Campgrounds and parks filling up fast as campers look to stay local

For anyone looking to stay local on their summer camping adventures this year, seasoned campers have one piece of advice: book your spot early.

Ben and Cheryl Coles run a YouTube channel called 'Camping with the Coles' where they share reviews of parks and campsites across Canada and the United States, as well as do-it-yourself videos and gear reviews.

"It's not like the good old days when you used to just show up at a provincial park, go up to the desk and say 'I want a spot,'" Ben Coles said.

These days, bookings are pretty much a camping lottery, according to Coles. During the peak season — which runs from June to Labour Day, weekends fill up fast — especially long weekends. Reservations at provincial parks are all handled directly by Ontario Parks and Coles explained they accept bookings five months in advance of any date. This means you need to be ready at your computer at 7 a.m. that morning to try reserving your camp site, he said.

There may be steeper competition this season too. Due to ongoing tensions between Canada and the United States, there has been a push to support Canadian businesses and travel domestically.

Coles said he and his wife cancelled their upcoming travel to the U.S. in favour of local trips, and he suspects others are doing the same. Those campers may now be scrambling to book a local trip at the last minute.

"People are trying to get sites two or three months in advance, or even a couple days in advance, and that's pretty tricky to do," he said.

Coles said people are looking at other options like national parks, conservation areas and private campgrounds, but openings can be scarce there, too. Fanshawe Conservation Area in northeast London is already looking at more than 90 per cent occupancy for weekends this summer.

"We have quite a few bookings, especially on long weekends," the park's superintendent Jay Ebel said. "Everybody's looking to stay a little more local these days which is great for us."

The conversation area began accepting reservations back in February, and there's been a consistent flow of bookings coming in since then, he said.

If you haven't finalized your camping plans yet, getting a long weekend reservation locked down might not work out, but having a flexible schedule can make things easier. Fewer people have time off during the week, which means more spots are often available. The same goes for any time after Labour Day weekend, Ebel said.

"But we still always encourage people to book early just to make sure you get the site that you want," he said.

Location also makes a big difference, Coles said, explaining that parks within a few hours of the Greater Toronto Area fill up the fastest as people from the city look for nearby getaways. The further north you're willing to go, the easier it will be to book, he said.

If you're set on something in the London area, though, Coles recommended Long Point, Port Burwell and Wheatley along Lake Erie. To the north of the city on Lake Huron, there's Pinery Provincial Park, he said.

"This time of year, the Lake Erie parks are really good for birders ... You'll see so many birds, it's amazing when you're there," Coles said. "Then the Lake Huron parks, that's where you get the beautiful sunset."