What to know before heading into national parks in Alberta

The weather is starting to take a turn for the better as summer approaches, and many are starting to plan their summer holidays in the mountains. With hiking, camping and so many other activities available, it’s important Albertans know how to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. Joining us this morning to talk more about that is David with Jasper National Park. Good morning, David, thanks so much for being here. So when we think about summer in the mountains, I mean, hiking is probably one of the biggest draws to the national parks. What are some of the tips that you have for people to stay safe? Yeah, good question. Obviously, hiking in the in the national parks in the summer is an increasingly popular activity, and there’s a number of things people can do to make sure they stay safe. First of all, of course, know your limits. Know the area that you’re hiking. You do some research before visiting a place so you can hike within your limits. Be prepared, safest to hike with a group if you can. Our mountain parks of course are home to both black bears and grizzly bears, so it’s important to be bear aware. Terry bears pretty know how to use it. Ideally travel in groups and make some noise as you travel and best to hike during daylight hours rather than in the evenings or or early in the morning when wildlife can be more active. I guess the last thing to add is if you are bringing a dog, make sure you’re aware of dog restrictions. Dogs can’t travel everywhere in the national parks for for reasons of wildlife protection in some areas. But it’s really important that you keep your dog on a leash and under control at all kinds. And I’m guessing even if you are travelling in groups, it’s recommended that someone who isn’t with your group that’s maybe is, is hanging out in Jasper, that they know you know where you’re going when you’re when you expect to be back. Yeah. Best to leave a trip plan with a with a with family or a friend so that somebody can check in to make sure you’ve returned from your trip safely. We do have search and rescue services, of course in the in the park and and it’s always possible if you are carrying communications equipment to call for assistance if you do get into trouble while having an adventure in the park. Now when driving through the park, we always see people pulled over to the side of the road to take photos of the scenery or perhaps of wildlife. What would you recommend are the safest ways to to do that, but you know, protect the wildlife and yourself. Wildlife viewing can be one of the the highlights of anybody’s trip to, to Jasper. In particular, where I work, it’s often possible to see elk, bears, moose, things like that on the on the roadside. It’s important to drive within the speed limits. Make sure you keep ample space between you and the next vehicle so that you can see when wildlife might be coming out onto the roadway to give them space. Slow down. If you are stopping or slowing down to observe wildlife, make sure you pull well off the road. Ideally, put on your blinkers so other people know you’ve slowed down. In Jasper, it’s also the rule that you need to stay in your vehicle if you’re viewing roadside wildlife and are within 400 meters of wildlife. I’m sorry, within 400 meters of the of the roadside. You need to stay in your vehicle to view wildlife in order to prevent over habituation of wildlife. It’s also important to take your opportunity to view the wildlife and then move on to make space for others and to give the wildlife the space and the and the peace they need to stay wild, right? And don’t feed them. That would be a big one. I’m guessing as well. Don’t throw food out your window. That’s we take that advantage. We take that for granted sometimes that people know that. But yes, it’s absolutely important that you do not feed wildlife. That can lead to wildlife becoming dependent on human food sources. They can become too, too used to that kind of food source and then lose some of that that natural wariness that helps keep the wild. And then it leads to safety issues for people as well. Of course, before we let you go, I want to touch on camping as well. How can campers make their overnight adventure a safe one? What are some things they should make sure they check on? Well, the first thing is to make sure you’ve actually planned ahead. Make sure there’s space at your chosen destination. Ideally you make a reservation ahead of time. Some of our campgrounds are first come first serve. So in those cases it’s important to show up early, especially say on long weekends. For those non reservable campsites, it’s recommended you show up as early as possible on on the Thursday before a long weekend to try to find space. You can also use the Jasper Now website to look for campsite availability. How busy are our places? We’ll also tell you how busy some of the the high use parking lots are in terms of those those popular attractions so you can plan your trip ahead and then again come prepared for the weather. Travelling in the mountains can always bring variable weather. Even in the summertime, we can get snow storms, so you need to be prepared. This is Alberta. All right, thank you so much, David, for joining us this morning. I appreciate it. OK, thank you. To help plan your visit to Alberta Parks this summer, visit parks.canada.ca or you can check out their mini social media handles at Parks Canada.