Starting this year, campers will be able to reserve spots at Gwillim Lake Provincial Park.
One of the most popular camping sites in the Tumbler Ridge area, finding a spot has previously proven difficult on busy weekends.
Many people would head out the day before to drop off a trailer or a tent and pay for the extra night to be assured having a spot, especially on a long weekend.
Now, however, 14 sites are reservable over the summer.
These are broken into three areas. Five are in the corner near the dock, three are in the middle along the cutoff road between the two loops, and six are in the far back corner.
The rest of the 50 sites are still first come first serve for people not interested in paying the additional $6/night (to a maximum of $18 total).
Gwillim is one of three new parks with sites being added to the reservation system. The other two are Yahk Provincial Park, in the Kootenays near the US border, and Allison Lake Provincial Park, near Princeton.
In addition, parks are now reservable four months in advance, meaning reservations are open now for most of the summer.
Accrording to George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, people wanted to be able to reserve sites farther in advance than the previous two months. “Through our ongoing visitor engagement, we’ve heard the majority of campers prefer a four-month rolling window, allowing people to book a site well in advance of their visit.”
This means that as of April 1, you can book a site on August 1. On April 2, you can book a site on August 2, and so on.
According to BC Parks, more than 317,000 reservations were made using the new reservation service last year, an increase of 26.5 percent since 2019.
Gwillim opens to the public on May 12, with reservations taking effect on May 19. Reservations close on September 3, while the site itself closes a week later. To book, visit https://camping.bcparks.ca/ and search for Gwillim Lake.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
