prince George, B.C.- It may be chilly, but today’s the day  revisions to the  camping  reservation system in B.C.  take effect.

The changes mean  the mid-March “opening day” for reservations  is gone,  and  replaced with a  four month advance window for booking a site.   For example,  a reservation today  could only be made  for  arrival date on or before May 2nd.

The changes also  include:

• moves to prevent the reselling of camping reservations.  As of today, customers will be required to provide one or two permit holder names that cannot be changed at a later date.  At least one of the permit holders must be present during the stay and identification may be required to keep the reservation valid.
• restricting  altering arrival dates in an effort to prevent  overbooking days around long weekends.
• implementing a  pilot project  in 5  parks to  reduce the maximum length of stay to 7 days (used to be 14)  during  the peak camping season  (June 15 to Labour Day inclusive).  Provincial campgrounds included in this pilot project are: Martha Creek (near Revelstoke), Mount Fernie (near Fernie), Porteau Cove (near Vancouver), Loveland Bay (near Campbell River) and Ellison (near Vernon).

There are  about 10,700 campsites in BC Parks,  of which  55% can be reserved,  while the balance are offered on a first come first serve  basis.