A big change is coming for campers who like to book long-term at provincial parks.

Starting this summer, campers will only be able to book a maximum of seven or 14 nights for car camping between the Canada Day and Labour Day long weekends.

However, these new rules don’t apply to backcountry camping and roofed accommodations.

With the increased demand for campsites over the pandemic, the province saw some back-alley style deals where people would book sites and then re-sell them at a profit. The limits in bookings is aimed at curbing that behaviour.

Ontario Parks says that interest in camping has grown steadily, going from 4.3 million campers in 2014 to 6.6 million campers in 2021.

The maximum length changes only apply to select parks, but most appear to be popular and busy destinations.

There also may be flexibility for longer stays for trips that overlap with the two long weekends.

These parks are where campers can only book a maximum of seven nights during peak summer:

Algonquin
Bon Echo
Killbear
Pinery
Sandbanks

These parks are where campers can only book a maximum of 14 nights during peak summer:

Arrowhead
Awenda
Balsam Lake
Bass Lake
Blue Lake
Bonnechere
Charleston Lake
Chutes
Craigleith
Darlington
Driftwood
Earl Rowe
Emily
Esker Lakes
Fairbank
Finlayson Point
Fitzroy
Fushimi Lake
Grundy Lake
Halfway Lake
Inverhuron
Ivanhoe Lake
Kap-Kig-Iwan
Kettle Lakes
Killarney
Lake St. Peter
Lake Superior
Long Point
MacGregor Point
Mara
Marten River
McRae Point
Mikisew
Mississagi
Murphys Point
Nagagamisis
Neys
Oastler Lake
Pancake Bay
Point Farms
Port Burwell
Presqu’ile
Quetico
Rainbow Falls
Rene Brunelle
Restoule
Rideau River
Rock Point
Rondeau
Rushing River
Samuel de Champlain
Sauble Falls
Selkirk
Sharbot Lake
Sibbald Point
Silent Lake
Silver Lake
Six Mile Lake
Sleeping Giant
Sturgeon Bay
Turkey Point
Wheatley
Windy Lake