Canadian Rockies summer 2020

[rvshrinker]

Hi all

Thinking ahead about a 2-3 week trip through the Canadian Rockies. We are interested in serious hiking as well as the usual sights. We might throw in a backpack of up to three nights if the situation is right.

What is a good resource for starting to plan? Where to go, where to stay? Cost of fuel, and legalities of driving in Canada and crossing the border?

We are coming from the Pacific Northwest so Google maps is saying it's thirteen hours to Calgary, just as a point of reference.

[profdant139]

OK, rvshrinker, here is a suggested itinerary: spend two days going from the northwest to Yoho (Kicking Horse Campground). You could do it in one, but it would be tough.

Spend several days to a week there. There is a lot of great hiking in Yoho itself, and it is an easy commute to Lake Louise. I would not camp in Lake Louise -- too much train noise. We left after one night and relocated to Yoho.

Then, I would spend a few days in Jasper. If you had a smaller rig, I would suggest Wilcox Campground, but the spaces in Jasper are bigger. Using Jasper as a basecamp, you can spend time at the Icefields, Edith Covell, Maligne, etc.

If you have another few days, maybe Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Beautiful place, lots of day hiking available.

Then two days back to home.

Does that sound plausible, without a lot of setting up and taking down the campsite?

[K_and_I]

I got a lot of info from here:

Clicky

[rvshrinker]

profdant139 wrote:
I have lots of day hiking ideas for you! But first, a question -- what is an ideal day hike for you? For us, we find that ten miles (round trip) with 3000 feet of elevation gain is about our practical limit -- 8 miles and 2000 feet is about perfect -- six miles and a thousand feet is a short day.

Also, what kind of an RV do you have? That will influence where you can camp. And do you have a toad or a tow vehicle? A good 4WD vehicle will make it easier to get to some of the trailheads.

We have a 4x4 3500 RAM and pull a 28’ TT.

Would like to try to avoid setting up and taking down repeatedly. If that means seeing more of just a couple parks and doing more day trips and staying parked in one spot, so be it. We can get going early for a day hike, but if we have to breakdown camp my we’re lucky to be on the road by 10.

you all have had some great ideas but it seems like a 3 month trip, not a 2-3 weeker! I need the real highlights and some kind of drivable loop on a map that lets me parse out details such as campgrounds and day hikes from there.

[SideHillSoup]

4runnerguy wrote:

We felt our most amazing hike was probably Gimli Ridge in Valhalla PP. Not only amazing scenery but few people compared virtually any other place we hiked. A long drive to get to the trailhead however.

Shhssss....
Soup...

[4runnerguy]

Just be careful about what crosscheck says. Before our last trip, we looked at his recommendations and our list of "must sees" meant our 6 week trip would have to be three months long! 😉 I guess it just left a whole lot to do on our next trip.

We felt our most amazing hike was probably Gimli Ridge in Valhalla PP. Not only amazing scenery but few people compared virtually any other place we hiked. A long drive to get to the trailhead however.

[canadafan]

Try to get a copy of: The Canadian Rockies Access Guide published by Lone Pine Publishing.

It is a great guide for all your hiking trips, easy and difficult, in the Rockies.

Trevor

[profdant139]

If you have a few minutes, check out our blog entries for this area -- the link below is for Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, and that will get you to our other posts as well. In the blog, we talk about a lot of great day hikes:

Canadian Rockies blog posts



Click For Full-Size Image.

[rvshrinker]

thanks all the terrific tips. and those are some pretty spectacular photos!

[profdant139]

I have lots of day hiking ideas for you! But first, a question -- what is an ideal day hike for you? For us, we find that ten miles (round trip) with 3000 feet of elevation gain is about our practical limit -- 8 miles and 2000 feet is about perfect -- six miles and a thousand feet is a short day.

Also, what kind of an RV do you have? That will influence where you can camp. And do you have a toad or a tow vehicle? A good 4WD vehicle will make it easier to get to some of the trailheads.

[crosscheck]

Lots of good info from 4runnerguy. Here are a few other suggestions.

Gem Trek waterproof trail maps of the areas you plan to hike in. Gives good description of day and multi day hikes.

You said serious hiking. This is of course quite subjective. Besides Canadian Rockies Trail Guide book, there is Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies by Alan Kane. Lots of easy to difficult scrambles, most with great views and few other hikers.

