It's The Kick-off To The 2023 Camping Season At Nova Scotia Provincial Parks

Nova Scotia Provincial Parks begin opening for the 2023 season this weekend…

Day use parks open May 19 Camping parks opening Friday, May 19:

• Blomidon, Canning, Kings County

• Cape Chignecto, Advocate Harbour, Cumberland County

• Ellenwood Lake, Deerfield, Yarmouth County

• Graves Island, East Chester, Lunenburg County

• Porters Lake, Porters Lake, Halifax Regional Municipality

• Rissers Beach, Petite Riviere, Lunenburg County

• Thomas Raddall, Port Joli, Queens County

Camping park opening Friday, May 26:

• Mira River, Albert Bridge, Cape Breton Regional Municipality

Camping parks opening Friday, June 2:

• Amherst Shore, Amherst Shore, Cumberland County

• Battery, St. Peter’s, Richmond County

• Boylston, Boylston, Guysborough County

• Caribou-Munroes Island, Caribou, Pictou County

• Dollar Lake, Wyses Corner, Halifax Regional Municipality

• Five Islands, Five Islands, Colchester County

• Laurie, Grand Lake, Halifax Regional Municipality

• Salsman, Country Harbour, Guysborough County

• Smileys, Brooklyn, Hants County

• The Islands, Shelburne, Shelburne County

• Valleyview, Bridgetown, Annapolis County

• Whycocomagh, Whycocomagh, Inverness County

“Our parks offer physical and mental health benefits for Nova Scotians and they’re also important for tourism and business all across our province. That’s why we’re making a significant investment in our park infrastructure this year. We’re doing a variety of upgrades with a focus on safety and improving the visitor experience”

— Tory Rushton, Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables

This year’s Capital Plan invested $10.2 million for provincial park repairs and upgrades, an increase of $9.2 million. Potential projects for repairs and upgrades are being assessed and prioritized based on visitor safety and experience, including accessibility improvements.

Confirmed projects include:

• the multi-year redevelopment work at Blomidon, Canning, and Dollar Lake, Wyses Corner

• a washroom at Lawrencetown Beach, East Lawrencetown

• a parking lot, signage, vault toilet and beach access path at Carter’s Beach, Port Mouton

Provincial campgrounds continue to grow in popularity. About 1.5 million people visited camping and day-use parks in 2022, up by about 200,000 from 2021. Camping parks hosted 99,304 paid overnight stays, an increase of nine per cent.

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