Record number of people camped at Nova Scotia provincial parks in 2022

Park bench at Porters Lake Provincial Park located east of Halifax. (Paul Palmeter/CBC - image credit)
Park bench at Porters Lake Provincial Park located east of Halifax. (Paul Palmeter/CBC - image credit)

Nova Scotia provincial parks hosted a record number of paid overnight stays for the second year in a row, according to a government news release.

The Friday release said 99,304 people stayed overnight in the province's parks in 2022, a nine per cent increase over the previous year, the release said.

Around 1.5 million people  visited the province's 20 camping parks and 111 day-use and beach parks in 2022, the release said, an increase of 200,000 compared to 2021.

"It's wonderful to see yet another record-breaking year for our parks and that numbers were up despite park closures and cancelled reservations due to Hurricane Fiona," Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton said in the release.

According to provincial statistics, 63 per cent of camping park visitors were from Nova Scotia, 27 per cent were from other parts of Canada and 10 per cent were from other countries.

Provincial parks closed for the season on Oct. 10, the release said, but people can still use parks for activities like walking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing during the off-season.

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