Joffre Lakes camping to be reservation-only starting Apr. 2

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Camping at Joffre Lakes Provincial Park will no longer be a free-for-all that leaves some people scrambling to find a place to pitch the tent.

Starting April 2, the province is switching to an online reservation-only system to permit the 26 sites for overnight visitors to the popular alpine area.

Steve Jones, an advocate for increased funding for B.C. Parks and an outdoors blogger says the change makes sense but will do little to fix larger pressures on B.C Parks resources.

“People want to go backcountry camping; they’re having a really hard time finding a place where they can go where some of those backcountry amenities exist,” he says.

The province estimates 170,000 people visit Joffre Lakes each year, so many people will be pushed to camp where there are fewer amenities which can lead to increased impacts on the environment in those areas.

“Even to places where they’re allowed, but there’s no tent pads, no outhouses, no food caches,” says Jones.
The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy says camping is only permitted at the upper lake campground which is reached by hiking 5.5 kilometres.

“There is no overflow area due to constraints of the terrain. Campers without a reservation will be turned away,” according to the ministry.

Bigger problems

Limiting the number of people who can camp will do very little to alleviate the nightmare parking situation along the Duffey Lake Road on weekends and holidays in the summer say critics of the plan.

Some are calling for a paid-parking lot to be built to reduce the number of cars that line the highway.

“The regulation of 26 tent pads … is not really going to have a material impact on the parking situation,” says Jones.

Last year the province promised to increase parking enforcement along the narrow, winding highway but struggles to keep control.

A Pemberton RCMP officer expressed concerns to the province, including a lack of towing capacity in the region and the sheer volume of parking offenders.

Jones says he’s come around to the idea that focusing capacity growth efforts and resources on popular areas like Joffre Lakes might be the best path forward.

He says building up amenities like parking and permitted camping in an already frequented space will leave more pristine areas in tact and allow for locals to find some peace and quiet in their own backyard.