Nearly two-dozen Manitoba provincial campgrounds cancelling bookings due to wet weather

Avid Manitoba campers hoping to snag an early-season weekend away in the middle of nature may not get to do that, after all.

The province has begun contacting campers affected by a decision to keep more than a dozen sites completely closed through the opening weekend of the provincial camping season, which was slated to begin Friday, May 13.

“With the late spring we’ve have various issues where infrastructure isn’t quite ready to accept guests, the ground is still quite wet in places,” said Elisabeth Ostrop from Manitoba Parks

“We’ve had to close, sometimes entire campgrounds, or individual sites in some locations.”

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Roughly a half-dozen additional campgrounds will be at least partially closed, either because the sites themselves are filled with water, or water supply has been affected.

The following campgrounds are affected:

• Nopiming and Manigotagan River provincial parks, all backcountry canoe routes and campsites are closed until further notice;
• Bird Lake, Beresford Lake, Black Lake, Shoe Lake and Tulabi Falls campgrounds in Nopiming Provincial Park are closed until at least June 2 due to overland flooding;
• St. Malo Provincial Park, campground opening is delayed until at least May 20 due to soft ground, wet conditions and no washrooms due to frozen water lines;
• Adam Lake, Max Lake and William Lake campgrounds in Turtle Mountain and William Lake provincial parks, opening is delayed until at least May 20 due to wet conditions and saturated ground;
• White Lake Campground in Whiteshell Provincial Park is closed until at least June 2 due to high water levels and flooding;
• Caddy Lake campground (nightly camping and some seasonal) and Falcon-Toniata Seasonal campground in Whiteshell Provincial Park, opening is delayed until at least May 20, due to wet conditions and saturated ground;
• Brereton Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park, closure of some seasonal sites due to flooding;
• Falcon Beach and West Hawk Lake including West Hawk Trailer Village and Falcon Lakeshore – seasonal in Whiteshell Provincial Park have some site closures  through May 19, including all full-service sites and some sites in lower-lying areas;
• Lake St. George Provincial Park campground is closed until further notice due to flooded access roads;
• Rivers Provincial Park campground, partial closure of some sites in low lying areas until at least May 19, due to wet conditions; and
• Stephenfield Provincial Park, some sites will be closed until May 19 due to water supply.

The province says campers should wait to be notified before making a cancellation themselves, or traditional cancellation policies will still apply.

Campsites perched at higher elevations across the province such as the Duck Mountain, Porcupine Hills and several northern Manitoba sites are still reporting substantial snow which may lead to their May long weekend opening dates being pushed back.

“Spring has thrown us another curveball,” Ostrop said.

“People want to be able to set up on a dry site (and) we don’t want them to get stuck in a rut if the road and the ground is a little soft.”

Some sites that remain open may face limited drinking water and washroom services, as crews haven’t been able to set up seasonal water lines.

Campers are advised to plan accordingly and pack enough drinking water for their trip.

“Please be a little bit prepared,” Ostrop said.

Find the latest updates on affected campgrounds, provincial park entrances, trails and more on the Manitoba Parks website.

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