has 1,800 campsites and for most of the summer, those sites are already reserved.
Officials say there are also more than 100 backcountry campgrounds, ranging from an easy 5 km stroll to a 10-day hiking trip into the remote wilderness.
Waterton Lakes National Park opened its reservation system on Thursday, and recommended enthusiasts book early.
Waterton lost an entire campground at Crandell after the Kenow wildfire moved into the region, last summer.
