Travel to Calgary, Banff, Jasper et all

[Sundogette]

We have been busy! Sorry i have missed some questions by members we could have helped with...travel in Phoenix and Tucson....I have not been online for awhile. Busy with life and chasing our dreams. Life is good!

We are planning our summer escape and heading north. Have reservations in Utah, Idaho, Montana , going to Glacier and plan to attend the Calgary Stampede (yes we have tickets!). Now working on plans to go to Lake Louise, Banff, Jasper et all. Have read some suggestions on where to stay, anything new?

Also, can anyone share border insights / issues / concerns? What do we need to know from fellow travelers? We have passports, dog rabies certificates, insurance and vehicle documents.

Thanks in advance!

[scattershot]

Beautiful country. About the only suggestion I can offer is to avoid the campgound in Kamloops. Nice enough place, but it's right off the highway on a grade. Between the Jake brakes from the trucks and the railroad cars humping all night from the siding across the highway, it's tough to sleep. Be aure to go into the town of Banff, and have a toddy or two from the hotel overlooking Lake Louise. One of the prettist places you will ever be.



Edited to add that crossing into Canada is no problem. Getting BACK into the US is a pita.

[Sundogette]

Thanks Scattershot! Funny about the review in Kamloops have read similar comments. Yes, we know the PITA portion of crossing back into the US. A few years ago we spent a week in Harrison Hot Springs, sans the fiver. Gawd....worse than getting back into the US crossing from Baja. I am sure we will be a project with the 5th wheel. Yes, we do plan on going into Banff. Thanks for the tip on the adult beverage time......we will partake!

[twindman]

The Tunnel campgounds 1 and 2 in Banff are good if memory serves. I think one of them is the only one with hookups, but not sure.
The best campground is Whistler CG just south of Jasper a few miles. Large shaded sites with full hookups - no wifi or tv however!!!
If you want more civilization, the KOA in Hinton is good.
As to border crossings - I was coming back to USA north of Kalispell. A small (sort of) crossing point. They had the cars go in one lane and zip thru. RVs, etc and I think motorcycles had to go in another. And our lane got 'scanned' with something. A semi cab with a little office on the back and a big boom that went up, over and down to the ground. They drove it along the rv seeing what we had hidden!!! This was several years ago, and I think they scan vehicles at many places now.

[Sundogette]

Thanks Tom and Gail. We have looked at the Tunnel campgrounds online. They are already pretty full. Have inquiries in to a few spots that look interesting. We like to find a base of operations and do day trips when we go to busy tourist attractions. We don't often sign up for dealing with the crowds....

[Capt Kidd]

We did this trip about 6 years ago had a great time don't remember the campgrounds we stayed in though.

There is a little town just west of Calgary called Cochran that has a very good RV campground. I don't know if it is still in business but there is a steak house there called Ruth's and it had the best Bison rib eye I have ever had. It was so good we asked our server if we good just buy 3 steaks uncooked to take with us and she said sure so we did. Grilled then a few days later and they were out of this world.

Happy trails.

[DarMar]

Nice smaller type city that Cochrane, Alberta and a real nice campground called Bow Rivers Edge down by the river. A lot of people make the outlying areas like Cochrane, just west of Calagary, their home base and travel the short distance to stampede. Not a lot of campground capacity to be found in the area during that time so make your reservations now for sure.

If you are coming up from Montana there is a real nice campground in Lethbridge, Alberta two hours south of Calgary that is called Bridgeview, not the cheapest but one of our favorites in the area and an interesting little city of about 80,000 I believe.

Banff is a spot to see for sure but we recently stayed in Canmore as well, 15 minutes before Banff, and found it a lot less crowded. We did not take the 5er this trip(too early weatherwise) but would highly suggest a stop in Canmore as well.

Have a great trip, the mountain views are spectacular.

[Sundogette]

Thanks for the suggestions, we are checking them out. We have reservations in Calgary for the Stampede, complete with shuttle service to the venue...filling in our calendar for Montana before the rodeo (Glacier) and when we tour Banff and Jasper. Then we will be in the NW for late July and August.

[Carl n Susan]

When we went, we stayed at Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court Campground (the one with full hook ups) in Banff. Our friends stayed at Tunnel Mountain 2 which has only electrical. You have probably noticed Tunnel Mountain 2 is closed in 2016 for upgrades and the only other option is Tunnel Mountain 1 which is a no-hookup campground. This is a good home base to explore the Banff and Lake Louise areas. The tourists have discovered Banff since I was there before in 2001 and downtown is overrun by hordes of camera toting visitors. Way too crowded for me. But the surrounding areas are spectacular.

As a special treat have cocktails on the deck of the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel overlooking Banff. Pricey but spectacular.


Jasper is much less crowded and also has spectacular scenery. We stayed at the Whistler's Campground which had electric sites and close to town (but not too close). Our signature picture was taken there.

[Sundogette]

Wow, stunning pictures! Thank you! We are on the same page re the crowds and typical tourist trap stuff. But, this trip has been on our bucket list for a few years. So now that we can, we feel we must go this summer. Appreciate the info and suggestions.

[washley1]

In 2012 we spent several days at Spring Creek Campgound in Canmore. Full service, easy access to Banff Park anad lots of local restaurants, shops and provisions. I very nice town to visit! Also used the KOA in Hinton when we were in the Jasper area. It worked out grand for visiting the Jasper area.

[Ragtacker]

Alot of what I would have said has been said already except for Jasper. The last time we were there the mosquitos were brutal so take your favourite anti flying blood sucker potion and by all means book your trip to the Tram for early morning and have breakfast up on the mouintain you won`t regret it. The Stampede is great we have been there a dozen or more times make sure you stay for the chucks and the stage show. Do not stay at Whispering Spruce or whatever they are calling it these days In Balzac. Theres a Bass Pro and Costco in Airdrie(just North of Calgary) thats easy to get in and out of. Should be a great trip for you, we love the Rockies and the foothills its a drive to remember and I hope you will enjoy it. Oh and if you see Huterrites selling meat or produce stop you won`t regret that either

[Wheelhouse]

We will be in the Radium Hot Springs, Banff and Calgary area May 25 -31. Thank you for those tips from us. Looking forward to the rest of our trip to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

[Ronthecanadian]

Banff to Jasper is beautiful. If you are returning via British Columbia on Hwy 5 to Hwy 1. It is also spectacular route. Avoid provincial Hwy 12 to Lillooet (jade town). Very narrow highway in spots, and Hwy 99 to Whistler is hard on brakes. Beautiful area to tour in a vehicle.

[Sundogette]

Thanks again to all with suggestions and words of wisdom! We have indeed encountered the rogue blood sucking mosquitos. A couple years ago we flew to Seattle, saw family and then took a driving trip to Lillooet and Harrison Hot Springs. Pete was not in shape to tackle the fiver, but we had itchy feet to go somewhere!! Really looking forward to this trip. We have been stuck for so long and just dealing with life since we closed on the house. I think we have a good plan so far, have a couple of gaps on the calendar as far as reservations, but have the holidays and heavy tourist areas reserved. Will post news of our travels as we go....