On your mark, get set, go ... find a campsite!

The unofficial start of summer arrives today, as more than a few residents of the Northwest take a few extra days off work to make for an extended May Long weekend, with thoughts of a chance to spend a few days and nights in the Northwest outdoors set to be part of the migration along Highway 16 and beyond.

This upcoming weekend is expected to be a busy one for official campgrounds around the Northwest and for those secluded spots that few share the details about when they head out of town.

BC Parks is reminding those that are making their plans to ensure that space is available through discovercamping website

For the Northwest the latest data indicates that space is still available for many of the regional options including Prud'homme Lake near Prince Rupert and Tyhee Lake near Smithers/Houston.

However, Lakelse Lake is already listed as unavailable with all 156 spots already allocated for the May Long weekend.

For those lucky enough to have booked some space, BC parks does remind you to be on your best behaviour and with wildfires on the mind even as early as May, they also offer up some reminders about campsite protection.

To ensure everyone can have a good time this weekend, park rangers and conservation officers will have an increased presence to help ensure public safety and help protect the sensitive natural environment and ecosystems in the parks. 

 Campers and park visitors are reminded to follow rules around campfires, which include having a one-metre fireguard around campfires where all flammable materials (grass, kindling, etc.) have been removed, keeping fires to 0.5 metres in height and 0.5 metres in diameter. Never leave a campfire unattended. It is also important to have a shovel or at least eight litres of water available to properly extinguish a campfire and always ensure ashes are cold to the touch before leaving the area.

As we noted yesterday, the RCMP in the Northwest and a number of their law enforcement partners will be keeping a watchful eye on the weekend activities as well, with all planning extra enforcement activities over the course of the long weekend.

One area of the Northwest that will be off limits once again this May Long weekend will be the Exstew River Recreation site between Prince Rupert and Terrace, which as we outlined last week, was taken out of service for this weekend.

That closure serves as a reminder of some of the past abuse of the recreation site, which left the location in need of significant repair.

For more items or note related to BC parks plans for the weekend see this information update.

To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.