Southern Alberta winds are blowing in spring, and local campground operators are taking notice. 

Last year at this time, local campgrounds were already booming with campers. Park Lake experienced a 30 per cent increase in usage. 

Alberta Parks Simon Wilkins says he expects Park Lake to be fully booked this camping season. 

“What we expect for this year based on the reservations, as we expect, the park is going to be fully booked or close to fully booked for the whole season and group capital concepts that will also quickly become hooked up.”

Wilkins adds that some people who have never camped before are now considering it. They view it as a safe alternative to staying home.

Bridgeview RV Resort is already experiencing a high volume of campers this year, as it did last year.

Manager Kathy Regehr says this year Bridgeview is going to have even more campers.

“We’re expecting this year to be bigger than last year for sure. We’re seeing that a lot of people are tired of being confined and they want to get out and they want to experience travel and experience holidays again.”

Regehr says in the last two weeks, all of Bridgeview’s 28 day sites have been filled.

Both campgrounds are enforcing the outdoor social gathering restriction, which is limited to ten people. They also encourage social distancing, which is keeping two metres between yourself and others at all times.

To keep everyone safe, both campgrounds ask their visitors and campers to abide by public health guidelines. If people don’t voluntarily follow COVID-19 restrictions at Park Lake, enforcement staff will be brought in to help. At Bridgeview, the police will be called if a situation gets out of control.