Waterton preparing for busier than usual year

WATERTON LAKES — A busy parks season will likely be even busier next year, as Canada celebrates its 150th birthday.

Parks Canada has waived entry fees during 2017 for national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation areas it operates. The parks service is now taking online orders for the free Discovery Pass.

Locke Marshall, visitor experience manager with Waterton Lakes National Park, says visitors are being encouraged to plan ahead to help avoid the rush.

“Certainly we’ve been managing large crowds for a long time. Our busy season, through the summer, is already pretty busy. So we’re anticipating more of the same. We’ve come up with several tools to effectively manage that,” Marshall said. “Probably the best possible way is to try to encourage people to plan ahead, to try perhaps to think about coming outside the busiest season. And especially if they’re coming camping, they probably would want to make a reservation in advance.”