HALIFAX: Although it took place more than a month ago, the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNRR) is continuing to clean up a local park impacted by Hurricane Fiona.
In a press release issued on Oct. 28, the DNRR noted that parks closed for the season on Oct. 10, there are no services, and gates are closed at most places, but the public can still use parks for activities like walking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. They noted that visitors are asked to continue to follow park rules and remove their own garbage.
As DNRR staff continues to clean up parks that were hit hard by the hurricane, they ask that the public avoid a number of provincial parks, including Arisaig.
“(The) cleanup of downed trees continues at Arisaig,” DNRR spokesperson Erin Lynch wrote in an email to The Reporter. “Post hurricane cleanup work is expected to be completed within the next three weeks.”
The department said it made infrastructure improvements at both camping and day-use parks, including accessibility upgrades.
Lynch said this included work on the water system at Whycocomagh Provincial Park.
Also this year, the DNRR said three more areas were approved to be provincial parks, including Dunns Beach and Monks Head in Antigonish County, which are currently in the formal designation process.
For the second year in a row, the department said provincial parks have broken their record for the highest number of camper nights, noting that camping parks hosted 99,304 paid overnight stays in 2022, an increase of nine per cent from 2021. About 1.5 million people visited camping and day-use parks, up by about 200,000 from last year, they said.
The province said there are 20 camping parks and 111 day-use and beach parks in Nova Scotia, with 63 per cent of this year’s camping park visitors from Nova Scotia, 27 per cent from other parts of Canada, and 10 per cent from other countries.
The province added that campsite bookings for 2023 are expected to open in early April.