Banff, Lake Louise

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Tin man

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Long island NY
Going to Glacier in mid August, than plan to visit Banff for three weeks. Any suggestions on private parks, and fishing spots in Banff, and area. Rivers streams, creeks.  No four wheeling.

Open to suggestions what to visit, and places to not miss. One place we do not want to miss is the hotel and restaurant on Lake Louise.

Thanks

Jim
 
One simple suggestion by way of experience - make sure you know the Canadian holidays! We drove up from Polson Lake looking to spend the night and there was not a room for a jillion miles - ended up being a 20 hour road trip...argghhh!!!

It's a beautiful area, fuel was high when we were there, but we'll be going back armed with better info....  8)

Have a great time!

Kim
 
There are no private cg's in our national parks and camping is in designated areas only which means no off site boondocking. There is lots to see and do. The Bow River is well known for trout fishing but you will need a special license to do so within park boundaries. Lake Minnewanka is deep, cold and holds lake trout and whitefish.
I have never been on the tram ride, don't like heights, but from pictures I have seen the view is spectacular. Lake O'Hara is an easy walk from the parking lot. If you cross into B.C. stop at the lookout for the spiral tunnels, quite an engineering feat, and visit Yoho Falls. As Kim says, the place is jammed during high season so be aware and prepared to wait.
 
    On your way from Glacier to Banff, take a side trip to the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller.  It has an amazing display of dinosaur fossils mostly from the local area, plus there are several neat things to see nearby, such as HooDoos, Badlands, etc.
    We set up at the National Park site in Lake Louise, and used the toad to explore.  Walk the trail behind Lake Louise, it is spectacular, take the trip out onto the Ice Fields, and go all the way up to Jasper.
    We encountered a lot of wildlife, and were impressed with the Longhorn Sheep who came onto the road to lick the leftover salt and didn't seem to mind having their pictures taken up close and personal.
    You can get a lot of information on line and Alberta's Tourist Department does up a decent brochure, which I'm sure they will send to you.

Ed
 
Maybe just our personal preference, but we like Jasper even more than Banff. Not quite as "touristy" and more abundant wildlife. I would spread my time between the two of them.
 
Thanks some good info.  We were thinking of staying outside the parks inprivate campgrouns,  and use the car for travel Jasper is on our list of places to visit. I guess that is on the ice field hwy?

Is the end of August and middle of September their busy season?  We picked that time, because we thought school would be in session and less crowded. 
 
I have read the reviews of the gov. Campgrounds, and I could not find one that has full hookups. Did I miss something? I'm talking about Banff, Jasper, and the like.  Would love to stay in the National Parks.

Jim
 
    The National Park sites have electricity for sure, and do not have sewer, but I can't remember if they had water, or we had to fill our tank.  We stayed in Lake Louise, and went as far north as the icefields, and as far south as Banff.  Then we took the coach to Jasper since we headed to Edmonton from there.  It is about 150 miles, and good road, but there is so much to see along the way that I would strongly recommend you do take your RV.  Although the road follows the Rocky Mountains, it goes along the path of a river valley for much of the distance.  As I recall, there is only one significant climb, but it has a turn off/look over and it was no problem.
    August & early September should be ok, but remember you are at high elevation, so you never can count foul weather out.  But check the campground websites for when they close since most are heavily staffed by University students who head back to class.  I just checked Parks Canada website, it looks like they close down Sept 14, here is the link: https://reservation.pc.gc.ca/Banff-LakeLouise?Calendar, but the town of Jasper is just outside the park, so there are private campgrounds, here is the Good Sam link of parks:  http://www.woodalls.com/Campground/Default.aspx?city=jasper&zip=&state=AB&country=CAN&name=&goodsam=0

Ed
 
Ed

Thanks, between you Gary, and Roy we cannot wait to start this trip.  In the Keys now, so no good wifi. By next week we will be hooked up to cable and a modem and get down to searching all your info.

Jim
 
    Hope you are warmer than we are here in St Petes, we had a hi of 65 F today, it was 59 at 6 AM when i got up.  I think Gary was colder up in Ocala.  We went from the Moab Rally in mid May to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons, where we had 6 inches of snow June 6th, then straight up to Alberta where we had fantastic weather.  We really enjoyed the Canadian Rockies the best, but that is a matter of personal preference since they are all spectacular.

Ed
 
The area around Banff and Lake Louise is gorgeous.  Don't miss the Icefields Parkway and do take the SnoCat out onto the glacier if it's available.  That was a real treat.  And Drumheller is not to be missed if you're nearby.  It's a huge Albertosaurus dinosaur area and you can drive out into the dig area.  The museum is also wonderful.  The town of Cardston also has the Remington Carriage Museum which is huge and I think we spent almost two days there.  Did you know that for every modern mechanized machine there was a previous carriage?  Think logging trucks, snow plows, moving trucks and the like.  Very interesting place.  Wear your walking shoes!

