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British Columbians given ‘preferential access’ to provincial campsites

If you live here and plan on camping in British Columbia this summer, you might be in luck.

That’s because BC Parks says  it’s giving B.C. residents “preferential access” to campsites for the 2020 season. 

Out-of-province campers with existing reservations are being asked to contact the call centre before June 15th to cancel and receive a full refund. 

Campgrounds, camping opportunities and accommodations will begin to open on June 1st.

New reservations made after May 25th found to be made by non-B.C. residents will be subject to immediate cancellation without a refund.   

Here is the full statement:

“BC Parks is taking a phased approach to re-opening, and as of May 14, 2020, many parks have re-opened for day use. The Discover Camping website and call centre will reopen to new reservations on May 25, 2020 at 7am PT. Campgrounds, camping opportunities and accommodations will begin to open on June 1, 2020.

As we work to ensure a positive and safe camping experience for all park staff and visitors, we have made a few additional operational changes for the upcoming camping season:   –  Frontcountry and backcountry reservations will be available on a 2-month rolling window starting May 25th at 7am:

– On May 25th, the system will open to arrivals as far forward as July 25th.

  • On May 26th, July 26th arrivals will be released; on May 27th, July 27th arrivals will be released and so on. This daily release of inventory will continue until the end of the reservable period in each campground is reached.
  • Reservations can be made in most campgrounds for a maximum stay of 14 days, subject to availability
  • Reservations made within the first two weeks of inventory being released cannot be changed. This is to prevent people from overbooking and subsequently changing arrival dates to shorten their stay in order to obtain a favourable site or time ahead of other customers. These reservations can only be cancelled, and normal cancellation fees will apply. Customers should not attempt to book a reservation until exactly 2 months ahead of their chosen arrival date.

Regular cancellation rules and penalties will apply to all new reservations made on or after May 25th.

Groupsites and reservable picnic shelters will remain closed for the time being; all existing reservations will be cancelled through to December 31, 2020.

Preferential access to camping will be given to BC-residents for the 2020 camping season. Non-BC residents with existing reservations are asked to contact the call centre before June 15 to cancel and receive a full refund. New reservations made after May 25th found to be made by non-BC residents will be subject to immediate cancellation without refund. In an earlier email to Discover Camping customers, we shared the latest information on double sites and cancelations. For easy reference, we have included this information below.   Double sites will only be available for double site bookings (i.e., they will not be bookable as single sites for two separate parties). In order to manage numbers and keep our campers and facilities safe, double sites will also only permit a maximum of one camping party for both halves (4 adults (over the age of 16) up to a max of 8 persons including children under 16). Existing bookings for double sites must abide by the new maximum occupancy rules and may cancel free of charge by June 15, 2020 if their camping party does not fit the criteria. There are no changes to the maximum party size for single sites.

Existing reservations that were not yet cancelled for June 1 onward will be honoured. Those with existing reservations beyond June 1 who would like to cancel them will have until June 15 to cancel without facing a cancellation fee. Reservations cancelled after June 15 will face regular cancellation penalties. Reservations made once the system reopens will be subject to regular cancellation rules and penalties.   Some parks and campsites may open later than June 1, or will remain closed, which may impact some reservations. These cancellations and full refunds will be processed automatically by Discover Camping, no action is required by affected visitors. A listing of delayed openings and closed campgrounds can be found at the end of this email.

  While the Discover Camping call centre is available for reservations related support and bookings, they do not keep, nor provide general park information. Please continue to check www.bcparks.ca for the most up to date general park information over the coming weeks.

 The health and safety of our BC Parks staff, park operators, and visitors continues to be our top priority. We are all in this together, and we thank you for your patience and understanding as our staff and park operators work to safely re-open parks and campgrounds across the province. We look forward to seeing many of you out camping soon.”

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