Near perfect weather greets campers for long weekend
Southern Alberta campers were able to soak up the sun and avoid the rain over the May Long weekend.
Waterton Lakes National Park had a record visitation as visitors took advantage of warm weather and free admission.
“On Saturday and Sunday, Parks Canada was pleased to welcome over 9,000 visitors. The Townsite Campground was full, and only a few spots were available at Crandell Mountain and Belly River Campgrounds,” said Doreen McGillis, External Relations Manager, Waterton Lakes Field Unit in an email to The Herald.
“Parks Canada is pleased that visitation to Waterton Lakes National Park is strong and we look forward to continuing to welcome visitors from Canada and around the world to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017.”
But not everyone flocked to the National Parks. Park Lake Provincial Park was packed with visitors as well.
Beth-Anna Van Dellen spent the weekend camping with her family at the provincial campground. It was the first time she visited Park Lake in a very long time. She grew up in the area, but now resides just east of Calgary.
“We chose Park Lake because there's good fishing and they have a little bit of a beach,” she said, making it an ideal spot for her family.
Van Dellen arrived at the campground on Saturday with her husband and three children and, as checkout time for their campsite came to a near on Monday, she suggested the family extend the trip ever so slightly and move over to the day campsite so her husband and kids could continue fishing. “This is probably the first time we've been camping with the kids this age, so they're getting to do some of the fishing and they're getting to do some of the campsite things like cookies and s’mores,” she said.
While she typically goes east or up to mountains, Van Dellen was happy to be spending the weekend at Park Lake Provincial Park.
“This was fantastic. It was nice yesterday, nice today and a really awesome long weekend.”