Campers, get ready to be happy. 

Starting next week, Parks Canada’s reservation system opens up and campers looking to enjoy the natural beauty of Jasper National Park, among other national parks and historic sites, will be able to book their trips.

The reservation system for Jasper National Park frontcountry campsites will be available starting on January 30, while the backcountry camping reservation system for JNP will launch on February 1.

Annalise and Cailynn Klingbeil create the Go Outside blog on Substack. The Calgary-based adventurers are reminding park users that to spend the night outside in one of Canada’s popular national parks, they’ll have to spend at least part of the day inside navigating the Parks Canada reservation system. It’s a notoriously stressful process, the sisters attest, but the experience has improved in recent years. Even still, they highly recommend creating an account before reservations open up and having several backup camping options in case your top picks aren’t available on your desired dates.

“It feels weird to think about camping when there’s snow on the ground and we’re emerging from a record-breaking January deep freeze, but such is the nature of camping reservations in Canada,” their January newsletter suggests.

Another internet-savvy backcountry buff is Daniel Thareja. Thareja, a coder who lives in Canmore, built a website which helps people find last-minute cancelations on different camping reservation platforms. The website, called Schnerp.com, not only allows campers to enter in their preferred dates and get an email once a spot opens up, but offers tips on snagging a site. Like the sisters Klingbeil, Thareja suggests creating an account ahead of time. He also goes the extra step of practicing your booking.

“Familiarize yourself with each specific click you need to make,” he says. “If you’re planning a backcountry trip, pay particular attention to the tricky access point option.”

Also pay attention to the timezone, Thareja says. Most parks will open at 8 a.m. in their local time. If you’re trying to book the West Coast Trail from Alberta, you need to be thinking about 8 a.m. Pacific.

On opening morning, sign-in to your account before the queue: 30 minutes before reservations open, everyone on the booking site will be redirected to a virtual waiting room, after which users will be assigned a random position in the queue. Make sure you’re ready for when it’s your turn, he urges.

“Prioritize ‘adding to cart,’” Thareja recommends. “Reservations are held for 15 minutes once added to your cart. And if you’re going for a multi-day trip, you can hold both reservations first, then checkout second.”

But there’s a limit! Parks Canada only allows you to hold five campsites before checking out. 

If you can’t find the site you want, keep checking, he insists. Some people will decide to drop the reservations they held in their cart.

Finally, if you completely strike out, or can’t attend the launch day, sign up on Schnerp to watch for cancellations. Thareja says last year more than 80 per cent of all sites watched by the website had at least one cancellation.

“The longer you scan for, the better your odds,” he says. 

Visit Parks Canada’s reservations page to find out when each park is launching their campground bookings, or take note of some of the more popular campground sites from Go Outside’s handy list below.

Camping in Yoho National Park: Reservations open Tuesday, January 23 2024 at 8 a.m. MT

Camping (front and backcountry) in Waterton Lakes National Park: Reservations open Wednesday, January 24 2024 at 8 a.m. MT

Camping at Lake O’Hara: Reservations open Thursday, January 25 2024 at 8 a.m. MT

Camping in Banff National Park: Reservations open Friday January 26 at 8 a.m. MT

Backcountry camping in Banff, Kootenay & Yoho National Parks: Reservations open Monday, January 29 2024 at 8 a.m. MT

Camping in Jasper National Park: Reservations open Tuesday, January 30 2024 at 8 a.m. MT

Backcountry camping in Jasper National Park: Reservations open Thursday, February 1 2024 at 8 a.m. MT

Parks Canada has yet to release a date for reservations for the Lake O’Hara day-use shuttle, which will once again only be accessible by random draw in 2024. Dates for the draw are expected to be released in February.

Reservations for the Shuttle to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise lakeshore will launch on Thursday, April 18 2024 at 8 a.m. MT.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com