There is descent overnight parking for big rigs(no services) at the Lake Louise RV overflow ($10.00). This is where you can pick up a shuttle bus(recommended) to both Lake Louise and Morraine Lake. Also overnight RV parking at the Columbia Icefields visitors centre($15.00). Tunnel Mountain (Banff),has full services or not as well as the other national parks. Canmore has serviced sites at their municipal CG. Peter Loughheed Park has plenty of big rig RV camp sites. Search on the web for reservations for the National and Provincial parks which are a must in the summer.

Rockies National and Provincial Parks south to north:

Waterton NP
Akamina-Kishinena PP
Top of the World PP
Elk Lakes PP
Peter Lougheed PP
Mt. Assinaboine PP
Banff NP
Kootenay NP
Yoho NP
Jasper NP
Robson PP

Technically out of the Rockies but close and a real treat,
Glacier NP(Canadian)
Mt Revelstoke NP
Bugaboos PP



Heading up to Waterfalls Creek, Jasper NP


Brazeau Lake from Cateract Pass, White Goat Wilderness area


Lake Minawanka from Cascade Mt.(scramble)


Looking down at the Columbia Icefields from Mt. Wilcox(scramble)



Looking at mountains in the Peter Lougheed PP from Tent Ridge


View from the alpinist route, Lake Ohara Opabin Pass(smoke in the air)


Floe Lake, Kootenay NP, the Rockwall


View from Mt. Fairview, Lake Louise, Mt Aberdeen


The Mitre, Sentinal Pass, Moraine Lake


Lake Oesa, Lake Ohara area, Yoho NP



View from The Notch, Skyline Trail, Jasper NP


Looking over to the Asulkan Alpine Hut, Glacier NP


Looking down on Emerald Lake and the President and Vice President from Mt. Field, Yoho NP

This is just a start of your hiking adventure. Plan early. Snow stays late in the early summer and can arrive early fall. Hope you have a great time.

Dave

[4runnerguy]

First of all, plan on three weeks. This is a huge area with lots to see. With travel time, you'll still realize you left a lot undone.

If you want a pretty comprehensive trail guide to the Canadian Rockies parks, check out "Canadian Rockies Trail Guide" by Patton and Robinson. Covers not just the usual front country trails, but lots of info on backpacking routes and options. Our go-to book when visiting.

For backpacking, popular places like Egypt Lakes and O'Hara Lake often sell out quickly. If you don't want to carry a tent, you can try to get a backcountry cabin (Alpine Club of Canada)

Even popular places like Lake Louise are still worth the hastle with the crowds. Moraine Lake is even prettier and parking more difficult, but the hike up the valley above the lake is spectacular (Colorado native speaking here, and this is more amazing than anyplace here in CO!). Hike all the way to Wenkchemna Pass for views into Yoho NP.

Cory Pass - Mount Edith loop. Great spires of rock visible from the summit.

Healy Pass above Sunshine Meadows ski area - from the pass, you can look up and down the range for ovee 40 miles (70 km). Great wildflowers too.

North out of Jasper is Mt. Robson Prov. Park. We did a long day hike around the backside to Berg Lake (we cheated and rode the first 7.2 km on muontain bikes). If you backpack in, there are a number of day hikes out from this area. If you want to save some time and energy, you might consider a helicopter dropoff. Again, reservations for all this is required. You are planning far enough in advance to get things lined up properly.

We did enjoy having our mountain bikes with us. We could park and ride into Banff townsite to explore and rode right out of town on some trails. We rode from our campsite at Wapiti CG south of Jasper, toward town and then along the Athabasca River trail to Sixth bridge, where we locked our bikes and hike up and back along the Maligne Canyon Trails. There are quite a few nice (non technical) trails right around Jasper that were quite fun. And at Mt. Robson, it saved us a lot of time to ride right from our campsite and up the Berg Lake trail as far as permitted. Really nice on the return when we were tired and could go downhill on our bikes.

You should post more info on what you are looking for in a campsite. Hookups, location, quiet? Easier to give you ideas that way.

[GeeWillakers]

You might also want to look at Cathedral PP and Wells-Gray PP.

[lhenry8113]

On our trip to northern B.C. from Ca., in Wash. we entered through Sumas border crossing which headed us into Abbotsford, B.C. Stayed at a Good Sam campground there for a couple of nights. Picked Sumas instead of Vancouver border crossing because of the heavy traffic and time to get through that border-Sumas took maybe 30 minutes, at most.

[Ava]

You will find fuel more expensive but you will also get about 25-30% more value from your American dollar.