Originally Posted by
jamawani
Whether you are a Canadian citizen or not, you can get a hefty fine for illegal camping in the parks.
And if you are not Canadian, you can be barred from future entry if the offence shows on your record.
More importantly, if the single person "roadside" camping is multiplied hundreds of times, every night -
it places an undue stress on an already heavily used and fragile environment.
Human urine has lots of salt - something often rare in the natural ecosystem.
Salt-starved wildlife will be attracted to the roadside and be more likely to be hit by cars.
Among many other issues ....
Dispersed camping is great on BLM land in the middle of Nevada.
It isn't in national parks.
I generally agree with what you say but
what would you do if you find yourself after a long day in the saddle that are in the middle of the Icefields, no campground has space, other campers/Rangers won't help, and it is 9pm with the sun setting in 45 minutes? Assume that day's riding plans did not go according to plan because of mechanical or something beyond your control and that you had originally planned on camping legally but won't reach your campsite before dark? Would you keep riding at dark without headlights? Would you camp illegally? Not pee? What? Genuinely interested to know.
I am not a fan of illegal camping (love dispersed camping though), but to me there are times when there is no reasonable alternative. I am trying to avoid illegal camping by seeing what has happened to others, calling for information, trying to time the route so the few hiker biker sites line up, etc. but ultimately, push come to shove, if I have no choice, I have no choice. To me, Parks Canada (and all US National Forests) are also partly at fault in the above scenario as they should have designated hiker/biker sites at all CGs in such a popular destination if they want to discourage illegal camping as this would reasonably prevent this but that is a different issue/topic.