News release

Provincial Parks Celebrate Record Camping Season

Natural Resources and Renewables

Nova Scotia’s provincial parks are wrapping up another busy and successful season, welcoming more than one million visitors to camping and day-use parks and a record number of campers to provincial campgrounds.

Provincial campgrounds logged 91,262 overnight stays, which represents a 13 per cent increase over the shorter camping season in 2020. About 86 per cent of campers came from Nova Scotia and 13 per cent were from other parts of Canada. About one per cent came from the United States.

Public health directives remained in place to ensure campers and visitors could enjoy and explore the parks safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Nova Scotians and others value provincial parks and the many ways they enable us to enjoy the social, mental and physical health benefits of being in nature,” said Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton. “We will continue improving the visitor experience and making sure programs and services are more accessible to everyone.”

Infrastructure improvements made this year include:

  • a mobility accessible, gender-neutral washroom facility at The Islands Provincial Park in Shelburne County
  • a mobility accessible park office with a gender-neutral washroom at Blomidon Provincial Park in Kings County
  • accessible campsites at Amherst Shore Provincial Park in Cumberland County.

Water and electrical services were added to several campsites at Caribou-Munroes Island Provincial Park in Pictou County and a new looped trail system was completed at Cape Split Provincial Park in Kings County.

All provincial parks, beaches and campgrounds are now closed for the season. Parks are accessible but there is no access to washrooms or garbage receptacles. Visitors are encouraged to keep spaces clean and safe for everyone by not leaving any garbage or waste behind.

Quick Facts:

  • there are 20 camping parks and 109 day-use and beach parks in Nova Scotia

Additional Resources:

Nova Scotia Provincial Parks: https://parks.novascotia.ca/

Nova Scotia Provincial Parks on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NSProvincialParks

Natural Resources and Renewables on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NS_DNRR