Alberta Parks launches new online platform to reserve campsites in hopes it will be more stable

Anyone looking to reserve campsites through Alberta Parks this camping season will be doing so on a different platform. And anyone who hasn’t used the platform before will need to create a new account before they book a site.

Alberta Parks has shifted its online camping reservation system to a new, Cloud-based platform on shop.albertaparks.ca.

Alberta Parks said the current system is 15 years old and has struggled to keep up with user demand. The agency hopes the new platform will be more stable.

“We are excited to be able to provide more tools for people who are researching and booking their Alberta Parks experiences,” the province said in a statement to Global News Thursday.

Some of the new features include “Camping This Weekend,” which highlights availability of reserveable sites for those booking last minute, the ability to favourite individual sites so campers can return to the sites they enjoyed on previous trips and expanded payment options, including Visa Debit and Mastercard Debit.

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Shop.albertaparks.ca has been used for sales of other Alberta Parks services at the Canmore Nordic Centre, Bow Habitat Station and Sikome Aquatic Facility, as well as tours at Dinosaur Provincial Park and Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. But if campers haven’t used this site to book in the past, they will need to create a new account prior to booking campsites in the coming weeks.

People are encouraged to sign up for an account and familiarize themselves with the site before booking a campsite, as it is a bit different from the previous online booking site.

Alberta Parks has posted a video on its Facebook page on how to create a new account. Personal information and past camping bookings will not migrate over from the old reservations site.

Reservations for the 2024 camping season open on the following dates:

• Backcountry Camping reservations: Feb. 20 at 9 a.m. MST
• Comfort Camping reservations: Feb. 22 at 9 a.m. MST
• Individual Campsites reservations: Feb. 26 at 9 a.m. MST
• Group Camping reservations: Feb. 28 at 9 a.m. MST

Camping fees remain the same in 2024 as they were in 2023.

For more information on the new system, Albertans can visit the Alberta Parks campground reservation site or call 1-877-537-2757.

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