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Provincial parks season officially begins on May long weekend

May 13, 2016 | 6:00 AM

With spring underway and summer a month away, people all across the province are getting ready to return to Saskatchewan Provincial Parks.

The May long weekend is the kickoff of the 2016 season as Saskatchewan Provincial Parks will be open on Thursday, May 19. This year’s opening comes after a record 2015 season where nearly 3,900,000 people visited the parks.

Director of Visitor Experiences for Saskatchewan Provincial Parks Mary-Anne Wihak said the upcoming May holiday has eager outdoorsmen and women chomping at the bit.

“The May long weekend is always a really special time for our campers. We have quite a hearty bunch of regulars who can’t wait for that first big kickoff of the season,” Wihak said. “Sort of a rite of passage as far as spring is concerned.”

As an added incentive, Little Fishing Lake and the Peck Lake campgrounds at the Bronson Forest Recreational Site have added new electricity to all of the camping sites.

Wihak also said anyone who is out to the parks needs to pay attention to their special events calender on the Sask. Parks website, or else they might miss out on some great activities.

The alcohol ban over the May long weekend is once again in place; it has been since 2006. The ban affects all campgrounds and picnic area within provincial parks and recreation sites from Thursday, May 19 to Monday, May 23. Wihak said some people have been in favour of the short-term ban.

“We hear time and time again about how enjoyable that first weekend of camping is for people. Not having to worry about any sort of disturbances and of course any of the vandalism and any other behaviour that came with it (alcohol),” she said.

A new feature this season is the ability to book reservations online in advance for camping into the fall season past the Labour Day weekend.

“We have camping in the fall season and it’s quite a popular activity. Especially since we’ve had some pretty nice falls over the past couple of years,” Wihak said. “This is just providing that opportunity now to actually make reservations to make sure that your favourite spot, for example, is available to you.”

Certain campgrounds at The Battlefords, Blackstrap, Cypress Hills, Danielson, Douglas, Narrow Hills and Rowan’s Ravine are offering online reservations into September, which are available now.

Wihak added with the dry weather and fire bans currently in place for many provincial parks, anyone who plans to go camping during the 2016 season needs to be aware of the fire rules for whatever park they head out to.

 

mkelly@jpbg.ca