For Albertans, the Victoria Day long weekend, known locally as May Long, is the beginning of camping season. Every front country campsite between Calgary and the British Columbia border is likely booked solid by now.

But, don’t let that stop you. The best spring camping in Southern Alberta is not in the mountains, but on the prairies and in the badlands. After years of heading west for May Long, this year we are taking the longtime advice of our camping cohorts and heading east.

Here are five reasons you should skip the Rockies and head east this spring:

May Long Weather

Ask any Calgarian what the weather is like on the May Long weekend. You will get variations of rainy and cold with a bit of snow thrown in for good measure. A little rain never stopped us from getting out and having fun, but three days of rain can leave one feeling cold, tired, and soggy.

Getting away from the Rockies brings you to the more arid desert and prairie climates of Eastern Alberta. You might get an afternoon thunderstorm, but probably won’t have to pretend to be having fun through three days of torrential downpour.

Bears, Bears, Bears

Bears are not carnivores, and are mostly non-violent creatures. But, having a sleepover in their habitat is definitely going to increase the chance that you will have your wits tested in a firsthand encounter. That’s not necessarily a bad thing if you have good bear smarts, but I would argue that May is not the best time to put your grizzly IQ to the test.

This is the first big camping weekend of the year, which means bears aren’t used to where they should be and where they shouldn’t be. A bear even stepped on our tent while we were sleeping, and we saw a different bear, photographed above, on a morning jaunt to the bathroom. Save your mountain camping for June and give the bears some time to get used to avoiding people.

Hiking Conditions

If you are hoping to head out for a hike in the mountains over the May Long weekend, be prepared for puddles and mud and snow. We have had several hikes cut short because snow and ice and muck made trails impassable.

I often love hiking in less than ideal conditions. In this case, though, my desire to avoid eroding my favorite trails by using them at the wrong time outweighs my urge for adventure. Let the trails recover from being buried in frozen water for 8 months and try something new in the dryer eastern regions of Alberta.

May Long Crowds

The number of campgrounds per kilometre on the highways that bring people into the Rockies is substantial. Thousands of people funnel into the mountains for the weekend, and back to the city afterwards. This is true of pretty much every weekend in the Rockies, but May Long is one of those weekends that is particularly busy.

The crowds are there for a reason. The Canadian Rockies are one of the most breathtaking regions in the world. From Banff to Lake Louise to Yoho and Jasper, this region deserves its fame. If you haven’t been, all of these parks should be on your bucket list. Just not for the May Long weekend.

Adventure

Ok, maybe this one shouldn’t be on the list. The Canadian Rockies are obviously a great destination for adventure. What I’m trying to get at is that May Long is a perfect time to branch out to some of Alberta’s lesser known parks.

Like The Narrows, Ronchon Sands, and Buffalo Lake, the three campgrounds at scenic Buffalo Lake, just east of Red Deer. There are dozens of other places out there, check out the Alberta Parks reservation website to see what’s still available (as of this writing, you can still have your pick of quite a few campgrounds for the May Long weekend).

To Summarize

If you are hell bent on visiting the Canadian Rockies this May Long, go for it. It really is a great place to spend a long weekend. But if you want to try something different, or get away from the bears and crowds, there is probably a cool little park somewhere within a couple hours of where you live that will be just as adventurous and awesome.

Do you have a favourite non-Rockies campground that I should check out this year? Let me know in the comments.

Happy adventuring.