Life’s a beach

Day to day life at Sandbanks Provincial Park

Like the sand it sits on, Sandbanks Provincial Park is always in flux. This time of year, the park is at its peak for being busy, and just this past Monday, the park had to close by mid-morning because it had already reached capacity. When the park closes under these circumstances it sends ripple effects out into the County. Traffic becomes a nightmare, and the OPP are called in to help. The issues of cars and parking is top in everyone’s mind when it comes to the park because of the huge influx of people every day in the summer. Provincial Park staff use old-fashioned legwork to go around and check every parking lot before saying it’s at capacity. A new issue, prevalent over the past year, is cars parking on the roadsides surrounding the park and patrons just walking in to avoid the parking fees and the soldout lots. There are so many cars parked on the side of the roads, that it’s becoming an issue for emergency vehicles who need a wider access than other vehicles. With the numbers of people entering the park rising each season, the park’s superintendent and its staff are constantly looking for ways to improve the experience for park goers.

This season the park has seen increases in numbers and revenue from the previous years, and the park has expanded with a new campground section that can hold an additional 400 people. The red-hot popularity of this tourist area combined with warm, dry weather means that the numbers of tourists visiting the park will go nowhere but up. One thing that has been helping to curb park closures, according to Park Superintendent Robin Reilly, is that for the last two years Sandbanks Provincial Park has put out consistent messaging about coming early. When people arrive at nine or ten in the morning, they tend to finish their day in the afternoon, allowing for some turnover. If everyone arrives at noon or 1 p.m., then there is no turnover and everything gets jammed up.

Wooden posts to prohibit errant parking and accessibility mats are new additions to the park this year.

One thing that was supposed to make things easier for the park employees, but has made it a bit more difficult, is the automated pay and display options throughout out the park. Patrons don’t have to flow through the front gates like most parks, so car counts must be done on an hourly basis in each parking lot to check on capacity levels. Another difficulty in gauging capacities of the park are the number of summer vehicle passes being purchased by local hotels and bed and breakfast establishments, looking to give a value-add to their guests. It’s estimated that around 1,700 passes have been handed out to date this year. Those seasonal passes are floating out there as well, and patrons holding these passes don’t have to come through a lane, they can drive directly to the area of the park they wish to enjoy. The parking capacity of the park hovers around 2,200 spots, which can be taken up quickly if the park-pass users decide to come that day. Another issue when factoring in capacity are the tour buses, which take up four or five parking spots, but hold 30 to 40 people. Finally, to add to the logistical nightmare, campers vacating their campgrounds must leave their site by 2 p.m., but don’t have to leave the park until 10 p.m. that evening. Capacities are also determined by emergency routes and ensuring all roads are clear and accessible.

“Once you get here and you’re on the beach it’s okay. There is plenty of room on the sand. It’s just the parking lots that fill up. And again, it’s old fashioned monitoring for parking lots. Do the lots have camper vans? Buses? Trailers? There is a lot that goes into making the call to close the park,” says Reilly.

Once the park is closed, it stays that way until enough cars leave so that it can selfregulate. There is no one-car in and onecar out when the park is at capacity. The park will stay closed until a designated number of cars have left and a large block of cars can be let in.

To make sure that guests of the park are getting the best customer experience when the park has room, there are some upgrades to the park that are new this year. There is a new restaurant and variety store for beachgoers to enjoy, and a lot of work has been put towards connecting the park via its trails.

“The park has done a lot work over the last few years in making sure the trail systems are more interconnected. In ensuring that trails are now being designed to go from point A to point B, campers that are staying in the park will leave their vehicles at the site and take the trail system to either walk or bike to the beach,” says Reilly.

As far as policing the park, there roughly a dozen wardens who deal with things like parking passes and alcohol on the beach in the daytime and at night deal with noise complaints and intoxicated campers. Anything criminal or emergency related means the OPP is contacted and wardens hand it over to them. There are number of OPP police officers in the area who are designated to the park, and staff sergeant John Hatch says it’s a good relationship.

“The staff at Sandbanks Provincial Park do a great job in keeping the park safe and manageable. They are looking out for the safety of everyone and when there is an issue, both the park and the OPP work in tandem to solve it. It’s a very popular place and you won’t be able to stop the people from coming. It’s about providing them with a safe environment to enjoy their day,”says Hatch.

The park also holds orientations with Fire, EMS and OPP so all parties are familiar with the park’s emergency plan. The plan lays out the park and describes how to get to each area. The park will also arrange for one their officers to meet the service vehicle at the gate and provide them an escort directly to the scene.

One addition that has helped ease congestion is that the park has put wooden posts in places where parking is prohibited, eliminating the possibility of a beachgoer even trying to park on the sides of the main access roads.

In total there over one hundred staff at Sandbanks Provincial Park, and on any given day there may up to 40 onsite. The park is also the largest employer of students in the County. This season there are 50 students employed at the park. Anyone looking to volunteer their time to help the park can contact the Friends Of Sandbanks by visiting their website at friendsofsandbanks.org. The Friends of Sandbanks are always looking for energetic new members to help them, help the park.