Alcohol rules relaxed at provincial parks this summer

A composite image of a man stoking a fire and a alocohol regulation sign at a park in Ontario. (CTV News/ Rob Cooper)

John Vos of Barrie made sure he was one of the first in line at Earl Rowe Provincial Park in Alliston for its official opening Friday morning.

“Being outdoors and just taking it easy. I mean, all those years working and you had the weekends only,” Vos said.

Now retired, Vos spends much of his summers camping.

“Now it’s just kind of neat, you walk and enjoy nature” Vos said, while setting up his campsite.

Friday is opening day for most provincial parks.

It’s big business too, with about 7.6 million camping visits registered last year alone.

Earl Rowe Park has more than 400 campsites, just over half of which are open for this weekend. The rest will open by June.

The provincial park is one of several in the province that will now allow open alcohol use.

“Beginning this year, visitors may enjoy alcohol in any area of the provincial park” said Aaron Spears, park supervisor at Earl Rowe Park.

“It’s no longer limited to private campsites as in the past,” Spears added.

For the first time, select parks will also sell alcohol to campers, a decision was made by the Ford government.

“As long as the hooligans don’t get too rowdy. That’s all,” says Glenn Smith of Orillia.

Bass Lake Provincial Park in Orillia is all set to go for the season, officials said. There was some heavy cleaning to do from winter’s wild weather, but the parks superintendent Scott Thomas says, things are looking “pretty good” and he is expecting big numbers this year.

“We get visitors from all over, most are Ontarian but we get visitors from out of province and the United States and international as well” Thomas told CTV News.

People with camping plans say they are hoping the weather cooperates.

“We’ve got our seasons pass to go to all of the parks and then we go camping to most of them” says Ernie Cook of Orillia.

Opening weekend can be busy but park staff say the May long weekend is typically the busiest of the summer.