It looks to be a hot weekend for southern Manitoba.

Environment Canada is calling for a lot of sunshine, and only a small chance of rain this weekend for Steinbach. That chance of rain is for Friday night. Saturday's forecast is sunny and 28 degrees, Sunday is sunny and 29 degrees and then Terry Fox Day is expected to be sunny with a high of 33 degrees.

Elisabeth Ostrop is Manager of Recreation and Education Services for Manitoba Parks. She says campgrounds in our province will be very, very busy this August long weekend.

"August long weekend is typically our busiest weekend," points out Ostrop. "So, once things are full, they are full. So, that's quite a frequent occurrence."

Ostrop says as of Friday afternoon, campgrounds are at 87 per cent occupancy, meaning there is only a smattering of basic service sites remaining. And, if you are still looking for a basic site, Ostrop says the ones remaining may not be for consecutive nights.

If you are planning to visit a provincial park or campground this weekend, there are some things to remember. As the result of hot, dry weather, the fire danger level is high to extreme for south and central regions of the province, therefore fire and travel restrictions continue to apply.

Level 2 Fire and Travel Restrictions remain in effect for Areas 1 and 2 in the province, which includes the southeastern portion of Manitoba. Within these two areas, campfires are only permitted between the hours of 8 pm and 8 am. As well, motorized backcountry travel, including ATVs and other off-road vehicles, is prohibited unless under the authority of a travel permit. Also in Areas 1 and 2, provincial burning permits are cancelled, camping is restricted to developed campgrounds and landing and launching is restricted to developed shorelines only.

Ostrop says because Mantario Trail is considered a back country trail and because no back country camping is permitted, that trail remains closed.

Meanwhile, forest fires across central and eastern Manitoba, as well as fires in central Saskatchewan continue to send smoke into central and southern Manitoba, causing poor air quality for many areas of central and southeastern Manitoba.

Environment Canada says a ridge of high pressure will bring light winds and stagnant conditions to the province for the next few days. Poor air quality from the smoke will ebb and flow this weekend as conditions slowly change.

These plumes of smoke are reducing visibilities and producing very poor air quality, especially areas near and immediately downwind of the fires. Many areas will see variable amounts of smoke over the coming days, but persistently poor conditions will stay in place through much of the weekend near the fires east of Lake Winnipeg southwards through the Whiteshell.