Little Bow Provincial Park's online reservation portal opens on Jan. 28. (Photo: Alberta Parks)

By Sarah Jones/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Camping reservations for multiple Alberta Parks open this month

Jan 4, 2023 | 3:56 PM

With warm weather sweeping across the province, many are looking forward to spending summer nights in Alberta’s provincial parks.

While Alberta Parks does offer year-round online reservations for specific campgrounds, several individual, group and comfort camping sites will re-open their bookings in January 2023.

Alberta Parks staggers reservations according to when a campground opens for the season by opening its online portal a few months in advance.

Traditionally, reservations can be made 90-days prior for individual and backcountry camping or 180 days in advance for group and comfort camping.

This helps to reduce the volume of online users on the advanced booking window and promotes fair access for all Albertans looking to pitch their tent or pull up their trailer.

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An example provided by Alberta Parks explains, “If a campground opens on May 1, 2023, the 90-day booking window for individual and backcountry camping will open on January 31.”

In some cases, reservations will open as early as Jan. 14, whereas some won’t be able to book until at least March 21.

Reservations book up quickly for long weekends and summer months, so Albertans are encouraged to reserve early during a campground’s seasonal dates.

In 2022, Alberta Parks processed 260,484 online reservations which resulted in over 642,000 occupied camper nights across the province.

Campers can book a maximum of 10 consecutive nights in an individual, backcountry and comfort campsite but the maximum stay in a group site caps at five consecutive nights.

According to the Alberta Parks website, no preference is given to either online or phone-in bookings (1-877-537-2757) as both methods have the same access.

For information on specific camping sites, dates, and when reservations open can be found on the Alberta Parks website.