If a Yukon vacation is in your plans for 2024, you’ll want to watch for an announcement about the parks reservation system expected next month.
Details about the Yukon government’s reservation system for booking campsites at some frontcountry campgrounds is expected before the end of February, according to a senior staffer with Yukon Parks.
Frontcountry campgrounds are accessible by vehicle and typically within one kilometre of a road or highway. Popular Yukon camping destinations like Conrad, Fox Lake and Million Dollar Falls are considered frontcountry campgrounds.
The Yukon News reported last August that an online campground reservation system was in the works and would be piloted in the summers of 2024 and 2025, with four campgrounds expected to be part of the pilot project.
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Yukon Parks is currently looking at a blended approach to campsite reservations, according to Carrie Mierau, the Yukon Parks’ operations manager for the territory’s northern region.
“The frontcountry campgrounds will be a blended version — 50 per cent reservable 50 per cent first-come, first-served,” Mierau said. “Our approach is definitely to improve the service and improve fair access for Yukoners. So, it’s meant to be yet another way that you can go camping as opposed to restricting anything.”
Asked for further details on the pilot reservation system for frontcountry campgrounds, Mireau said to “stay tuned.”
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Earlier this week, it was announced that online campsite reservations at three backcountry campgrounds in Tombstone Territorial Park would launch on March 6, two months later than usual.
The revised booking date for 2024 is to allow time for the backcountry camping reservation system to be incorporated into the new camping reservation platform.
The backcountry and frontcountry camping reservation systems will be accessed on the same platform once completed.
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Mierau said the launch date for backcountry campsite reservations will likely revert back to January in 2025.
“Normally, we relaunch the reservation service for backcountry campsites in early January, and this year, due to the move to the new platform, it will be March 6. Really (it’s) just for this year. It’s a one-time delay so that we can merge over to the new platform for the backcountry,” Mierau said.
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