Camping season is set for reservation in April in Saskatchewan. (Submitted image/Government of Saskatchewan)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Camping season

Reservation schedule set for Sask Parks, new features ahead

Jan 19, 2022 | 2:15 PM

Camping season is just a few months away in Saskatchewan and planning can soon begin.

The province announced Wednesday that reservations at Saskatchewan’s provincial parks are set to begin in April, with seasonal campsites for all parks participating in the seasonal camping program beginning on April 18. Nightly campsites, with Camp-Easy and group sites, will become available April 19–26, depending on the park.

In a media release from Parks, Culture and Sport, Minister Laura Ross said this is an exciting time of the year, with residents start to plan their summer holidays. Saskatchewan residents flocked to provincial parks in huge numbers through the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“After a record-breaking year in 2021 with more than one million visits to provincial parks, we are looking forward to kicking off another great camping season,” she said.

Robin Campese, executive director of Visitor Experience for Sask Parks, told battlefordsNOW the expectation is that this summer will see a similar number of visitors to provincial parks.

Hockey

Weekend rink report: Mintos, Northern Bears each split weekend series; Timberjaks drop contest at home

18h ago

National

No strike notice so far as talks continue between Canada Post and workers' union

18h ago

High School Football

Carlton wins semifinal matchup over F.W. Johnson 39-13, advances to provincial finals

Nov 02, 2024

“Just like a lot of the other recreation industries, we’re seeing people during the pandemic looking to get outdoors, take in nature and find some refuge from the stress that they’re feeling,” she said.

(Submitted image/Government of Saskatchewan)

This follows an investment from the province last summer of $18.1 million in funding to parks in north and central Saskatchewan, such as a campground service centre replacement for The Battlefords Provincial Park and a service centre upgrade in Lac La Ronge Park.

Sask Parks has added 36 seasonal sites to the park system due to the popularity of the seasonal camping program, with several sites also adding yurts. Campese said there were thousands of people on the website for seasonal launch day for around 700 campsites.

“It’s a balance, you can’t have a whole system of just seasonal sites, given there are plenty nightly campers as well, but we did take that cue from our campers and added some more to the system this year.”

Some of the notable provincial park openings for reservations include Candle Lake (northeast of Prince Albert) and Meadow Lake on April 19, Narrow Hills, (roughly an hour and 50 minutes northeast of Prince Albert) on April 21, the Battlefords Provincial Park on April 22 and Lac La Ronge on April 26. Reservations will begin at 7:00 a.m. each day.

“We’ve had staggered launch for a couple years now,” Campese said. “It helps make sure the system stays up and is stable, but it also allows campers to better plan so they’re not in a mad rush one day and possibly be left disappointed.”

There are going to be some cost differences for campers this year. Nightly fees for Camp-Easy sites are increasing to $80, in order to reflect the reportedly improved comfort and overall experience. Campese said this is a huge upgrade, with queen beds at these sites.

“It was basically camp cots previously, so we think this will be really nice for our campers.”

Historic parks will no longer charge individual programming admission. Instead, daily, weekly or annual Sask Parks entry permits will allow access to historic parks, while all other camping fees remain the same from 2021.

Some of the new reservation system features that campers can look forward to this year include online campsite comparisons, favourite sites saved to online accounts and waitlists that will provide a 24-hour window to reserve their desired site when it becomes available. There will also be easier entry permit purchases and more programming and event reservations, available on parks.saskatchewan.ca.

“There will be movies available, [events], lots of really neat activities,” Campese said.

Campers are encouraged to check out the events and programs prior to the reservation launch and plan their stays around what’s happening in each park. For more information on campsite reservations, visit http://saskparks.com.

—

cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW