The Canada Strong Pass, a nation-wide promotion for free access to national parks and reserves is back for another summer. From Friday, June 19 to Monday, Sept. 7 Mount Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park, along with nearly 50 other locations across Canada will be free for visitors regardless of citizenship.
The free access includes Mount Revelstoke National Park’s Beaver Lodge bike park, roughly nine kilometres of mountain biking trails, the Meadows in the Sky Parkway and Mount Revelstoke Multi-Use Trail.
This is the third season the Canada Strong Pass has run, boosting visitation by an average 13 per cent at all parks.
While Mount Revelstone National Park didn’t have a major increase in visitors the last two seasons, Maria Power, Parks Canada promotion officer expects it’s because the park, along with Glacier National Park already has high visitation rates throughout the year.
“Our staff are always monitoring visitation patterns and adapting operations as needed to support public safety, traffic flow, parking availability and the protection of these beautiful landscapes,” she said.
Some of those strategies include promoting the two parks during shoulder season, encouraging guests to visit outside the 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. peak times, and explore less congested areas such as Bear Creek Falls at Glacier National Park and the Soren Sorensen loops at Mount Revelstoke National Park.
Even before the Canada Strong Pass, Power said visitation at both parks has increased over the last decade, a trend she doesn’t expect to change anytime soon.
“Canadians are exploring their backyards or spending more time in Parks Canada places,” she said.
Canadians have accounted for the majority of visitors, largely traveling from Vancouver, Calgary, Kelowna and Kamloops.
Although the Canada Strong Pass does cut revenue made from day and seasonal passes to the parks, Power explained that Parks Canada still receives necessary operation funding from the government through the Canada Strong program. The parks were initially created through taxes and ticket fees usually cover administration and facility costs.
Other revenue streams are still collected during the summer, Power added, with campfire wood sales, interpretive walk fees, fishing licences and more all going back to Parks Canada.
For anyone visiting Mount Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park, Power advised planning your trip, checking trail conditions and packing appropriate footwear and gear. Bear and general wildlife safety, dressing for the weather and knowing when trail conditions might exceed your skill levels are all vital for a successful trip to either national park and the Giant Cedars Boardwalk trail and recently reopened Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk trail.
To check trail conditions and wildlife warnings before your trip and to learn more about the Canada Strong pass, check out parks.canada.ca/pn-np/bc/revelstoke.
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