Google Street View tours Green Gables

Soon people around the world will be able to get a look inside P.E.I.'s Green Gables historic site or test-hike a trail in P.E.I. National Park on their laptop or smart phone courtesy of Google Street View.

The two locations are amongst 120 of Canada's national parks and historic sites Parks Canada and Google are teaming up to put on Street View. Parks Canada external relations director Ellen Bertrand hopes the 360-degree views help increase visitors.

"It's really exciting for us because we often hear from people, especially people who live in big cities, that they're intimidated by the thought of going to some of our national parks," said Bertrand.

"If we can show them the variety of places and activities we have, for example like gentle trails or boardwalks, and how accessible and beautiful they are, we really hope to encourage those people to come out and see our places."

Bertrand said Google has a special trolley it uses to create images of indoor spaces. The Street View team is using a new backpack camera set-up, called Google Trekker, to take people along trails and into campgrounds.

The partnership is not costing Parks Canada. Google is picking up the costs of shooting.

Bertrand said all the parks and sites should be online by the end of 2014.