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2021 Make Plans for the Outdoors

January 4, 2021 / galen / Camping, Fishing, Hunting, Outdoors

As we all know, 2020 was not a good year for many activities, many businesses, and many people.  With 2020 in the rear view mirror, we can now look forward to plans for 2021 and making plans for finding a way to enjoy our favourite outdoor activities.  In 2020 we were bombarded with terms such as pandemic, social distancing, restrictions, and more.  These are all still relevant, likely quite deep into 2021.  So we can’t forget about critical health safety measures, but we can safely get involved in hunting, fishing and camping activities in 2021.

The group gathering guidelines are a moving target so we will simply say make sure you know the guidelines for your province.  Knowing that, you can still make plans for getting outdoors in 2021.  When you get right down to it, getting out on the ice, out on the lake, out in a field, or in front of a campfire, can all be done safely and keeping our distance from other groups.

Sometimes the reality of the situation can be a bit discouraging.  I’d like to plan my spring fishing trip up north with our regular group of 8 to 10 fishing buddies.  Reality is that we can’t plan this way, but we can make plans with our own families to get outdoors.  So maybe the groups are smaller, but for good reason, so that we can get back to our larger group activities soon, and safer.

I often spend a number of days in the fall, getting to the field 2 hours before dawn, laying out four or five hundred decoys, setting up the blinds, and knocking down a mixed bag of snow geese, ducks, and Canada geese, maybe even a prize specklebelly goose.  I don’t have the manpower within my family circle to do as often, but with with myself and another family member, we can put out a decent decoy spread and still enjoy a morning or an afternoon hunt.  Maybe by the time fall comes to the calendar,  we will have the pandemic under control and the size of the hunting group can expand.  Until then, we need to stay safe to contain the health risks.

2021 and the health crisis carrying over from 2020 should not prevent you from enjoying your time outdoors, but your planning might need to be done with smaller groups.

Stay safe so we can all get together again in a better future.

Spring is Here!

March 20, 2019 / galen / Camping, Goose Hunting, Ice Fishing

Welcome to the first day of Spring 2019! After a very cold Winter a warm start to Spring is a very welcome change. Today’s high in Central Saskatchewan is plus 5. Yes, a plus in front of the number. There are signs of spring everywhere. More people out walking, a few Canada geese pairs flying overhead, water running in the streets, fields starting to show under their blanket of snow. Blue skies and sunshine in the forecast. Looks like a great rest of March to come.

More signs of Spring are the provincial campground reservations systems are all available now.

Alberta Campgrounds: https://reserve.albertaparks.ca/
Saskatchewan Campgrounds: https://saskparks.goingtocamp.com/
Manitoba Campgrounds: https://prspub.gov.mb.ca/

Note that not all campgrounds in all parks may be available yet as provinces often stagger the open dates to manage the volume.

It’s officially Spring Snow Goose season, but don’t head out spotting yet. The white geese are still several weeks away. We wont see them until some of the water bodies open up as their push north depends on being able to find both water to roost and food in the fields. I was out ice fishing yesterday, still 3-1/2 feet of ice to auger through so big water is going to be awhile still.

Speaking of ice fishing, March is typically the best month for ice fishing so get out while you can. In most southern zones, ice shacks should have already been removed but that shouldn’t stop you from spending a sunny day drilling holes and catching fish.

Saskatchewan Campsite Reservations Open

April 10, 2018 / galen / Camping

The online reservation system for Saskatchewan Provincial Parks is now open.  To avoid overload of the system, the open dates for each park are staggered.  Click to reserve your camping site for the summer of 2018.

The 2018 provincial park launch schedule is as follows:

  • Monday, April 9: Blackstrap, Pike Lake.
  • Tuesday, April 10: Buffalo Pound, Douglas, Danielson.
  • Wednesday, April 11: Echo Valley, Rowan’s Ravine.
  • Thursday, April 12: Duck Mountain, Good Spirit Lake, Greenwater Lake.
  • Friday, April 13: Crooked Lake, Moose Mountain.
  • Monday, April 16: Cypress Hills.
  • Tuesday, April 17: Saskatchewan Landing, The Battlefords.
  • Wednesday, April 18: Meadow Lake.
  • Thursday, April 19: Bronson Forest, Lac La Ronge, Makwa Lake.
  • Friday, April 20: Candle Lake, Great Blue Heron, Narrow Hills.

