Late spring delays park openings
Cities asking residents to stay off waterlogged sports fields
The wet and cold weather that gripped much of the province this month has forced the Grand River Conservation Authority to delay opening several campsites.
Elora Gorge and Guelph Lake parks will open on May 4, while Laurel Creek and Conestogo Lake parks won’t open until May 11. Parks at Byng Island, Brant Park, Pinehurst Lake and Rockwood will open as scheduled on May 1. Rockwood is currently open for daytime use.
Day-use parks at Shade’s Mill and Belwood Lake were closed on April 14 due to the ice storm but have since reopened. The Elora Quarry is still on schedule to open in mid-June for swimming.
“The ground is heavily saturated, and in some cases still snow-covered on our camp grounds,” said Cam Linwood, GRCA communications co-ordinator, of the delay. Those conditions, along with tree damage from the ice storm and the inability to open temperature-sensitive infrastructure such as water lines, has slowed efforts to open on time.
Linwood said the conservation authority doesn’t typically get many reservations for camping until the May long weekend, adding about a dozen reservations have been impacted. Those campers were given one of three options: they could camp at the same park on a later date, stay at another open park on the weekend they had originally requested, or receive a refund.
Linwood noted the dozen or so reservations are likely a little lower than normal due to the colder temperatures.
“I think a lot of visitors were hanging back on making those reservations because of the weather,” he said. The GRCA operates 11 parks in the watershed, with about 2,500 campsites available at eight sites.
The delay likely won’t have much of an impact on GRCA revenues, however, as more than 62,000 camping nights were booked at GRCA parks in 2017, bringing in more than $3.4 million in revenue.
Some parks also may not offer a full range of services, and access to certain trails may be limited, the conservation authority said.
April has been unusually cold across
much of the province, and the Weather Network reported the average high of 7.9 C this month is nearly 5 C colder than the normal high of 12.2 C.
The GRCA isn’t the only local organization facing delays because of the weather. On Monday, the City of Waterloo announced the opening of the city’s outdoor soccer and baseball fields would be delayed until May 14. The cricket fields and Old Oak Park fields will open as scheduled on May 19.
“Overuse too early in the season when soil conditions are very wet can cause severe damage to the fields that is costly and time-consuming to repair,” said the city in a press release.
Kitchener and Cambridge are also asking residents to stay off fields until May 14 to allow time for maintenance.
Linwood said he can’t recall a time when the conservation authority had to delay the opening of camp sites due to weather.
“We have generally done our best to stick to a May 1 opening in all of our parks.”