Provincial parks, protected areas, recreation sites and Crown land in BC: what's the difference?

Open the British Columbia map and you'll see purple, teal, green, gold and blue. Each colour is a different legal designation with its own manager, and they differ in exactly the things you care about: whether you can camp where you like, light a fire, hunt, fish, ride an ATV, or whether you pay. This guide covers each designation you're likely to meet, who runs it and what it allows, plus the land the map leaves unshaded.

At a glance

Read the table as a starting point only. Inside BC's park system, individual parks differ a lot, and the area's own page is the authority.

Plain Crown land

Most of BC is provincial Crown land with no park or conservation designation. That's the unshaded background on our map, though not everything unshaded is Crown land (see below). The province's Permission policy lets anyone camp on it for up to 14 consecutive days at one site, and authorizes hiking, boating, riding, snowmobiling, ATV use and similar activities, plus hunting and fishing under their own licences. Forestry, mining, range and other tenures overlap much of it. The camping rules guide covers the conditions.

Recreation sites and trails (blue)

Recreation Sites and Trails BC, part of the Ministry of Environment and Parks, manages more than 1,200 recreation sites plus a large trail network, all on Crown land. Our blue layer also includes recreation reserves (Crown land held for future recreation use) and interpretive forests. Recreation sites are usually small and rustic: a handful of campsites on a lake or river, fire rings, tables and a pit toilet, reached by a resource road.

• Fees: some sites are free; others have an operator who collects a nightly fee in season. The site's page lists it.
• Rules: posted site rules apply, including stay limits, quiet hours and fire restrictions. The Crown land Permission policy specifically leaves recreation sites to RSTBC's own authority.
• Firearms: no discharge of firearms or bows within the "developed portion", which extends 100 m from any structure, camping area, day-use area or trail staging area. No game residue there either.
• Groups and events: commercial use, competitive events and gatherings of more than 15 people need authorization.

Many of the campgrounds in our BC campground listings are recreation sites, organised by tourism region.

Provincial parks (purple)

BC Parks manages the provincial park system under the Park Act, from roadside day-use areas to huge wilderness parks such as Tweedsmuir, Wells Gray and Strathcona. In parks you camp where the park allows: in a frontcountry campground, or in the backcountry where that park permits it, sometimes only at designated sites or with a permit. The Crown land 14-day permission doesn't apply.

2026 fees and the new non-resident fee

For 2026 BC Parks widened its fee ranges. Frontcountry camping now runs $5 to $51 per party per night (up from $5–35) and backcountry camping $5 to $25 per person per night (up from $5–10). The higher frontcountry fees apply at 59 high-use parks from June 15 to Labour Day. Backcountry increases hit four parks: Garibaldi, Joffre Lakes and Mount Assiniboine at $25 per adult per night, and Golden Ears at $17 ($5 in some areas). Berg Lake in Mount Robson didn't increase for 2026.

From 2026, visitors who don't live in BC pay an extra $20 non-resident fee wherever a camping or facility fee is already charged: $20 per party per campground for frontcountry camping, $20 per person per trip within a park for backcountry camping, and $20 for cabins and per vessel for mooring buoys and docks. In 2027 it extends to group sites, picnic shelters, the Berg Lake Trail and the Bowron Lake canoe circuit. It doesn't apply to children or youth, or anywhere no fee is charged. Proof of residency is a BC driver's licence, BC Services Card or BCID.

Hunting, vehicles and fires in parks

Hunting and the discharge of firearms or bows is prohibited in many BC parks. Where a park allows hunting, it's only during an open season, and never within 400 m of either side of a park road or highway unless a park officer authorizes it. If a park is closed to hunting, firearms may only be carried in a vehicle. Horses, motor vehicles, bikes and ATVs are generally prohibited except where specifically authorized. Parks often issue their own campfire bans in addition to the BC Wildfire Service's.

