Phase three of Manitoba campground reservations opens Wednesday

It may not feel quite like camping weather, but that didn’t stop Manitobans from making summer plans and booking sites.

The third round of openings happened Wednesday for all remaining provincial park campgrounds — Bird’s Hill and Whiteshell sites opened previously.

RELATED: Province staggering campground bookings to try and reduce wait times

Elisabeth Ostrop, Provincial Parks manager of recreation said bookings are up over those made in 2017.

“As of 9:30 a.m., there were 846 reservations more than on the same day last year,” she said.

Speaking on CJOB, Ostrop speculated the consistent increase in bookings made at each opening is due to the growing demand for fully serviced sites, such as those able to accommodate RVs.

“We have plenty of basic inventory but when you get to the higher levels of service we don’t have quite as much inventory so there is a little bit of competition for that.”

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Ostrop added the Province is familiar with the system used in Ontario, which allows campers to reserve sites 120 days prior, but said the phase system used this year allows Manitoba campers to plan their whole summer at one time rather than having to wait for varied dates.

The province split up booking into three phases to alleviate frustrations and technical issues on their website.

RELATED: Parks Canada to open 2018 camping reservations Wednesday

Monday was the second ‘opening day’ for online reservations with sites at Winnipeg Beach and the Whiteshell, including:

• • Betula Lake
  • Big Whiteshell
  • Brereton Lake
  • Caddy Lake
  • Falcon Beach
  • Falcon Lakeshore
  • Nutimik Lake
  • Opapiskaw
  • Otter Falls
  • West Hawk Lake and
  • White Lake campgrounds.

Provincial office staff said the April 2 crowds were light after 8:30 a.m. As of 3 p.m., more than 7,723 reservations made in total. That number surpassed 2017’s total by more than 350.

The first set of reservations, for all cabins, yurts, group uses and Birds Hill Campground opened up online, by phone or walk-in March 19.

Campers can make reservations in person at the Parks office at 200 Saulteaux Crescent in Murray Industrial Park.

Information on Manitoba provincial campgrounds and reservations is available here.