BC Parks website opens for camping reservations, promptly crashes due to demand

After closing to reservations earlier this year due to COVID-19, BC Parks reopened its online reservations system for campsites throughout the province.

As part of its reopening, the government stipulated that preferential access to camping will be given to BC residents for the 2020 camping season.

• See also:
  • Trudeau in discussion with provinces to implement 10 days of paid sick leave
  • BC plans to reopen most provincial campgrounds next month
  • City of Vancouver creates first 12 km of “slow streets” for physical distancing

And after the province announced recently that the site would open for bookings as of 7 am this morning, many were eager to stake out a summer spot for themselves.

However, the sudden spike in traffic on the site appeared to be too much, and the page ultimately crashed, causing many unhappy campers to vent their frustrations on social media.

I’m not sure what BC Parks was expecting when when they told the entire province, all outdoor-hungry and cabin-fevered, to descend onto their website all at the same time… #BCParks pic.twitter.com/zrcwMzHuiK

— Spoon (@kokuei) May 25, 2020

#BCParks thanks for ruining my summer, your lack of preparation is a sure sign of stupidity.

— Glenn Schwarz (@glenns1211) May 25, 2020

BC Parks Discover Camping site not having a good morning.. #BCParks #DiscoverCamping pic.twitter.com/B6VIlQfsDb

— Trevor Bradley (@trevor_bradley) May 25, 2020

#bcparks fun family activity is waking up and refreshing a broken site for half an hour trying to book campsites smh

the problem isn’t even that all of the sites are already taken, it’s that the website is absolutely terrible 🙁

— 𝘯𝘪𝘬𝘬𝘪 ⬡ (@paludariium) May 25, 2020

BC Parks Website Plans vs. 2020 Edition. 😂 pic.twitter.com/u83JZ1Flt9

— Jackson Murphy (@jacksonian) May 25, 2020

BC Parks website is crashing before it even opens for bookings at 7am this morning. Should be interesting trying to get an actual booking

Over / under on current number of people attempting to book summer camping online? I’ll take 10,000

— Gary Robbins (@gary_robbins) May 25, 2020

Snaps for BC parks website consistently crashing for 40 minutes straight #bcparks pic.twitter.com/Nic3yTnzrN

— Colin Rutherford (@colinxfilm) May 25, 2020

Farthest I’ve made it so far. Starting over again. #bcparks pic.twitter.com/mZRWCfS25W

— Amanda Kran (@VodkaKranberry) May 25, 2020

#BCParks so frustrating to think I have a campsite and then bumped out… this sucks!!! you had 2 months to fix it! someone must be getting the sites??!!?? pic.twitter.com/Ywzy42IuSm

— JLHarp (@jlharp) May 25, 2020

Hottest job listing in town #bcparks pic.twitter.com/LwWswwrRUC

— Oliver Browne (@aShowofHands) May 25, 2020

#discoverbc my screen all morning over and over and over again #bcparks pic.twitter.com/rsefjnXbw6

— Dennis Wilkinson (@DennisArve) May 25, 2020

#BCParks Employees arriving to the call center for work this morning. pic.twitter.com/hGNaEAEYW5

— Stephen Fryer (@Fryer_Stephen) May 25, 2020

BC’s Discover Camping reservation system is failing hard right now. Had a plan, got up early, logged in and spent more than an hour hitting website error after error after error and still haven’t been able to make a single booking. Boo! #BCparks pic.twitter.com/nfFYc0wunZ

— Steven Godfrey 🍁 (@itcaughtmyeye) May 25, 2020

Of all the errors so far, this one is my favourite. #bcparks pic.twitter.com/DSrukSaUOU

— Amanda Kran (@VodkaKranberry) May 25, 2020

BC Parks. The worst website in the world to book the best campsites in the world. Go figure.

— Daniel Bettridge (@DanielBettridge) May 25, 2020

Provincial parks were initially closed on April 8, and many reopened to the public for day use only on May 14.

In accordance with Phase 2 of the province’s reopening plan, BC Parks says the reopening will come with increased health and safety measures.

To ensure physical distancing, BC Parks says more spacing will be implemented between campsites and there will be a limitation on the number of guests at campgrounds.

Communal facilities, such as shower buildings, will reopen with enhanced cleaning protocols.

BC Parks notes that sites that requiring campers to use shared cooking facilities and backcountry cabins will remain closed.

Non-BC residents with existing reservations are asked to contact the call centre before June 15 to cancel and receive a full refund.

New reservations made after May 25th found to be made by non-BC residents will be subject to immediate cancellation without refund.