Campers should take precautions during long weekend

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This article was published 14/05/2020 (2116 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As camping season kicks off and weather reports indicate a sunny long weekend ahead, people are preparing to get out and enjoy the outdoors — close to nature, but distant from other people.

The province has distributed signage to provincial parks, some of which opened last week or will today. The signs will go up throughout the park reminding people of health procedures.

Guidelines for those headed out to provincial parks, campgrounds and cottages were sent out by the province, and some of it is common knowledge at this point — keep two metres apart, no more than 10 people at a site. Others are camp-specific: don’t gather with other groups outside your own, bring your own toilet paper and hand sanitizer, park offices should only take one visitor at a time and site reservation holders are being allowed to enter their campsite without checking in to limit contact.

Despite COVID-19 concerns, the Manitoba Parks manager of recreation and education services, Elisabeth Ostrop, said overall, campground reservations are up about 10 per cent compared to this time last year.

“All of those out-of-province road trips are probably off, summer festivals aren’t going to happen, the sporting events that people normally go to in the summer probably are not going to happen. So why not go camping in Manitoba?” she said.

National parks will remain closed to the public until further notice.

Despite the swell of campers heading out to provincial parks, some private campgrounds are facing hurdles with membership, or deciding not to open to weekend guests entirely.

Richer area private campground Cripple Creek chose not to take bookings for the May long weekend, according to owner Jackie Touchette — only seasonal members, most of whom visit the campsite regularly throughout the year, will be allowed to visit.

“We don’t want group camping, we don’t want a bunch of groups,” she said. “It’s families, a family in a campsite, and they all really want to be here and will abide by every rule. And we know that. We don’t know who would be coming in off the highway.”

Some private campgrounds that are opening to the public have had their booking affected by COVID-19 restrictions.

Pyott’s West Campground owners Jodi and Jason Digby said they’re facing low bookings and cancellations in part because of their unique location — they sit on the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border on Lake of the Prairies, and public health orders require anyone visiting from out-of-province to self-isolate for 14 days. This would include abstaining from fishing, hiking and other campground activities.

“We have been told by our provincial government that Saskatchewan people, who are literally a stone’s throw away, coming to their seasonal cabins, cannot go fishing from here,” Jodi said. “So there’s a lot of upset seasonals in the first place, and a lot of cancellations, because people (from Saskatchewan) are being told they can’t launch their boat here.”

Jodi said despite the campground abiding by the regulations set out by the province, there had been seven cancellations in one day and the campground has seen some seasonal visitors leave.

Despite the restrictions underway and some lingering COVID-19 concerns, camper Kayla Goossen said she’s excited to go out this weekend with a group to camp in the Sandilands provincial forest. She has packed sanitizing equipment and is bringing only as much toilet paper as she’ll need.

“Normally, our group sprawls and all camps together in a main hub. This year, we’ve designed ‘pocket camps’ of small groups of people so that not too many are in one area at a time,” she said. “We are also planning on doing multiple small fires and having our group rotate through them so that we can have a steady flow of faces, but not all in one area.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: malakabas_