A picnic in Kejimkujik. Photo courtesy Parks Canada

If the early bookings are any indication, it’s going to be a busy year at Kejimkujik.

Almost 10,000 campers raced to book their favourite spots at the National Park and Historic Site when the online reservation system opened on March 31, a nine percent increase over last year.

The feat is more remarkable considering Parks Canada rolled out a new online booking system this year, requiring all users to create new accounts.

Visitor Experience Manager at Kejimkujik National Park and Historic Site Sophie Borcoman says Keji is consistently one of the most popular parks in Canada.

“Kejimkujik, every year we have such a loyal fan base of 85 percent repeat visitation who come back year after year, multiple generations,” said Borcoman. “And we’ve for, between Jasper and Banff, as being the most popular site.”

The park, which straddles Queens and Annapolis Counties features a variety of sites for tents trailers and RVs, located near services and washrooms, or in the backcountry, far away from anyone.

In recent years, many roofed accommodations have been added including rustic cabins, oTENTiks and Oasis all within an easy walk of inclusive washrooms.

The washrooms were completely renovated just two years ago to provide a toilet and sink behind a private door in the washroom facilities and private individual showers, making them more inclusive and eliminating the need for traditional separate male and female facilities.

Borcoman says despite the large number of bookings there are still lots of sites available between the May long weekend and the end of October when the park closes.

In fact, the park is offering a new service that will make it easier to book last minute.

Every Tuesday, staff will post how many sites are available in the coming week on their Facebook page, listing unbooked sites as well as any last-minute cancellations.

Borcoman says staff at Kejimkujik are constantly looking for ways to highlight the attributes of the park and historic site and encourages people to visit their web page for dates and times of several special events taking place including an ultra-marathon and the dark-sky weekend.

Kejimkujik also hosts many interpretive programs honouring the Mi’kmaw, the First People of the area.

Visitors can take a guided petroglyph tour, visit a Mi’kmaw encampment or watch and talk to master-builder Todd Labrador as he builds birchbark canoes.

Kejimkujik will open for camping May 19.

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Front country rustic cabin at Kejimkujik National Park. Photo Parks Canada

It appears staff at Kejimkujik National Park and Historic Site will be busy this year.

The park began accepting reservations on February 17 and 9,167 camp sites were booked almost immediately.

Acting visitor experience manager Mark Schmidt says the number of reservations is down slightly from 2020 but that’s to be expected.

“We’re roughly 17 percent less than we were on our opening of reservations last year. Now the one thing I do have to point out though is, we opened our reservation system in February this year. Last year it was in April. It was closer to the opening of the park, there was still a lot of uncertainty about travel beyond the provincial borders.”

Schmidt expects the number of reservations will exceed last year by the time April rolls around.

Kejimkujik closed part of its camping for the 2020 season to install new washrooms and underground infrastructure.

It was the first major renovation in the park in 50 years.

Schmidt says they’ve been hearing rave reviews from people about those upgrades and the park continues to improve the visitor experience.

The Ukme’k trail, which means ‘twisted’ in Mi’kmaq, is a 6.5 km trail connecting the visitor centre to the Mersey River trail that was updated in 2021 to not only improve the experience for hikers but expand its appeal to other users.

“It’s a multi-use experience in that it’s something that’s meant for all levels of users. But it also incorporates unique features specifically for mountain biking,” said Schmidt. “So there’s a handful of really cool optional features that will test the skills of mountain bikers that are out there.”

Schmidt says he’s most excited about the newly constructed Mills Falls Bridge which takes visitors from the Mill Falls day-use area across to the Ukme’k trail.

“It’s the first of its kind in Canada, in terms of the type of bridge that it is,” said Schmidt. “It’s actually placed in a way that you’re on the lower part of the falls so you have this feeling, like when you’re standing in the middle of the bridge, that you feel the power of the water underneath you.”

Schmidt says there are still many sites available, and others will open as people’s plans change and they change their reservations.

While summer is the peak time for visits to Keji, Schmidt says people shouldn’t miss exploring the park during the shoulder seasons as well.

“The park is amazing and different in all seasons,” said Schmidt. “So, if you come in the summer you need to come back in the fall because it’s such a different experience. I encourage everybody to get out and enjoy themselves.”

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.