Snow and cold temperatures make a weekend of camping seem like a dream. But with the Victoria Day long weekend in May less than 90 days away, you'd better start planning now before the best campsites get snapped up. On Feb.
Snow and cold temperatures make a weekend of camping seem like a dream. But with the Victoria Day long weekend in May less than 90 days away, you'd better start planning now before the best campsites get snapped up.
On Feb. 18, Alberta Parks opened the first registrations on their website for the 2014 season. You can book dates 90 days in advance, so you don't have to plan your whole summer out this early, but according to Cyndy Jones of Alberta parks, the long weekends sell out quick.
"You're definitely wanting to plan ahead for the May long weekend," Jones said.
"I would suspect that they're probably getting pretty full already."
In the region, the Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park has 72 spots, and was down to five available campsites for the May weekend on the same day that registration opened. Beaver Lake Provincial Park has 65 of 92 spots open and Long Lake Provincial Park has 44 spots out of 220.
"It's just those long weekends," Jones said. According to Jones, enthusiasts who are used to making the same trip every year will get an early crack at prime locations.
"The diehards are pretty well prepared," she said.
If you do find yourself out of a spot, Lakeland Provincial Park operates on a first-come-first-served basis. "Most of our campgrounds do have a few-first-come-first-serve sites," Jones said.
Alberta Parks' online system at reserve.albertaparks.ca features an interactive map that shows where the plots of each site are located. Some parks charge for booking, and there's a $12 fee that goes to operating the website. There's also a 16-day limit on the length of a booking.
According to Jones, many campgrounds open up May 1.
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Source: Wikipedia
