Alaska through British Columbia - rocky mountain route

[Mike and Susan]

We've decided to head to Alaska through the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia and need some ideas for places to stay, preferably full hook-up. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[450Donn]

Thru the rocky mountains? The only N/S route thru BC is 97. You can pick it up anywhere from Mexico north. So I am really confused?

[Mike and Susan]

Now I'm confused, North to Alaska shows you can take 93 through Banff and Jasper National Parks? That is the route we want to take...

[twogypsies]

'Through the Rockies' to me means the Banff/Jasper route (Hwy 93). You could cross from Whitefish, Montana at Roosville and go up to Radium Hot Springs (a good stop) then head east to Banff and continue to Jasper, Prince George and 97 to Dawson Creek and the Alaskan Hwy.

On your return I'd advise taking the Cassier Hwy (through Whitehorse Yukon) to Watson Lake then south on the Cassier to Smithers, BC. Then take 16 east to Prince George BC (97) south to wherever you want to end. We crossed at Sumas, Washington. This is a very nice drive at the end of the summer and a stop in Hyder Alaska/Stewart BC (at the border of the two) might give you good views of the bears feeding.

You might want to reconsider staying only at full hookup parks. There are so many awesome places to stay during the whole trip and there just might not have full hookups. Also consider doing a little boondocking at beautiful spots just off the highways. Get Mike & Terri Church's book 'Alaskan Camping' which includes Canada and the Yukon and they will have every type of place to stay listed.

[Mike and Susan]

Thank you sooo much, that is exactly what I am looking for. :-)

[Superslif]

Now I'm confused, North to Alaska shows you can take 93 through Banff and Jasper National Parks? That is the route we want to take...

The National Park Campground in Banff has main 3 campgrounds, with well over 1000 sites. Two of the campgrounds are all full service with a total of 500 full service sites, but as of July 1st of last summer one of the full service campgrounds ( Tunnel Mountain Village 2) was closed for construction. I believe it is set to open June 15th this year. Here is a link to "all" the national park campgrounds in the Banff / Lake Louise area.

Most of the full service sites are pull-thru's and level...I would reserve right now if you want a full service site. Lake Louise has under 200 electric sites and fills up fast. There are no private campgrounds in the Banff / Ice Fields Parkway / Jasper corridor. Jasper again has only National Park campgrounds. Again well over 1000 sites, but not that many electric or full service sites. We did 3 days in Banff and 3 in Jasper....Next time (2019) we will do Lake Louise Campground.

Banff is very busy...especially after July 1st.

**If you go thru Calgary there is another route other than what the Milepost says that helps to by-pass to busy downtown route...

[Terry Jay]

Originally Posted by Mike and Susan

We've decided to head to Alaska through the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia and need some ideas for places to stay, preferably full hook-up. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Take 93 north out of Missoula, crossing the border at Roosville. Usually you are the only one in line. We like this route as it is scenic, and traffic is light. 93 will take you to Banff and Lake Louise, and becomes the Icefield Parkway to Jasper. I believe there is a charge to use the Parkway.

At Jasper you can go West to Prince George and up 97, or East to Hinton, AB and up Hwy 40 to Grand Prairie and then to Dawson Creek. There is a nice KOA as you approach Hinton, and Tamarack RV Park as you approach Grand Prairie. As noted, lots of places in the Canada National Parks. I believe the Hinton to Grand Prairie to Dawson route is shorter, but there are places where the pavement is bumpy and there is oilfield traffic, though not heavy. Coming into Grand Prairie, look for the fuel station on the left at about the 3rd light. Reasonable price and access for a 40' 5th behind a long bed dually.

Places we stay every year are Hinton KOA, Charlie Lake just north of Ft St John, Toad River, Teslin Yukon Motel. All are full service, except Charlie Lake and Teslin have a central dump. Teslin and Toad River have food service.

For fuel, we fill at Ft St John, add 10 gallons at Ft Nelson, fill at Contact Creek before Watson Lake, fill at Teslin, and fill at Otter Falls Cutoff before Haines Junction. We use them because they are reliably open, have fresh fuel due to volume, and are reasonable on the price. Check you tank capacity, mileage and distances, you may need to fill at Ft Nelson. Both Contact Creek and Otter Falls Cutoff are usually less costly than either Watson Lake or Haines Junction.

Have fun and enjoy the trip. We still find it a pleasant drive after all these years.

[emuller1]

Originally Posted by Mike and Susan

Now I'm confused, North to Alaska shows you can take 93 through Banff and Jasper National Parks? That is the route we want to take...

first of all Banff and Jasper are in Alberta not BC.

You will not have a problem finding campgrounds in around Banff or Jasper but will probably require reservations as the National parks will be really busy this year. Once in Jasper head east along Hwy 16 and take Hwy 40 north to Grande Prairie. This is significantly shorter than going west to Prince George and then Dawson Creek. Once you hit Grande Prairie again several campgrounds you are about 2 hours away from Mile 0 on the Hwy to Alaska.
I would suggest the trip from Banff to Jasper is a good 4 - 5 hour drive, and then another 4 - 5 hours to Grande Prairie.
This is not a short trip

[Mike and Susan]

Thank you everyone for the info we greatly appreciate it. we will be rolling out 4/7/2017 on our adventure, going to mississippi for a couple of days to visit friends then heading to palo duro canyon in Amarillo for a week then working our way up, have a reservation in Alaska for June 3rd. cant wait to get on the road.

[twogypsies]

Wow! You really didn't need a reservation in Alaska for June 3!! Hope you're not doing the whole trip with reservations. If you pull into parks by early afternoon you'll get a site. Plus, there's lots of wonderful boondocking spots to stop - along a lake or stream just off the highways. The only reservations we made for the whole summer were for the July 4 weekend and for our 5-night stay in Denali's Teklanika campground - the farthest you can drive in the park.

[Mike and Susan]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

Wow! You really didn't need a reservation in Alaska for June 3!! Hope you're not doing the whole trip with reservations. If you pull into parks by early afternoon you'll get a site. Plus, there's lots of wonderful boondocking spots to stop - along a lake or stream just off the highways. The only reservations we made for the whole summer were for the July 4 weekend and for our 5-night stay in Denali's Teklanika campground - the farthest you can drive in the park.

We only made a reservation for Haynes and Valdez. Fly by the seat of our pants for the rest. Lol

[GeeWillakers]

Originally Posted by emuller1

first of all Banff and Jasper are in Alberta not BC.

Actually, Banff, Jasper and Waterton are the parts that look like they belong in BC. AB stole em!

[parkerbill]

We are also heading up that route this summer with our TT in tow and have not made any reservations because it just does not fit our travel style. We will try to make a reservation for the park in Denali or nearby when we get closer and have a better idea of when we may be there. Two things that are concerning me are that this year marks two milestones: Canada's 150 year and the Alaska Highway's 75 year anniversaries.

[Mike and Susan]

Originally Posted by parkerbill

We are also heading up that route this summer with our TT in tow and have not made any reservations because it just does not fit our travel style. We will try to make a reservation for the park in Denali or nearby when we get closer and have a better idea of when we may be there. Two things that are concerning me are that this year marks two milestones: Canada's 150 year and the Alaska Highway's 75 year anniversaries.

We are not worried about the 150 and 75 it is what it is we have been to Alaska and not going to let that stop us. Lol