Photo: hellobc.com

Campers will have more opportunity to connect with nature this summer, with the construction of 55 new campsites in the Thompson-Okanagan region.

The sites will be ready for the 2017 camping season and will include:

• Eight new sites at Okanagan Lake South Provincial Park near Summerland
• Thirty sites at the Badger Lake Recreation Site near Heffley, north of Kamloops.
• Seventeen sites at the Scuitto Recreation Site near Kamloops

The campsites are among the first phase of 1,900 new sites announced in November.

Campsite expansion is occurring across the province, and the majority of new sites will be where demand is greatest – in the Kootenays, Okanagan, Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island.

Future BC Parks expansions will be concentrated in the flagship provincial parks, such as Fintry, on Okanagan Lake, and Manning Park in the Similkameen. Recreation site expansions will target high-demand areas.

"It only takes one visit to the Okanagan to understand why it has the highest demand for campsites in B.C. These new campsites will help more people have a unique experience in one of the most beautiful places in the world," Premier Christy Clark said of the announcement.

Funding was also announced that will employ 28 more full-time park rangers.

Other new campsites across the province include:

• Blanket Creek Provincial Park near Revelstoke - 58 sites
• Halfway Hot Springs Rec Site near Nakusp - 20 sites
• Garibaldi Provincial Park near Squamish - 20 sites
• Chek Canyon Rec Site near Squamish - 32  sites
• Stave West -Sayres Lake Rec Site near Mission - 60 sites (phase one)
• Desolation Sound Provincial Park  near Powell River - 34 sites
• Rathtrevor Provincial Park near Parksville - 30  sites (phase one)
• Goldstream Provincial Park near Victoria - four sites
• Maple Grove Rec Site near Lake Cowichan - 22 sites