Banff / Canadian Rockies Trip Ideas

[GDeen]

Time to spool up summer travel plans. Jennifer and I are planning an asphalt voyage to the Canadian Rockies. Not knowing any better, my assumption at this point is that Banff is a good destination. We enjoy hiking, mountain biking and seeing the scenery.

Would appreciate any experienced input as to places to go, roads to use or avoid, great RV resorts, lakeside boondocking, etc.

The general plan is to leave Austin the day our niece starts her 3 week summer camp, and return the day she comes home. We have a Montanan friend who has a place on the Gallatin River near Big Sky. Other than visiting with them for a couple of days, we are wide open. So how about some suggestions?

Thanks!

[Kenneth Brewer]

Gordon, we took this trip in 09. Our trip was a total of 6602 miles, and we are not that far from you in Austin. If you would like to talk to me, call me at 830-336-3122. But as an overall itinerary, we headed west to El Paso, up I-25 and over to Albuquerque, Rt. 191 up to and into Utah past Arches NP (should have stopped there, again), I - 70 over and then up to SLC, Pocatello ID, into Montana and north to Glacer - Waterton NP, up to Banff, Banff to Jasper where the Columbia Icefield is along the way (largest glacier below the Artic Circle, but it is shrinking, so don't miss it), Jasper, and then down through Kamloops to Washington State (and Mt. St. Helen), Oregon (Newport ORA on the Pacific Coast), back up to the Columbia River (gorgeous) and east across the desert on I-84, back by the north side of SLC, into and across Wyoming, down into Colorada for Rocky Mountain NP, and then south through Santa Fe, and eventually home.

[GDeen]

Ken,
Great info - thanks. How long were you guys on the road? Also, I have read on another thread that some folks like Jasper better than Banff. What was your experience?

[Reagan Sirmons]

Gordon, Banff is very pretty. In Banff, the second largest waterfall on the North American continent is on a river flowing through the city. Plan on having dinner at the adjacent Banff Springs Hotel. (Fairmont Banff Springs), It is really worth the view and trip.
Banff, itself, is a very beautiful Swiss village. The drive North on the "Iceland Parkway may be the prettiest drive in North America. Every two miles or so, there is a glacier with a lake in front of it. The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Hotel is several miles West and is equally beautiful.
Pres

[merle&louise]

Gordon,

You may want to plan ahead for the currency deal in Canada. If you use a credit card check with the CC company to see if they charge a surcharge of 2% or 3% on CC purchases. We got around this by bringing Canadian money with us. It doesn't sound like much but it adds up. Additionally, the exchange rate can hammer you when you use a credit card but if you have Canadian dollars you are good to go.

Have a great trip! Banff is beautiful. If you get up to Edmonton, Alberta look up Scott Truss (Scott T - POGGER name). Karen and I met him in Edmonton and he took us out on the town. We had a blast! He is one of the nicest people that I have ever met. Tell him we said hello.

[Kenneth Brewer]

Ken,
Great info - thanks. How long were you guys on the road? Also, I have read on another thread that some folks like Jasper better than Banff. What was your experience?

Well, we liked Banff; the town, restaurants, cable car/tram to the top of one of the mountains. We spent more time in Banff, about 4 - 5 days, and only one day night in Jasper itself, it seemed to be more wild, even though the campground was nearly full as well (had to dry camp), and it was very tight with low hanging branches. Much more wildlife in the camp; plenty of big elk that I imagine could be dangerous if spooked or provoked - we saw a mother elk chase off a young male from her young in no uncertain manner, might have been an older son, she meant business, and he knew it. We were in Canada mid to late July. Fantastic weather until we left the area and approached the Washington state border. We spent 7 weeks on the whole trip, interrupted halfway with a planned quick flight home to check on my mother.

Fill up in the states, though. Unless you happen to be in a town with a truck stop, it can difficult to maneuver a big rig in and/or out for fuel with cars present too that time of (tourist) year. And the price for fuel will knock you down.

[GDeen]

New question....Jennifer wants to spend a few days in Vancouver also. Any suggestions on a good park there for a few days? Not much encouraging on RV park reviews site...

[Larry W]

For Vancouver you might think about the RV park on the north side of Blaine, WA and use the toad to tour Vancouver and take the ferry to Victoria. We never found a good park in the Vancouver area.