How BC Parks’ Rules Help Keep Berg Lake Campsites Empty

When the Berg Lake Trail fully reopened this summer after a four-year closure, every one of its 94 backcountry tent pads was claimed within minutes of reservations opening on April 2. For the first time since the 2021 flood damage, hikers had a shot at the turquoise waters and glacier views that made Berg Lake one of B.C.’s most coveted backcountry trips.

But according to staff at the Mount Robson Visitor Centre, an average of 15 reserved campsites along the trail go unused every single day. That’s more than 450 empty tent pads in a single month, during a season when thousands of hikers were turned away because the calendar was “fully booked.”

How the No-Show Problem Happens

Berg Lake operates under BC Parks rules, not Parks Canada. Under BC Parks’ backcountry policy, you must cancel at least 14 days before arrival to get a full refund (minus a $6 fee).

If you cancel within 14 days of your trip, you automatically lose the cost of the first two nights for each tent pad you booked. If your reservation is only one or two nights long, that means you get no refund at all. For longer trips, you’d only be refunded for nights beyond the first two, and for many hikers, that still means forfeiting most of what they paid.

For a two-person pad, that’s $40 or more forfeited whether you cancel or just don’t show. The result? Once inside 14 days, there’s no financial incentive to cancel. Many hikers simply wait to see the weather forecast and, if it looks poor, skip the trip without freeing the spot for someone else.

In the mountains, forecasts can be unreliable. A “rain” icon on the 10-day outlook can still deliver bluebird days, but that doesn’t help if the original booking holder has already decided to bail, and the park has no mechanism to reassign that pad to someone outside of in-person walk-ins.

The Scale in Numbers

Berg Lake’s nightly capacity is spread across seven campgrounds:

At the reported rate of 15 no-shows per day, that’s roughly 16% of capacity sitting empty. Over Berg Lake’s 96-night peak season, this would mean about 1,440 unused pad-nights, space for nearly 3,000 additional campers.

Even a more conservative 5% no-show rate still translates to 480 empty pad-nights in a season. For comparison, that’s like shutting down Berg Lake campground entirely for more than two weeks.

It’s Not Just Berg Lake

The problem isn’t unique to Mount Robson. In Lake Louise, one Bow Valley Insider reader, Ken Carlson, reported driving through the frontcountry campground on a “100% occupied” night and finding half the sites empty. In both cases, the booking system shows no availability while on-the-ground reality tells a different story.

Frontcountry sites are easier to reassign on the spot. In the backcountry, where itineraries are fixed and access requires long hikes, a no-show can strand a tent pad for the entire night, or the whole trip, if no replacement party is ready to step in.

BC Parks vs Parks Canada

BC Parks’ 14-day refund cutoff is unusually strict. Parks Canada, which manages campgrounds in Banff, Jasper, and Yoho, allows cancellations up to 3 days before arrival for a partial refund. That shorter window means weather-watchers can still cancel and recover some fees, making it far more likely the site reappears in the system for someone else.

From an access standpoint, Parks Canada’s model is better: a hiker can check the forecast, cancel 72 hours before, and free up the site for someone else. BC Parks’ longer cutoff removes that incentive, locking in ghost bookings.

Why There’s Little Urgency to Change

From a revenue perspective, no-shows aren’t a problem for the park operator. Whether the site is used or sits empty, the camping fees are collected in advance. In fact, refunds reduce revenue. Without pressure from the public or policymakers, there’s little financial motivation to overhaul the system.

The real cost is borne by would-be campers: locals hoping for a last-minute opening, travellers shut out of reservations, and experienced hikers willing to go in any weather.

What Could Fix It

Several policy changes could reduce wasted capacity:

1. Shorten the refund cutoff — Move Berg Lake’s deadline from 14 days to 3 days, matching Parks Canada, so weather-based cancellations can benefit other hikers.

2. Add a no-show penalty — U.S. federal campgrounds often add a $20 no-show fee on top of lost camping fees. This works best where check-in is mandatory, like frontcountry campgrounds and certain backcountry destinations such as the Berg Lake Trail at Mount Robson.

3. Repeat offender bans — Two no-shows in a season could trigger a one-year booking suspension.

4. Waitlist or notification system — Let users register for alerts when cancellations occur instead of relying on lucky website refreshes. Right now, there’s no official BC Parks or Parks Canada tool for this, so campers turn to third-party services.

5. Pre-trip confirmation — Require hikers to confirm their reservation 48–72 hours in advance or risk automatic cancellation.

Culture Change Matters, Too

Policy is only part of the fix. The quickest improvement would come from hikers cancelling even when they can’t get a refund.

BC Parks already urges this: “By cancelling, you allow other campers to use a site that otherwise would sit vacant.” At Berg Lake, same-day cancellations before 3 p.m. can still be reassigned in person at the Mount Robson Visitor Centre, but only if people bother to make the call.

The Bottom Line

Berg Lake’s reopening should have been a season where every possible camper got their shot at the trail. Instead, even on sold-out nights, tent pads sit empty.

If no-show rates stay anywhere near 15 per day, that’s thousands of missed opportunities in a single season, all while the system insists there’s no room. Fixing the incentives could change that. And until the rules do, the easiest solution is the simplest: if you’re not going, cancel. Someone else is ready to take your place.

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