May long weekend: 5 southern Alberta campgrounds with vacancies
The May long weekend is days away and Alberta's provincial campgrounds are once again almost fully booked up.
Tanya Koob, a family camping blogger, says some Calgarians head out as early as Wednesday night to set up camp and then return on Friday.
"I would not say Parks Canada or Alberta Parks endorses this practice, but it's pretty much one of the only things you can do to get a non-reservable site for a long weekend," she said. "People are desperate. There's just not enough campgrounds for the amount of people nearby who want to camp."
Here are five places in southern Alberta where you might still be able to pitch your tent or park your RV this long weekend. Be sure to pack a tarp — there is rain in the forecast.
Wyndham-Carseland Provincial Park
This large campground on the Bow River, about an hour's drive southeast of downtown Calgary, has lots of first-come, first-serve campsites.
Water is not available in the park. Reserved sites are already full.
Lake McGregor Provincial Recreation Area
This is a first-come, first-serve campground with 100 sites southeast of Calgary. Water is not available in the park and the showers are closed.
Swimming is allowed in the reservoir, but the water is cold at the best of times, never mind May. This Prairie campground is a great spot for bird watchers. Among the feathered friends are white pelicans and double-crested cormorants, who forage on the reservoir at this time of year.
Bow Valley Provincial Park: Willow Rock
Willow Rock campground has 158 first-come, first-serve campsites. This is in Kananaskis, west of Calgary, so expect cooler nights. This campground has showers, shelters and flush toilets and lots of hook-ups for RV users.
While Willow Rock is the largest of the first-come, first-serve campgrounds in the park, there are a few more: Bow River, Bow Valley and Three Sisters.
Peter Lougheed Provincial Park: Lower Lake
Another Kananaskis campground with 104 first-come, first-serve sites. It has a playground and running water. There are two more campgrounds in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park that take last minute campers.
Interlakes campground has another 48 sites and Canyon campground has 50 sites. There is also walk-in tenting at Mount Sarrail campground.
Cypress Hills Park
In southeastern corner of Alberta, there are still some empty campsites that can be reserved in the stunning Cypress Hills. It's a huge park with 600 campsites across two provinces.
A few campgrounds in the park are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Although at 423 kilometres from Calgary, it's a long way to drive only to find out the park is full.