Saskatchewan Camping Online Reservations Open

April 17, 2017 / galen / Camping, Outdoors

Online camping reservations for all Saskatchewan Provincial Parks are now open on the Sask parks Reserve-A-Site page at: www.saskparks.net/Reserve-a-Site.

Fees have been increased this year but with plenty of hype around the Canada 150 celebrations, expect demand to still be strong for camping spots this year.  The fee increases are across the board including individual campsites, group camping and seasonal campground reservations.

The dates for online reservations opening are:

  • April 4: Blackstrap, Pike Lake
  • April 6: Echo Valley, Rowan’s Ravine.
  • April 7: Duck Mountain, Good Spirit Lake, Greenwater Lake.
  • April 8: Crooked Lake, Moose Mountain.
  • April 9: Cypress Hills.
  • April 10: The Battlefords, Saskatchewan Landing.
  • April 11: Meadow Lake.
  • April 12: Bronson Forest, Chitek Lake, Lac La Ronge, Makwa Lake.
  • April 13: Candle Lake, Narrow Hills, Great Blue Heron.

Sask Campground Reservations open April 4th

January 17, 2017 / galen / Camping

The Saskatchewan government has just announced that the reservations system for Saskatchewan Campgrounds location in Saskatchewan Provincial parks will open on Tuesday, April 4th. Reservations will be accepted on a first come first served basis.

All across the prairie provinces, the camping season is expected to be a busy season so we recommend that you get you camping plans in place early and get online early at Saskatchewan Campground Reservations

With the Canada 150 initiative, National Parks will be free to enter, so many vcation plans will revolve around camping, which should make Saskatchewan parks busy as well.

Alberta Expects Busy Camping Season

January 11, 2017 / galen / Camping

With the flip of the calendar to 2017, the online booking system for Alberta’s Provincial parks will soon be accepting reservations for 2017.  The official date for making your first bookings at an Alberta Provincial Park is February 21.

With the bug push behind “Canada 150” going on, many campers are making early reservations for their favorite camping spots in both National and Provincial parks.  reservations in Canada’s National Parks can be made by going to the Parks Canada reservation site.

We recommend taking a look at our user submitter ratings and reviews of Alberta Campgrounds and Provincial Parks.

Then jump on the Alberta Parks reservation system.

Add A Campground Rating

December 2, 2015 / galen / Camping, Outdoors

Did you know you can add your opinion to the Campground ratings section and help other campers? On our provincial camping pages we include a campground rating and comments area.

Did you like your campsite? Were the facilities clean and modern? Was the firewood dry? How was the playground? Is the fishing good at the nearby lake or river?

Your opinions and comments will help future families and other campers pick the campground that is best suited to what they want from their outdoors adventure camping experience.

  • Alberta Campground Ratings
  • Saskatchewan Campground Ratings
  • Manitoba Campground Ratings

Sask Parks New Reservation System

March 11, 2015 / galen / Camping

Sask Parks has rolled out a new campsite reservation system.   For the last couple of years they have suffered significant failures and many complaints by campers who were frustrated with the system.  Reports had listed a number of areas of frustration, such as not being able to access the site, no confirmation of reservations, and multiple bookings of the same site for the same date.

The new reservation system has been rolled out in stages, with a few more Provincial Park campgrounds coming online in intervals.

Early reports have been positive.  I’ve heard comments from others that the new system seems to be working better.  I will say, that the true test will come on opening weekend when campers arrive to claim their sites.  If we don’t have to stack the trailers on top of each other and other sites are empty, then we can assume they got it right this time around.

Pack your RV and keep your fingers crossed!

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