The province is offering free day-use passes to six provincial parks.

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The province says it is encouraging fitness and tackling overcrowding issues with the introduction of a free day pass pilot program at select provincial parks.

"People in B.C. love the outdoors, but some of our most popular parks are experiencing a high number of visitors, resulting in crowded facilities, packed parking lots and safety issues, such as parking along the highway," Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy George Heyman said in a media release. "This pilot program acknowledges that frequent park users have an important role to play in protecting these important natural spaces and the species that depend upon them."

The free day use passes are part of a pilot program intended to help B.C. Parks reopen busy areas and test the passes as a tool to manage overcrowding.

"We strongly support B.C. Parks reopening these six popular parks, while working to manage visitation and conserve nature in the places we love," Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society B.C. chapter executive director, fBruce Passmore said in the media release. "With many people staying home this summer, the demand for outdoor recreation continues to surge, putting more pressure on our park system. We welcome solutions that will help manage overcrowding in certain areas and strengthen our opportunity to protect vital ecosystems."

Beginning Monday, July 27, free B.C. Parks day-use passes will be available for six of the province’s busiest parks, including:

• Mount Robson Park, Berg Lake Trail
• Stawamus Chief Park, Chief Peaks Trail
• Cypress Park, upper mountain trails, including Howe Sound coast trail, Hollyburn Mountain trails and the Black Mountain Plateau trail
• Mount Seymour Park, upper mountain trails including the Seymour Main trail, Dog Mountain trail and Mystery Lake trail.
• Garibaldi Park, trailheads at Diamond Head, Rubble Creek and Cheakamus
• Golden Ears Park, all trails and day use areas

The passes can be accessed through the Discover Camping website here and will be released daily at 6 a.m. for same-day bookings. The number of passes available each day will depend on the park.

Further details about the passes required in each park can be found at the B.C. Parks website here.

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