We spent last summer up there.
LOVED IT!!!
We booked all our campgrounds in advance.
At Banff (July 5th start) we stayed at Tunnel Mountan village 1. No hook ups. Water and dump station on the way in. There are also water spickets around the Campground near the bath houses. Bring a water bladder and sewer tote. Practice using them first.
We washed dishes at the deep sinks outside the bath house to save water. Be bear aware. A grizzly came through the Campground. Generator hours are 8-9:30am and 5-7pm. Very tall trees. Solar didn't help much. Propane available in town.
It was cold at night. We used the furnace every night the entire time we were up north.
Spent 2 weeks there. Toured the area.
The further north you go the more expensive it gets. Canmore is a good place to fill up before heading north.
Tunnel Mountan village 2 is a paved parking lot. Glad we didn't stay there.
Tunnel Mountan trailer court has hookups. They are semi circular pull throughs. It is tiered stepping up the hillside. Each row higher than the one in front of it. It's nice.
Use the Transit bus system. Very efficient.
The Columbia Ice field is on the way to Jasper. They have big rig friendly parking lots if you want to stop on the way to Jasper. Book the Ice field tour in advance.
We toured it from Jasper. The Ice field parkway is a beautiful drive.
In Jasper we stayed at Whistler Campground, again no hook ups and generator hours. We had no trees at our site. Fires had cleaned the area in years gone by. Solar worked great.
Dump station and water fill near the entrance. Again there are water spickets near the bath houses. The bath houses are NEW. Beautiful, but no hot water ��. Elk roam the Campground.
Look outside before you open your door. We were trapped inside for a couple of hours while one took a nap outside the door. Stayed there for 2 weeks.
North of Jasper (north of Jasper Airstrip) is Overflow Camping Auxiliaire near Snaring Campground. It is FCFS. It was mostly empty.
Again dry camping. Dump station and water fill near the entrance.
It's pretty much a HUGE gravel parking lot. LOTS of space. You can absolutely count on finding a space there if you have to.
Next we went back south to Lake Louis. Stayed at Lake Louise hard sided Campground (30A electric, no water no sewer). Very tall trees. Solar wont help if you dont have electric, you will need to run your generator. Stayed there 2 weeks.
We definitely want to do this trip again.
Lots of hikes, lots of waterfalls icefields and glaciers.