Campers logged into their computers, tablets, and smartphones bright and early Thursday morning, hoping to book their favourite sites in Banff National Park for this summer.
Some people got early in the online queue, while others were as far back as 40,000 in line.
“It was fairly seamless,” said Calgarian Michael Kwadrans, who could log into the site relatively quickly after getting a spot in the 2,000s when reservations opened at 8 a.m. local time.
“I griped about the old system a few times. I didn’t have high hopes for the new system.”
Parks Canada introduced a new online reservation system earlier this month because its old one was becoming outdated and needed upgrades. Users found it prone to crashes and glitches.
The new system has different reservation dates from mid-March to mid-April at each national park, historic site and marine conservation area, listed on the Parks Canada website.
The federal agency said it’s set up to allow the “maximum volume of users, including a virtual waiting room that ensures equitable access to the reservation service for everyone, helps maintain optimal performance … and mitigates the risks of access by automated programs and bots.”
“These adjustments have successfully met the high demand for camping since reservations were launched.”
Bookings started in British Columbia, some eastern provinces, and Jasper National Park in Alberta last week, while reservations for Ontario sites opened Tuesday. Parks Canada’s busiest location—Banff National Park, also in Alberta—opened Thursday.
Parks Canada said its reservation system had nearly 50,000 devices connected when it opened, and more than 42,000 reservations had been made in the first six hours.
“These numbers are not unusual on launch day for Banff National Park,” a spokesperson said in a statement Thursday.
Kwadrans said he didn’t have much luck booking in Jasper, but he could reserve several camping sites in Banff, including on the July long weekend, because he landed an earlier spot in the queue.
“It’s equitable,” he said. “Everyone has an equal chance.”
Wednesdays are also the opening day for backcountry reservations for Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay national parks in the Alberta and British Columbia mountains.
Annalise Klingbeil, who co-writes an email newsletter called Go Outside, said the reservation system has improved, and she could book two backcountry trips this summer.
“It was certainly better this year,” she said in an interview. “The old website — it was glitchy, it would kick you out, you would get error messages. This is no exaggeration. I took 13 hours to book Rockwall (in Kootenay National Park) in 2021.
“This year, it was certainly better, but it was busy.”
Sites quickly disappeared for busy summer weekends, and popular campsites such as Two Jack Lakeside booked up for much of the season in the first hour or two.
Parks Canada said dissatisfaction with the new site appears to be people not being able to get their first choice of campsite or dates at popular sites, which it noted is not unusual.
Klingbeil said she hosted a chat for her newsletter this week and opinions on the new site were mixed.
“There were some people who were like, ‘Oh, my goodness, I lucked out. I got the one thing I wanted,’” she said. “There are others who said they didn’t even try for Banff.
“Several people said they are holding out hope for Lake O’Hara. I think everybody is, so we’ll see. That will be interesting to see how that goes.”
Because of its sensitive alpine environment, access to Lake O’Hara, a popular backcountry area in Yoho National Park, is mostly limited to those who can book a backcountry hut or lodge, secure a camping site, or get a spot on a Parks Canada shuttle.
The camping reservations open on Tuesday, while the day-use shuttle is set to open on April 12.
Access to another popular area, Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, is also restricted to Parks Canada shuttles, regional transit or commercial vehicles this year. Shuttle reservations for Moraine Lake and nearby Lake Louise begin on April 13.
—Colette Derworiz, The Canadian Press
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