Demand grows for local campsites as 2024 season kicks off
As temperatures continue to warm, so does demand for camping.
The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) and most provincial parks in southern Ontario have already opened camping sites this month. Private sites like Whistle Bare Campground in Cambridge is set to open Friday.
“A lot of campers are coming out, starting to get prepared for the season,” said Laura Bingeman with Whistle Bare Campground.
Bingeman said the site holds enough space for 82 camper vans, with spots almost fully booked heading into opening weekend.
“It’s important to start booking ahead of time for sure because in the summertime, especially those long weekends – we book up fast,” Bingeman said.
The Leveille family booked one of the 82 camping sites at Whistle Bare Campground for this weekend. Five-year-old Caylee Leveille says the best part of the great outdoor is “camping and fishing”.
Growing demand
Business is booming at Mountain Equipment Company in Kitchener.
The camping retailer sells passes to all national parks across Canada. Sales associate Charlie Denomey said everything has flown off the shelves from tents, to sleeping bags and watersport gear.
“We’re in ‘Camp Week’ right now,” Denomey said. “The season has really kicked off well. We’re busy.”
The GRCA told CTV News there were “nearly 5,300 reservations on opening day, which is a 37 per cent increase from opening day bookings in the previous year.”
Denomey believes the added demand has been a growing trend.
“There’s a lot of people that starting camping because of the pandemic,” Denomey said. “It just expanded exponentially.”
As of Thursday, some camping sites were still available to book online through the GRCA website, with swimming, hiking and other activates available.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ontario gave parents more than $1B in cash over 2 years. Here's where the money went
During the pandemic, the Ontario government started to hand out cash to parents to help offset the cost of at-home learning while schools were shuttered.
Ambassador says interactions with Russia 'quite limited' but 'not unfriendly'
Canada's ambassador to Russia says while Ottawa has 'grave concerns' about the Kremlin's 'longer-term trends,' the war in Ukraine is 'a primary barrier to a change in the relationship.'
One dead, 26 wounded in overnight shooting in Ohio: reports
A shooting on a street in Akron, Ohio, killed one man and wounded 26 other people early Sunday morning, according to reports by local news outlets.
Bathroom break nearly derails $22 million project at city council meeting
A brief break during Wednesday's city council meeting in Saskatoon nearly cost the city dearly.
South Korea vows 'unbearable' retaliation against North Korea over its launch of trash balloons
South Korea said Sunday it’ll soon take retaliatory steps against North Korea over its launch of trash-carrying balloons across the border and other provocations.
Do this once a month and extend your life by up to 10 years. No gym required
Research shows that art experiences, whether as a maker or a beholder, transform our biology by rewiring our brains and triggering the release of neurochemicals, hormones and endorphins.
Lanny McDonald and a few old Flames take the Stanley Cup on a surprise visit to the man who saved his life
The Stanley Cup was passing through town Friday, and Lanny Legend took it upon himself to take it for a surprise visit.
Mass parachute jump over Normandy kicks off commemorations for the 80th anniversary of D-Day
Parachutists jumping from Second World War-era planes hurled themselves Sunday into now peaceful Normandy skies where war once raged, heralding a week of ceremonies for the fast-disappearing generation of Allied troops who fought from D-Day beaches 80 years ago.
Chad Daybell sentenced to death for killing wife and girlfriend’s two children in jury decision
Jurors resumed deliberations Saturday on whether a man should be sentenced to death after being convicted days earlier of the murders of his wife and his girlfriend’s two youngest children in Idaho.