Camping Reservations in Nova Scotia, PEI and New Brunswick

[Road Geezer]

I've looked thru some of the threads re: visiting the Maritime Provinces, but don't see answers to my questions. So, at the risk of repetition, here are a couple I'd appreciate your help on.

We will be leaving San Francisco right after Easter and arriving in the area around mid June, 2019. We'd prefer not to make campsite reservation far in advance simply because we don't want to be on a "forced march" to a destination that far away. We are happy dry camping, having spent many nights in USFS campgrounds and Walmart parking lots. We also understand that mid June is high tourist season.

My questions:

In NB, PEI, and NS what's been your (recent) experience parking overnight along rural roadsides in rest stops, etc? If roadside overnight parking is not possible, are there alternative places to spend the night short of a "real" rv campground?

Is it possible to get private/provincial campsites on a walk up basis, or a day or two in advance in mid June/July?

Thanks for your help.

Paul

[tjdonahoe]

Originally Posted by Road Geezer

I've looked thru some of the threads re: visiting the Maritime Provinces, but don't see answers to my questions. So, at the risk of repetition, here are a couple I'd appreciate your help on.

We will be leaving San Francisco right after Easter and arriving in the area around mid June, 2019. We'd prefer not to make campsite reservation far in advance simply because we don't want to be on a "forced march" to a destination that far away. We are happy dry camping, having spent many nights in USFS campgrounds and Walmart parking lots. We also understand that mid June is high tourist season.

My questions:

In NB, PEI, and NS what's been your (recent) experience parking overnight along rural roadsides in rest stops, etc? If roadside overnight parking is not possible, are there alternative places to spend the night short of a "real" rv campground?

Is it possible to get private/provincial campsites on a walk up basis, or a day or two in advance in mid June/July?

Thanks for your help.

Paul

.......We were there last September..no problem finding a campground...we parked then toured...Nova Scotia....when we left.. the Ferry to PEI was 2 miles from our campground...the ferry ride was free..no charge..everyone was very accommodating...didn’t see any pull offs to park in....also..don’t pull the trailer up north thru the park...it could be done..but it is very steep hairpin turns...

[FCloud9]

Hi Paul,
We visited the Maritime Provinces summer 2017. With our 20' Flying Cloud, we fit most anywhere and prefer to travel with few or no advance reservations. However, we did make advance reservations for Cape Britton as we really wanted to stay in the National Park. Otherwise, we traveled rather carefree from 2nd week July through end of August. We have had great success using the AllStays RV app.
Upon our arrival in PEI, we stopped in the Cavendish Visitor center and decided to make reservations for Cavendish and three other Provincial campgrounds throughout the island for peace of mind once we arrived and the weather was predicted to be great for our planned time there. Like you, we don't mind dry camping and throughout Canada there are many RV friendly Walmarts for quick overnight stays. We happened to land in Canada during their 150th celebration and National park entry fees were waived for everyone which was a huge savings.
However, there was not campground discounts but we found CG fees to be reasonable. We did not choose to try camping along roadsides or potential free boondocking sites except for two or three nights at different Walmarts. Walmarts were fine but food shopping at CA Walmarts was not great due to limited fresh produce. We really enjoyed Cavendish but national parks restricted dogs on beaches but welcomed them in Provincial parks and hiking trails. Cabot Beach was one of my favorites in PEI with nice beaches, trails and a local seafood cafe & shop with the best PEI mussels we've ever had which you can easily walk to from the campground. Broad Cove Campground located at optimal location in Cape Bretton was by far my all time favorite and we were glad to have made advance reservations. The location was great for heading out to explore all the adventures along the Cabot Trail- plan for at least one full day road trip to explore the trail. Since our new puppy was only 9 months old, we did want to spend too many days doing car trips but enjoyed lots of options close to the Broad Cove campground- beaches, lake nearby, lots of hikes and gorgeous scenery! So, suggest after you decide how much time you want to allow for each general area....explore the camping options including the Walmart overnights allowed locations and you should be good. Also, we did not desire to travel via ferry. The bridge leading to PEI was great and since we had a young puppy, we just didn't want to stress out keeping her in the Airstream during ferry crossings.

Hope this helps and just PM me with any questions or post here.

Sharon FCloud9