Banff/Jasper

[soundsuperio]

Need help with places to stay in this area. Should we book one park and see the rest in our toad or stay at 2 parks. What are good places to stay. Likely be there in early August. We’re thinking to stay 6 nights, is that long enough? We can stay longer if advisable. We will be 65 feet long with the toad.

[purrin along]

Following this,maybe next year for us.

[twogypsies]

I'd highly recommend you stay in both to cut down on slow driving between the two. We could easily stay 5 days in each spot. We love the Jasper area.... more low key and great hiking.

[garykk]

We stayed a week in each , Banf, Lake Louise and Jasper. If you stay in one park, you’ll be doing a lot of driving.
Reservations generally open up in January. Go to the Canada parks website, register and then check each park for sites you want and keep a record of them. On the day the reservations open, get on the site as soon as you can. You can literally watch the sites being reserved
You can also get your parks pass there too.
We loved the parks, great wildlife sightings. Even had a grizzly come thru our site in Lake Louise.

[HavingABlast]

I agree with twogypsies. It you travel the Ice Fields Parkway (between Lake Louise and Jasper) the distance is great and the scenery is probably the best that I’ve ever seen. To really appreciate and experience it, you are going to want to spend extended time in both Banff (or Lake Louise) and Jasper. If I remember correctly there are some camping spots at the midpoint on Ice Fields PKWY.

[Jake21]

Trailer court in Banff is a lovely park.

[Dale70]

We were in Banff and Jasper in 2017, we were there both on our way into Alaska, and on the way back. We loved both parks. Below are the notes I made for a friend. Hope this helps.
-------------------
Banff / Jasper notes

Campgrounds we stayed in

Banff

Bow Valley Prov Park === excellent – right along river – tight with trees, very private
We stayed there because we could not get into closer campground when heading North
Bad – 40 minutes from Banff

Tunnel Mountain II (I think) good – very close to Banff – could bike in, Hoodoo trail nearby, good hookups, must make reservations well in advance (Parks Canada system)

Jasper

Wapiti == large, good site separation, Elk often come right in camp
Make reservation in advance, drive to town 5 min

Noted hikes
Nouth of Banff – Johnson Canyon Trail == excellent
Jasper - Maligne Canyon trail – Excellent

Biking – use trail between Banff and Canmore – wide easy trail – everything is scenic in area. – not harder than Mt Dora Trimble park ride – could go for many miles if desired.

Places to see
Towns of Banff/ Jasper – a bit touristy but nice – stop at both visitor centers for maps and into – biking and hiking and attractions.

Banff Gondola – we have great time here and did dinner on top – can do casual restaurant just as well and be “on the glass” – do short hike to top of Sulfur Mountain looked great –we did not hike.

Lake Minnewanka – tour boat looked ok – but we had little boat we took ourselves
Very pretty

Lake Louise – touristy –we did not go into town, but lake is pretty
There are also some nice day hikes into nearby hills – we did not do, Tom Shields has done.

On Ice Fields Parkway between Banff/Jasper
Athabasca Falls – stop and see -=- right off road
Ice fields parkway – stop at visitor center and view Athabasca Glacier
we did not take big vehicle to walk on Glacier -- too touristy for us, nor did we go to “skywalk on glass walkway” == same thing

[rream]

We stayed at Tunnel Mountain and took the toad to Jasper - stayed over night and had breakfast at the top of the mountain via the Jasper SkyTram

[ByeTheWay]

Park often and use your toad. In 2014 there were plenty of places to boondock.

[Blazing zipp]

That time of year will be very busy. We enjoyed the bus trip up the glacier. The "over flow camp area" in Jasper was quite wonderful. The route between Lake Louise and Jasper is the prettiest road trip ever-busy-watch for wild life and crazy photo takers. The provincial parks expect campers to have correct Canadian change. Food and fuel is much more then in the U.S. but the exchange rate quells some of the pain.
Have fun in Canada.

[wmiii]

We are in the process of planning our 1st big trip and are looking at Yellowstone for sure and tentatively Banff.
I seem to see that we'll need to try for reservations next week. If we dont do that and decide to get to Banff, are there commercial parks we could get into where wecould make reservations in a few months?

Same for the Yellowstone area. It looks like several parks in West Yellowstone.

Thanks,

Wm Mayberry
2003 National Tradewinds 375LE
2011 Honda CRV

[Blandry29]

X2 on Tunnel Mountain Village in Banff. Stayed there last August, then went on to the Lake Louise Campground. I also agree with the other posters in the thread - you can easily do a week in each of the parks - I wouldn't try to base in one and drive to the others.

I don't think there are any commercial RV parks in the area - since it is totally contained by national parks. You could book a place in Calgary and toad it over to Banff.

Don't know if it will be an issue next year, but it seems the west coast wildfires are now a yearly thing. When we were there, most of BC was on fire, and the smoke was very thick in Banff and Lake Louise, and detracted from the otherwise stunning scenery.

Book your Parks Canada reservations early, but wait until you get there to buy your annual pass. You can buy it right at the entrance kiosks, and it expires in a year, so theres no percentage in getting it early. Waiting also allows you more flexibility to buy daily passes if you won't be staying long enough to make the annual pass pay.

Tunnel Mountain has three campgrounds - Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court is furthest from town, but has full hookups in all sites. It's wooded with gravel pull throughs.

Tunnel Mountain Village #1 is in the middle, wooded with no hookups. RVs are allowed, but some sites are too small for larger rigs.

Tunnel Mountain village #2 is open all year, but the "campsites" are just wide asphalt streets. You park on the side next to a picnic table and an electrical pedestal. No water or sewer hookups, but potable water fills and a dump station are close by. These sites are next to the lodge and theatre, and don't have as many trees or as rustic a feel as the others. It is closest to town (but still too far to walk) and shuttles run every 20 minutes.

[Americanrascal]

Originally Posted by Blandry29

X2 on Tunnel Mountain Village in Banff.....

Tunnel Mountain has three campgrounds - Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court is furthest from town, but has full hookups in all sites. It's wooded with gravel pull throughs.

Tunnel Mountain Village #1 is in the middle, wooded with no hookups. RVs are allowed, but some sites are too small for larger rigs.

Tunnel Mountain village #2 is open all year, but the "campsites" are just wide asphalt streets. You park on the side next to a picnic table and an electrical pedestal. No water or sewer hookups, but potable water fills and a dump station are close by. These sites are next to the lodge and theatre, and don't have as many trees or as rustic a feel as the others. It is closest to town (but still too far to walk) and shuttles run every 20 minutes.

Is rig length an issue getting reservations now for getting in to Tunnel Mountain campgrounds? Last time I went I had a 31 footer towing a toad on a dolly- no problem. Now we are 39 feet plus a toad on a dolly. Last time I looked it seemed they had somewhat restricted length? Is that correct? If so whats the max?

[Jake21]

Originally Posted by Americanrascal

Is rig length an issue getting reservations now for getting in to Tunnel Mountain campgrounds? Last time I went I had a 31 footer towing a toad on a dolly- no problem. Now we are 39 feet plus a toad on a dolly. Last time I looked it seemed they had somewhat restricted length? Is that correct? If so whats the max?

We stayed in the Trailer Court campground. Easily fit our 40 foot HM with a toad.