How to book Gold Creek, Alouette and the group sites at Golden Ears: the 3-month 7am PT window, day-use passes, and how to catch a cancelled site.
About the park
Golden Ears Provincial Park lies in the Coast Mountains 11 km north of Maple Ridge, on the north side of the Fraser River and, as BC Parks puts it, just over an hour east of Vancouver. You drive in on Dewdney Trunk Road through Maple Ridge, and Parkbus runs from downtown Vancouver in season. The campgrounds sit about 11 km past the park entrance.
Alouette Lake is the centre of summer: swimming at the marked areas at Alouette (South Beach) and Campers' Beach from June 17 to September 5, canoe, kayak and pedalboat rentals at South Beach, windsurfing, water-skiing, boating and fishing. More than 20 km of trails are open to cycling and more than 20 km to horses, and the backcountry has wilderness camping at Alder Flats and Panorama Ridge. The park is run by Alouette Park Management Ltd. (1-604-466-8325). Source: BC Parks: Golden Ears Park.
Where to stay
The park has three frontcountry campgrounds, Gold Creek, Alouette and North Beach, plus group sites. We watch:
- Gold Creek: the largest, with 179 bookable sites on the reservation map
- Alouette North: one of the two sections of the Alouette campground on the reservation site, with 100 sites
- Golden Ears group sites: G1 Golden Ears, G2 Alouette and G3 Woodlands (the only frontcountry site where you can camp with horses)
How booking works
Everything books on camping.bcparks.ca or through the BC Parks call centre (7 am to 7 pm PT, with a $5 surcharge on phone bookings, changes and cancellations).
- Campsites: a three-month rolling window, opening at 7 am PT, covering your whole stay. For a July 25 arrival you book from 7 am PT on April 25. Long weekends release early on set dates; in 2026 they were February 15, April 1, April 30 and June 4, and 2027 is expected to follow the same pattern, based on 2026. See frontcountry camping.
- Group sites: up to 12 months before arrival, charged for at least 15 adults. See group camping.
- Season: in 2025 Gold Creek opened for arrivals from March 28 and Alouette and North Beach from April 16 (BC government release). The 2027 dates haven't been announced.
- Day-use passes: in 2026 a vehicle day-use pass was needed on Fridays to Mondays and holidays from May 15 to September 7 for the lots past the Spirea trailhead (the boat launch, South Beach, Gold Creek and West Canyon). Passes are released at 7 am PT two days before the visit. Campers with a valid reservation don't need one. See day-use passes. We don't monitor day-use passes.
Last checked: October 2026.
When it books out
Golden Ears is an hour from Vancouver, so summer weekends and long weekends go fast once they open at 7 am PT. Group sites with a 12-month window often fill early for summer. Weeknights, spring and September are where the gaps are.
Getting a cancelled spot
BC Parks' cancellation windows decide when sites come back. For campsites: a full refund of camping fees (less $6) more than 7 days out, one night's fee kept within 7 days, two nights on the arrival day. For group sites: camping fees are refunded only if you cancel 28 or more days out. So watch the week before a campsite date and the four weeks before a group date.
Set a watch on the campground you want with your first and last night, and Canada Camp Alerts will tell you when a fully booked night opens up. Alerts are per night per campground: a night counts as open when any site in it is free. We don't match the same site across nights, party size or vehicle, and we don't book or hold anything, so you still book on camping.bcparks.ca. The free plan gives one watch with email alerts 15 minutes after we spot an opening; the season pass is C$25 once for 12 months, no auto-renew, with up to 10 watches and instant alerts by email, Telegram or web push.