New BC Parks website launches ahead of camping reservation kickoff

B.C. launched a new website for its provincial parks Tuesday, which will be home to a new camping reservation system this year.

The new website is in a soft launch for the first week, allowing users to become familiar with it before reservations open on March 21. Like last year, campers will be able to book a site up to two months in advance.

In previous seasons, the Discover Camping booking website caused headaches for outdoor enthusiasts, with the site sometimes crashing on busy days. During the pandemic, the previous site saw record-breaking numbers of people booking spots.

For example, when the site opened for the summer season in May 2020, more than 43,000 reservations were made in the first six-and-a-half hours. That was more than double the number of reservations made in the first three months the system was open for the spring season earlier in the year.

The new site allows campers to search for available sites by location and date, providing maps for campgrounds that have open sites.

The province said it conducted research with park visitors to make decisions about the new site, adding that it's committed "to a better digital experience in 2022."

"BC Parks is on a mission to ensure your experience of parks – from trip planning, to booking a campsite, to contributing to conservation – is just as enjoyable, seamless, and impactful no matter whether you're in a park, on your laptop, or on the road in between," an introduction to the new site says.

"To meet this goal, we're setting out to significantly and continuously improve the services we provide to B.C.'s parks and the people who visit and value them."