Canada national parks: the Discovery Pass and how booking works

Canada has 37 national parks and 11 national park reserves, run by Parks Canada rather than by a state-by-state patchwork. The booking system is centralised and, once you know its rhythm, considerably simpler than the American equivalent. The rhythm is the important part, because almost everything good opens for reservation on a single day in January.

The Discovery Pass

The Parks Canada Discovery Pass is the annual pass: unlimited entry to every national park and national historic site for a year, valid for everyone in one vehicle at parks that charge by vehicle. It pays for itself in roughly seven visit days, so it is worth it for almost any real trip through the mountain parks. Youth 17 and under enter national parks free.

• Buy it online well ahead and it arrives by post, or buy it at any park gate.
• It runs 12 months from purchase, not to a calendar year end.
• It covers entry only. Camping, fire permits, shuttles and backcountry permits are all separate.
• Day passes are fine if you are visiting one park for a couple of days.

The January reservation launch, which is the whole game

Parks Canada opens its reservation service for the coming season in a staggered launch, typically across January and into spring, with different parks and product types opening on different days. Front-country campsites in Banff and Jasper, and the popular backcountry huts and shuttles, sell out in minutes.

1. 1 In December, check the launch schedule published on the reservation site and note your park's exact date and time.
2. 2 Create your account, verify it and save a payment method well before the day. Doing this on the morning costs you the booking.
3. 3 Be logged in and in the queue several minutes before the opening time. It is a randomised queue, not first click wins.
4. 4 Have a second and third choice of campground ready, because your first will very likely be gone.
5. 5 Missed it? Watch for cancellations, which appear steadily through spring, and look at provincial parks and Alberta or BC recreation sites nearby.

How it differs from the American system

• No broad timed entry. Parks Canada generally has not gated park entry by reservation. It manages congestion with mandatory shuttles at specific sites instead, notably Moraine Lake and Lake Louise.
• Shuttles instead of closures. Where a road is overwhelmed, Parks Canada tends to close it to private cars and run buses, which you book on the same reservation site.
• Fire permits are separate and often required per site per night.
• One agency, one account. A single login covers every national park in the country, which is a real convenience over the American split between park sites and Recreation.gov.