Ontario’s parks and conservation areas will remain closed until at least May 31st
- Michael Kras
- 27 Apr 2020
Looks like the nature-shaped holes in our hearts won’t get filled up for a while longer, as the Ontario government announced that the closure of all the province’s parks and conservation areas has been extended until at least May 31st.
The closures, originally instated in the middle of March, were forecasted to stay in place until the end of April. However, as the province just extended closures across the board until end of May at the earliest, the province’s parks and conservation areas come with those orders, including access to car or backcountry camping, day use, entry points, and roofed accommodations.
To help discourage non-essential travel during #COVID19ON, all provincial parks and conservation reserves will remain closed to the public until May 31, 2020. For more updates please follow @OntarioParks & @ConOnt. Learn more: https://t.co/cHSVvuezpi#StayHome #StopTheSpread pic.twitter.com/gbnKjrZsZT
— Environment Ontario (@ONenvironment) April 25, 2020
It’s hard to say, too, how high up on the list parks and conservation areas will be when the province does begin to reopen, an act which Premier Doug Ford says will be done with a “trickle” by reopening society and the economy in a gradual, calculated manner.
Ontario’s parks and conservation areas were included as part of the province’s closures to discourage gatherings and promote social distancing. However, the closures have nonetheless been met with some controversy, particularly through people arguing that the expansive setting of a hiking trail or conservation area provides ample space to practice adequate social distancing, and that nature is one of the few true pleasures remaining during this current crisis.
That said, many initial reports indicated that, as people searched desperately for activities to do during quarantine, hikers and nature lovers were overcrowding many trails and outdoor spaces and ignoring social distancing guidelines; even coming together with large groups of family and friends.
Ontario parks and conservation areas will remain closed from public access until May 31st at the earliest. Read the full statement here.
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