There are lots of tricks for avoiding the crowds and getting the best out of the National Parks
By John Francis
In 1969, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau told the Washington Press Club that living next to America was “like sleeping with an elephant — no matter how friendly or well-tempered the beast, … one is affected by every twitch and grunt.”
Living next to a National Park can be a lot like that.
The National Parks are not only our community’s largest landowner and our largest tourist attractions — they are also our largest employer and our municipality’s largest single taxpayer.
But lost in that shuffle is the fact that the National Parks can also be a great place to play (depending on what you mean by “play”). The hiking and sightseeing are literally world-class. People come from all over to see the Grotto, the flowerpots, dozens of species of orchids, Massasauga Rattlesnakes and more.
They say familiarity breeds contempt; in our case, it also breeds indifference. It’s easy to forget how exciting these things and places are when we drive by them every day, especially when we have to pay and/or line up to see them.
I’ve learned a few hacks and shortcuts for that. I hope you will find them useful.
The Canada Strong Pass Doesn’t Include Free Parking, But an Annual Pass Does
Normally, when people want to enter our National Parks, they have to pay a fee. Full disclosure: a whole bunch of fees. A per-person admission fee plus a parking fee plus a reservation fee. The Canada Strong program means free admission from June 19 to September 7, but if you want to park in a National Park, you still have to pay a fee for parking and a fee for the parking reservation. And you’ll probably have to line up anyway.
But there’s an alternative: an annual pass, either for the two local parks or all National Parks.
Annual passes for our local parks are cheap(ish): $48.25 per person ($42.50 for seniors) or $98.50 for a family. But the best part is that they don’t just cover admission — they also cover parking (our parks only; not elsewhere).
Because of Canada Strong, the annual (12 month) pass is extended to fifteen months. That means a cost of barely $6.50 a month for families; less than $3 a month for seniors.
So suck it up and pay the man. Don’t deprive yourself and your family of superb experiences just because you think it should be free. If you feel the need to boycott something on principle, put your elbows up.
Getting down to the fine points:
• The parking lot at Little Cove is municipal which means free reservations and free parking for anyone with an MNBP parking pass. The lot is full a lot of the time but you can check that online and reserve for free. Early morning and late afternoon parking slots fill up last.
• Parking at Singing Sands on Dorcas Bay is on a first-come, first-served basis; free for anyone with a parks pass, but the lot is almost always full in the middle of the day. LOCALS KNOW: Singing Sands rarely fills up before 9:30am or so and usually has space available again after 2:30 or 3:00pm. (Better on weekdays; worse on weekends, especially long weekends.)
In addition to being a superb shallow-gradient beach for little kids, Singing Sands is also a lovely walk with a stunning variety of plants and flowers.
• Official policy says that Parking at Cyprus Lake (for the Grotto) and Halfway Log Dump is by reservation only. The most popular mid-day slots in July and August are booked days or weeks ahead. To get a reservation, you have to pay the full price for parking, even if you have a pass. You then have to line up at the office on Cyprus Lake Road and get the parking part of the fee back. The reservation fee is not refundable but they’ve dropped it to $3.50 so it’s almost painless.
But there’s a shortcut. When Cyprus Lake and Halfway Log Dump lots are not full, people don’t need a reservation — they can just drive in. You can check online to find out if there are reservations available, and if there are spaces available all day, then it’s safe to assume you don’t need a reservation. This happens most weekdays before June 15 and after September 15. On weekends and on weekdays between June 15 and September 15, the early morning and late afternoon time slots are generally the last to fill up.
Warning: if you go without a reservation, there’s always the remote chance that someone will grab that last spot before you get there.
LOCAL APPRECIATION DAYS: Locals will get free admission to Bruce National Park on July 11 and August 10. Details in BPP Calendar of Events next month.
