Reservation Tips

Reserve Early

Alberta Parks reservations are available to book within a rolling booking window, which is based on the day of arrival of the booking. The booking window advances one day each morning at 9:00 a.m. MT. Review When To Make a Reservation for more details.

• Individual and backcountry campsite reservations can be made up to 90 days in advance of the scheduled arrival date.
• Group camping area and comfort camping reservations can be made up to 180 days in advance of the scheduled arrival date.

Planning Tips for Getting a Campsite

Plan your bookings: Shop.AlbertaParks.ca is available year-round for advance planning.

• Before the booking window opens, research which campground and site(s) you prefer and understand the policies for individual campsites, backcountry camping, comfort camping, and group camping areas. Learn more about booking windows here.

Be prepared on the day the booking window opens for your arrival date.

To make a reservation, you must first Sign In to your account or Sign Up to create an account.

Log onto Shop.AlbertaParks.ca before 9:00 a.m. on the day the booking window opens to select the campsite that you would like. Campsites cannot be added to your cart before 9:00 a.m.

Online and phone in access is equal.

No preference is given to either online or phone-in bookings (1-877-537-2757). Both methods have the same access. View our Call Centre hours.

Consider better availability options.

Reservations for campsites book quickly for long weekends and summer months. Consider other camping dates:

• Mid-Week: Mondays to Thursdays
• Spring: May and June
• Fall: September and October

Options When Online Sites are Booked

If your desired site is unavailable on Shop.AlbertaParks.ca:

Create a Spot Watch Camping Availability Alert

Use Spot Watch to create an availability alert using your Shop.AlbertaParks.ca account. Spot Watch will automatically notify you via email and/or text message when sites that were previously booked become available, whether that’s due to a cancellation or change, or when a booking window opens for a specific campground or campsite. To learn how to set up a Spot Watch alert, review our how-to guide.

Receiving a Spot Watch notification reflects availability at the time of the scan; it does not create a reservation or hold the site. You must click “Reserve” and complete the booking process to secure a site.

Tips for getting the best results:

• Watch multiple parks: Adding several parks to one watch maximizes the chances of finding availability, especially for popular weekends.
• Select multiple arrival dates: If your schedule is flexible, selecting a range of dates gives the system more opportunities to find a match.
• Use “Any Park”: If you are not tied to a specific location, leaving the park field set to “Any Park” casts the widest possible net.
• Enable both notification channels: Turn on both email and text message notifications so you don’t miss an alert regardless of where you are.
• Shorter stays are easier to find: Checking “Notify me if a stay shorter than my selected nights/days becomes available” increases results for busy periods.
• Rename your watches: Use descriptive trip names to help keep track of multiple watches (e.g. “Summer Family Trip – Aug”).

Use the Camping This Weekend function to find available sites on short notice.

Consider visiting a first-come, first-served campground.

Day of Arrival Reservations

If a reservable site is available to book on your day of arrival, you can book it online, by phoning the Call Centre at 1-877-537-2757 or by registering at the campground booth. The $12 reservation fee is waived for day of arrival bookings.