If the early bookings are any indication, it’s going to be a busy year at Kejimkujik.
Almost 10,000 campers raced to book their favourite spots at the National Park and Historic Site when the online reservation system opened on March 31, a nine percent increase over last year.
The feat is more remarkable considering Parks Canada rolled out a new online booking system this year, requiring all users to create new accounts.
Visitor Experience Manager at Kejimkujik National Park and Historic Site Sophie Borcoman says Keji is consistently one of the most popular parks in Canada.
“Kejimkujik, every year we have such a loyal fan base of 85 percent repeat visitation who come back year after year, multiple generations,” said Borcoman. “And we've for, between Jasper and Banff, as being the most popular site.”
The park, which straddles Queens and Annapolis Counties features a variety of sites for tents trailers and RVs, located near services and washrooms, or in the backcountry, far away from anyone.
In recent years, many roofed accommodations have been added including rustic cabins, oTENTiks and Oasis all within an easy walk of inclusive washrooms.
The washrooms were completely renovated just two years ago to provide a toilet and sink behind a private door in the washroom facilities and private individual showers, making them more inclusive and eliminating the need for traditional separate male and female facilities.
Borcoman says despite the large number of bookings there are still lots of sites available between the May long weekend and the end of October when the park closes.
In fact, the park is offering a new service that will make it easier to book last minute.
Every Tuesday, staff will post how many sites are available in the coming week on their Facebook page, listing unbooked sites as well as any last-minute cancellations.
Borcoman says staff at Kejimkujik are constantly looking for ways to highlight the attributes of the park and historic site and encourages people to visit their web page for dates and times of several special events taking place including an ultra-marathon and the dark-sky weekend.
Kejimkujik also hosts many interpretive programs honouring the Mi’kmaw, the First People of the area.
Visitors can take a guided petroglyph tour, visit a Mi’kmaw encampment or watch and talk to master-builder Todd Labrador as he builds birchbark canoes.
Kejimkujik will open for camping May 19.
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