YOHO – The deadline for the lottery to secure a day-use reservation at Lake O’Hara is February 29.
For 2020, Parks Canada made changes to its reservation process for the day-use bus at Lake O’Hara in Yoho National Park by introducing a random draw to help hikers have a better chance of securing a seat.
Jed Cochrane, visitor experience manager for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay, said there is still time to enter the random draw, which is the first of its kind for Parks Canada across the country.
“We’re hoping anyone who is interested to come up and see Lake O’Hara for the day should make an application,” he said.
“We hope that this process helps smooth things for everyone, makes it a much more civil and predictable process and there’s not that mad, stressful rush that there has been in the past.”
A quota system has long been in place to limit the number of visitors using the bus service operated by Parks Canada. It aims to protect this sensitive alpine area as well to provide a wilderness experience to visitors wanting to avoid overcrowding.
However, the previous online reservation system opening each April led to cries of frustration, given the entire season would sell out within minutes.
Last year, there were more than 20,000 people trying to make an online reservation. The current quota is set at approximately 181 people a day – which includes 32 spots for day use, 11 commercial guided seats, 90 for campers and 48 for the Alpine Club of Canada.
This number does not include guests staying at Lake O’Hara Lodge or hikers who trek in on the 11-km access road.
Under the changes, visitors had a one-month period from Feb. 1-29 to submit an application using Parks Canada’s online reservation service with a non- refundable $10 application fee.
Cochrane said applications will be drawn at random and temporary reservations assigned in early March. Successful applicants will be notified.
“Folks will then be given two weeks to confirm their spot,” he said.
Lottery systems are becoming more common throughout the world, and particularly in the United States, such as for Half Dome in Yosemite National Park and The Wave, a sandstone rock formation, in Arizona.
The Alpine Club of Canada already administers a lottery system for Elizabeth Parker Hut at Lake O’Hara.
Lake O’Hara Trails Club, which helps maintain the trails with Parks Canada at Lake O’Hara, had recommended the federal agency consider allocating day-use spaces on the bus via a lottery system.
For more information on the random draw reservation system, visit: www.parkscanada.gc.ca/lakeohara
