Campers heading to Buffalo Pound Provincial Park this summer can expect things to be a little different, as the park has imposed a number of changes in order to comply with pandemic safety regulations.
Park manager Dave Bjarnason shared the details about what visitors can expect when they head out to Buffalo Pound, once the park is officially open for camping on June 1.
“We're going to operate as safely as possible, using physical barriers where we can, and a lot of emphasis is going to be on contactless transactions,” said Bjarnason.
As a part of the May 4 reopening, Buffalo Pound was able to open both the boat launch and local hiking trails around the park, but there are a few caveats for outdoor patrons to remember.
All of the hiking and mountain biking trails now feature directional signage, with the more narrow trails actually limited to one-way traffic when possible, to help maintain the mandatory six-foot distance between hikers.
Bjarnason understands that, while the new signage will play a part in ensuring safety regulations, a large amount of effort will have to come from hikers themselves.
“Common trail etiquette is going to come into play,” said Bjarnason. “We’ve put up a lot of signs, in addition to the directional arrows, reminding people of the safe distancing requirements and how to be safe as possible out on the trails.”
Park staff have also removed as many picnic tables and benches from public areas of the park, including common rest areas on the trails, and roped off remaining areas with signage reminding visitors of the restrictions.
“You can go in there, you can have your hike, you can have your ride, you can launch your boat, but the socializing aspect is still not permitted,” said Bjarnason.
Park visitors will have to get used to signage around the park this year, as all public areas will be closed and marked with similar signs.
This includes Buffalo Pound’s Camp Easy sites, group camping sites, all public showers, public beaches, and the swimming pool. The public playground will also be fenced off to restrict access.
Buffalo Pound will also only be booking 50 per cent of the park’s capacity, which park staff have carefully mapped out to ensure campsites aren’t in close quarters to one another.
“It wasn't as simple as just going even numbers, odd numbers, with the way the campgrounds are laid out,” said Bjarnason. “We physically walked through the park and looked, [and] said okay, this site doesn’t impact the use of this one.”
Flushable washrooms will be operating in a limited capacity, said Bjarnason, provided park staff can maintain the cleaning and sanitation protocols required. Water points will also be restricted to the public for the same reason.
Buffalo Pound is cancelling all educational programming and events in the park for the time being, including the annual Homestead Picnic at the Nicolle Flats Homestead.
Staff will be replacing the usual in-person programming with a more informational role, helping to keep the public updated with the new rules to maintain public safety during this time.
“Public education is going to play a huge role in how — and I hate saying it this way, but — how we get through this summer,” said Bjarnason. “We want people to come out, we want people to enjoy the park this summer even in this reduced capacity, but also [we] appreciate their patience and their understanding, because it isn't easy for any of us.”
Bjarnason hopes that visitors this summer will be respectful of the new rules, as he and his staff all feel as though following the sometimes inconvenient regulations is a better option than closing the park entirely.
“It's not perfect, but in March we didn't think we were going to have anything, so we can count ourselves lucky that we do have some means of enjoying some of what the park has to offer,” said Bjarnason.
The new regulations will remain in place until further notice, said Bjarnason, but could be subject to change later on if provincial regulations change.
Campsite booking is available online through the provincial parks website. For more information about the restrictions in place at Buffalo Provincial Park, call the office at 1 (306) 694-3229.
Following provincial regulations, Saskatchewan provincial parks are limited to use by Saskatchewan residents only, to limit travel between provinces.
