Even with layers of snow on the ground, plans are being made at Good Spirit Lake and at other provincial parks for the summer.
Planning is underway for the 2017 provincial park season and campers will be able to book their provincial park campsites beginning April 4, said a release from the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport.
“Saskatchewan’s provincial parks continue to grow in popularity, setting a new visitation record of nearly four million visits in 2016,” said Ken Cheveldayoff, parks, culture and sport minister. “We know that families are excited to plan their next visit and we look forward to providing them with the high quality experience they have come to expect.”
As in past years, the launch for the reservation system will be staggered over a 10 day period, with different parks becoming available for reservations on different days. A queuing system will also be in place again to manage the high volume of traffic on the reservation website.
The 10-day launch and queuing system has been very effective at managing demand and ensuring the stability of the reservation system over the past three seasons, said the release. Additional information on reservations is available at the Sask Parks website.
Good Spirit Lake camping sites will be available for reservation on April 7, along with the opening of reservations for Duck Mountain and Greenwater Lake.
Reservations will open at 7 a.m. each day and the queuing system will begin each morning at 6:40 a.m. If customers attempt to access the reservation website between 6:40 and 7 a.m., they will be moved to the queue waiting area.
Customers in the queue waiting area will then receive a random number and will be admitted to the reservation website based on their unique number. New people who attempt to access the reservation website after the queue period will be placed at the end of the line.
Applications for seasonal camping are now available online. This very popular program is available at 20 provincial parks and offers the opportunity to secure a campsite from May to September at most locations, the release said. The deadline for applications is February 2, with the campsites being awarded to winners of the lottery system on February 6.
There have been small increases to nightly camping, seasonal camping, group camping, reservation/change/cancellation fees and vehicle entry permits for 2017 as costs to operate the provincial parks continue to increase.
“In order to provide a high level of service to an increasing number of visitors, adjustments to fees have been made,” it said. Details may be found on the Sask Parks website.
Saskatchewan continues to be one of the most affordable places in Canada to camp with a three-night non-electric camping trip for a family of four being the cheapest in all of Canada.
Saskatchewan provincial parks also offer services such as firewood and showers for no additional charge. Provincial parks remain highly subsidized and, even with these increases, user fees still cover less than 70 per cent of the cost to operate the parks.
Total funding from the government for the provincial parks system since 2007 is more than $200 million and includes capital expenditures and investment, operational funding, and parks programming, such as the popular new programs Learn to Camp and Learn to Fish.