ArdraF
 
Maybe it is my aging memory, but I don't recall much in the way of private campgrounds in that entire area.

The provincial parks are always busy - plan on arriving early to get a hook-up spot. Last time we were in Jasper it was around Sept 20 and packed. There aren't a lot of hook-up sites, so get in line at the entrance gate at check-out time so you are waiting as vacancies occur.

Icefields Hwy, yes. And definitely stop at the Ice Fields. We did not take the Snow Cat, as we had just come from an entire summer in Alaska with glaciers everywhere, but it would be a great way to experience it. Also stop at Athabasca Falls (nearer the northern, Jasper, end) for a really scenic waterway.

This website will help:
http://icefieldsparkway.com/
 
Check out the Canmore area for private CG's . We stayed at  Wapati in 2012, great location & spectacular views.  Planning to visit Tunnel Mountain CG ( in Banff national park ) this fall.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=canmore+campground&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=5Na8VqeNFsOzeKXGq5gM#q=canmore%20campground&tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:1&rflfq=1&rlha=0&tbm=lcl&gws_rd=cr&rlfi=hd:;si:11843714568216358090

As others have said, busy place between June ( when snow leaves ) and August . Reserve early !!
Forgot to mention, Canmore is 20 minute drive to Banff park entrance. They have built a marvelous bike path between the 2 cities and also have a shuttle bus service.
 
spring creek rv campground in canmore is a very nice full service rv park just minutes to banff.
the closest full service rv park near jasper is the koa in hinton including cable tv and wifi but is a 30 minute commute
 
If you are going to Banff, look up the "Trailer Court Campground" - there are some videos on line, and you can book now. 

By the way....book now.  We just booked for July, and a lot of the sites were already gone.
 
So far a lot of good info has been posted. All of is good but not completely accurate. I know because I live in Alberta and the Rockies are my backyard.
If you have three weeks to spend in the Canadian Rockies, don't spend all your time in Banff. One person mention the "Trailer Court Campground" in Banff. The name that is used for this campground is "Tunnel Mountain". This is a very large campground (1100 sites+). There are varying levels of hookups and you can find the info on the website of the Canadian Parks Service.

Within the National Park there are NO private campgrounds. Apart from Banff in the south and Jasper in the north, there also are no towns.  The nearest private campground to Jasper would be in Hinton which is an hours drive away. But, as I said, there are quite a few campground withhookups, these are are mainly Tunnel Mountain in Banff (with very inexpensive little bus bringing you right downtown Banff), Lake Louise (but it is next to busy train tracks, and Jasper (Whistler Campground or our favorite across the road Wapiti Campground). It is a much better plan to stay for several days in Banff and use your toad to explore, including up to the Icefields. Then move to Lake Louise and explore with your toad places like Peyto Lake, Bow lake, and our favorite Moraine Lake (make sure to climb "The Rockpile" for a stunning view!) etc. Then move to Whistlers at Jasper and use the toad to explore the road you traveled on, but also take the 1A and go up to Mount Edith Cavell, to Maligne Canyon, Maligne and Medicine Lake.

You mention that you go to Edmonton. This is a 4 hours drive from Jasper (366 Kms). But from which direction do you arrive in Banff? Drumheller and the fantastic Tyrell Museum of Paleontology is super if you come from the east. If you come from the south then make sure to visit "Heads Smashed In Buffelo Jump" near Fort MacLeod to the south.

Feel free to ask any question!!!

Elly
 
Ella

Thanks, you have giving some great ideas and advise. We are coming from Glacier and after Jasper we will be heading home via maybe Calgary and any other suggestion. We will make Wright Patterson AFB museum our last stop for two days. Than back to PA.
 
this will help you with the Provincal parks

https://reserve.albertaparks.ca

as others have said there is not a lot in the way of Private Parks and NONE in the National Parks most National Parks have Elec and Water sites not sewer but there are some that do like Tunnel Mountain at Banff Canyon Camp ground at Radium Hot Springs is really nice if your comming up through YAK and Eureka in Montana up Hwy 93
cheers
 
Elly

Elly

Your suggestions were great, here is the problem. We recently moved and have been busy. We have not yet made any reservations. Is it too late?  Is it as crowded as they say?  We will be arriving on or about August 20th Banff.
Or Jasper.  We thought with the children back in school the crowds would be less.  Your thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

Jim & Kathy Wecht

We have a 37' MH with car in tow.
 
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