Conservancies

Conservancies are part of the BC Parks system, created to protect biological diversity and natural environments together with First Nations' social, ceremonial and cultural uses. Many are on the central and north coast. They usually allow low-impact recreation, but they're managed under plans developed with First Nations, so rules on camping, hunting and access vary by conservancy. They're not plain Crown land, and the Permission doesn't apply.

Protected areas (green) and recreation areas (gold)

Protected areas are part of the BC Parks system too. They're often areas where an existing use, such as a road, pipeline or utility corridor, made a full park designation impractical. Recreation areas are a small, older category that allows some resource use alongside recreation. In BC's current data there are only a handful of them. For both, the Park Act rules on vehicles, camping and hunting apply as each area's page sets out.

Ecological reserves (teal)

Ecological reserves exist for research, education and the preservation of rare or representative ecosystems. They're the strictest designation on the map. Hunting, trapping and fishing are all prohibited, and so is discharging a firearm or bow. Some reserves are closed to public entry entirely, and others allow only non-consumptive visits. Don't plan to camp in one.

Wildlife Management Areas and other conservation lands

Wildlife Management Areas are designated under the Wildlife Act to protect important habitat. Many lie in valley-bottom wetlands, estuaries and winter ranges. BC also has other conservation lands, including Crown reserves and land bought with partners such as Ducks Unlimited and The Nature Trust of BC. Hunting, firearms, motor vehicles and general access can be restricted or prohibited in some of them, so contact the regional office before hunting there. Note that the Crown land Permission policy expressly doesn't apply in WMAs and other administered conservation lands. They're not shaded on our map, so check before you camp.

Regional and municipal parks

Regional districts and municipalities run their own parks under local bylaws, with their own rules on camping, dogs and fires. In Regions 1 and 2 (Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland), hunting and firearm discharge are prohibited within 100 m of every regional district park, and most regional parks prohibit discharge inside them. The Permission policy doesn't apply inside a municipality at all.

Reserves, treaty lands and title lands

Reserves under the Indian Act are private land. You need permission from the band office to hunt, fish, camp or even cross them. Modern treaty lands, such as those of the Nisga'a, Tsawwassen, Maa-nulth and Tla'amin nations, are owned and governed by those nations. The Tsilhqot'in title lands in the South Chilcotin are controlled by the Tsilhqot'in Nation and aren't open to public hunting. None of these are shaded on our map, so check the area before you go.

Private managed forest land

Large areas of private forest, especially on eastern Vancouver Island, look like Crown forest but aren't. The landowner sets access, gates may be locked for fire season or operations, and the province has said it has no jurisdiction over public access there. Some companies run access agreements for hunters, anglers or specific recreation sites. Don't assume an open road means you're welcome.

National parks

BC has seven national parks: Pacific Rim, Gulf Islands and Gwaii Haanas on the coast, and Glacier, Mount Revelstoke, Yoho and Kootenay in the mountains. Parks Canada sets the rules: an entry pass, its own campgrounds and backcountry permits, no hunting, and a national park fishing permit instead of a BC licence. Watercraft rules there can be strict because of aquatic invasive species, and Yoho and Kootenay were closed to boats and angling until spring 2025 after whirling disease was detected.

What the map does and doesn't show

Our British Columbia map draws BC Parks' boundaries (parks, ecological reserves, protected areas, recreation areas) and Recreation Sites and Trails BC's polygons (recreation sites, reserves and interpretive forests). It doesn't draw private land, reserves, treaty lands, WMAs, municipalities, leases or tenures. Unshaded land is often Crown land, but you can't assume it, especially in the populated south. Our how to find Crown land guide lists the official tools to confirm a spot, and the Crown land by city pages show what's realistically within reach of each town.

Sources

Last reviewed: October 2026. Regulations change; always confirm with the official source before you go.

• BC Parks
• BC Parks – 2026 camping fees information sheet
• Recreation Sites and Trails BC – About the program
• Province of BC – Land Use Policy: Permission
• Province of BC – 2026-2028 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis
• Parks Canada – National parks