Most provincial campgrounds will open today, May 14, and the provincial park entry fee will be waived once again this summer, Conservation Minister Bill Blaikie has announced.
“The province has improved and expanded campsites for Manitobans, visitors and especially people making Manitoba a part of their homecoming this year,” said Blaikie. “This is a special year for the province as Manitoba celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Provincial Parks Act.”
May 20 to 24 will be a liquor-free long weekend for provincial campgrounds. Private cottages and commercial operations within provincial parks will not be affected by the ban.
Manitoba’s Parks Reservation Service set a record for first-day bookings of individual campsites this year, handling 13,641 bookings for the 2010 camping season, an increase of about 20 per cent over last year’s opening day. The province continues to expand campgrounds offered through the Parks Reservation Service and this year, Bird Lake Campground in Nopiming Provincial Park has been added.
Visitors to provincial parks and campgrounds will find new and improved facilities to make their stay more enjoyable including a shower building and resurfaced bike trails at Birds Hill, a washroom building at Grand Beach, a washroom and shower building at Nutimik Lake, a campground expansion offering more electrical and new electrical/water sites at Wellman Lake, a campground expansion offering full-service sites at Rivers, washroom and shower buildings at Wellman and Childs lakes, and a new playground at Asessippi Provincial Park.
Additional park improvements include:
• waste-water treatment facility improvements at West Hawk and Grindstone, and
• water-treatment plants for Watchhorn and Paint Lake provincial parks.
Detailed information on campgrounds is available at www.manitobaparks.com, 1-800-214-6497 (toll-free) or 945-6784 in Winnipeg.
