Picnics, Beaumont-Hamel tributes and more: What's new on Signal Hill this summer

If that warm feeling in the air is any indication, summer might just be around the corner, and staff at the Signal Hill national historic site are ready.

On a special edition of the St. John's Morning Show broadcast live from Signal Hill on Friday, Parks Canada's Glenn Keough talked about the upcoming summer season.

"We've got an awful lot of new activities and new programs and new offers this coming summer," he said.

Parks Canada is planning to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of Beaumont-Hamel with a special First World War encampment weekend taking place on Signal Hill from Aug. 12 to Aug 14.

"We have a medical unit coming down, we have the unit from Quebec that's going to tell the French story, we have the unit from Halifax that's going to tell the Canadian story, and of course, our own guys here are going to tell the story from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment," said Keough.

Approximately 750,000 people a year visit Signal Hill to take in the sights.

It's popular with tourists, Keough said, but many people who live in St. John's make regular use of the trails.

"It's one of those sites within the national historic sites family that a lot of other sites would look to as the way we want to engage with the local community because people have a real ownership of this site," he said.

This summer, there's a new program that he thinks might be a hit with tourists and locals alike.

You can order a picnic prepared on site by the Newfoundland Chocolate Factory cafe to bring on a hike.

"People can book it online or come to the site here, order their lunch, they get a backpack with that, we give them a map of all the trails on the site"

Picnics and Beaumont-Hamel tributes are just a few of the things Parks Canada has planned for this summer, and if the weather holds strong this May 2-4 weekend, expect to see a crowd of hikers and visitors out on the hill.