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Waterton Lakes National Park sees a 75% increase in 2017 camping reservations

Jan 22, 2017 | 6:27 AM

LETHBRIDGE –  If you’re hoping to reserve a camping site at Waterton Lakes National Park this summer, you’d better hurry. So far this year, more than 36- hundred online reservations have been made, compared with 2,000 the same time last year.
 
Locke Marshall, Visitor Experience Manager, says there are a few openings still left.
 
“Fortunately, there is still some space, even in the Townsite campground, as popular as it is. The fact is that there are some spaces still available in the summer on the weekdays… but the weekends are pretty much full. The holidays are completely full, except for perhaps, the walk-in tenting sites. But the service sites and the electric-only sites have filled up quite rapidly.”
 
Marshall says there are several campsites in the National Park. The Townsite campground has more than 300 spaces, some of which are full-serviced and some are not. The Crandell campground has 129 that are only on a first-come- first -served basis, while Belly River also has 24 that are the same.
 
He urges those who haven’t been able to book a time, to check the Parks Canada website for any possible cancellations.
 
“People do cancel (their reservation) occasionally. So we do encourage people who have perhaps wanted to get a reservation at a certain campground, or a certain location in the campground to check back occasionally because sometimes there are spots that come available.”
 
Marshall admits that the popularity and attention the Parks Canada Discovery Pass has received, to help mark the country’s 150th birthday this year, is likely a factor in the increased online reservations.
 
“Certainly Waterton campgrounds have always been very, very popular, and they tend to be full for most of the busy season. However, I would anticpate that because of the 2017 celebration of Canada 150, that certainly had something to do with people’s decision to book and come to Waterton.”
 
Reservations opened up January 12th and will be accepted until March 31st.