Long weekend kicks off camping season with few restrictions

First at Five: Happy Campers The May long-weekend marks the unofficial start to Summer, and many Maritimers are excited to kick-off the camping season.

In a community some consider 'the gateway' to the Cabot Trail, a mountainside campground in Englishtown, N.S. is preparing to welcome visitors to the famed scenic coastal drive.

"I'm hoping for a sellout summer as usual," said Austin Christmas, co-owner of Kluskap Ridge RV & Campground.

Kluskap Ridge has been open for a week now.

Christmas says despite the optimism for summer business, another major issue has taken a bite out of the May long weekend.

“We did have some bookings for this long weekend, but a lot of cancellations also. I'm thinking that gas prices might have something to do with that," Christmas said.

In Sydney, Daryan Briggs and her three children plan to spend several weekends camping around Cape Breton.

She says she's ready for the experience to feel almost normal.

"We'll get to see more families from away," Briggs said. "Because we haven't gotten out as much as we used to in the last two years."

Parks Canada campsites and provincial parks in all three Maritime provinces are also counting on welcoming people back that haven't visited since pre-pandemic.

"This coming season is quite exciting because we had a record just on the first day of reservation launch this year," said Julie Cossette of Parks Canada. “So we see there's a buzz."

Cossette says bookings for May long weekend inside the Cape Breton Highlands National Park are strong.

As for the rest of the year, she says things might fill up fast. She points out that "staycations" during the height of the pandemic seemed to introduce new crowds to outdoor experiences.

"They got equipment for that too, we heard that a lot, and now people just want to use them. This is probably one of those reasons why there's such an interest," Cossette said.

Back at Kluskap Ridge, a lot of their summer bookings typically come from the United States and Western Canada.

This year, they're hoping for European travellers too. Prior to the pandemic, they would typically get one or two groups per night from overseas.

"Last night we were looking up at the stars and there was billions," Christmas said. "And that is a big draw for people who come back."