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Old 10-13-2018, 10:22 PM   #1
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Banff RV Parks

We're starting to plan our trip to Banff in the summer of 2019. 32' Class A towing a Jeep Cherokee. We're open to staying outside and driving in.

We were looking at the Tunnel Mountain. I see that there is Village I II and III but also see Tunnel Mountain Trailer. Anyone know the difference between the four?

Also would appreciate any insight into driving 93 to get there? It doesn't look too bad however assuming the incline and altitude might make it interesting. Open to tips and suggestions.

Also saw Fairmont Hot Springs RV resort and The Canyon RV Resorts which look to be about 1.5-2 hrs away. We would appreciate any experience, tips and suggestions.

Thanks!
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Old 10-14-2018, 05:56 AM   #2
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We visited Banff this summer, stayed at one of the Tunnel Mountain parks but I don't recall which one. The one I was in was dry camping only, I saw one of the other parks had electric sites and I think another had full service. We were lucky to get a dry site and for 3 nights which worked out fine. Banff is not large and 3 days is plenty to see everything. Just stay clear of the elk, they are wandering everywhere. The campgrounds book up early so I suggest you visit the park web site and make reservations as soon as they allow.
You will need to purchase a national park pass to stay in the park, you can buy one at the gate on the highway when you arrive. If you stay outside the park and venture into town for a day trip you still must display a park pass on your vehicle when you park the toad anywhere within the park.

If you plan to visit Lake Louise (nearby) I suggest you take a tour shuttle, finding parking at the Lake location is near impossible after 6am. There is a parking area on Hwy 1 for Lake Louise shuttles.



I have stayed at the Fairmont Hot Springs RV park as well as the Condos, both are near the hot springs pool and golf.


Hwy 93 is a 2-lane scenic route, nothing to worry about.
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Old 10-14-2018, 06:37 AM   #3
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The trailer court is the FHU campground. Huge place but does book up. I believe you can reserve 90 days in advance. You can also buy a park pass when you check in at the CG. Parking at Lake Louise varies as we had no issues parking at 10am one day.
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Old 10-14-2018, 08:52 AM   #4
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I live a few blocks from Canyon RV Resort in Radium. It is nice with FHU. Sinclair Creek runs through it. Reserve early and request a site backing on to the creek. It is usually booked solid all summer. World famous hot pools are a couple of minutes from the campground. Watch for Bighorn sheep there is usually a large herd walking around town. They are docile so no need to run from them. They will move out of your way.
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Old 10-14-2018, 12:27 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Polyian View Post
We visited Banff this summer, stayed at one of the Tunnel Mountain parks but I don't recall which one. The one I was in was dry camping only, I saw one of the other parks had electric sites and I think another had full service. We were lucky to get a dry site and for 3 nights which worked out fine. Banff is not large and 3 days is plenty to see everything. Just stay clear of the elk, they are wandering everywhere. The campgrounds book up early so I suggest you visit the park web site and make reservations as soon as they allow.
You will need to purchase a national park pass to stay in the park, you can buy one at the gate on the highway when you arrive. If you stay outside the park and venture into town for a day trip you still must display a park pass on your vehicle when you park the toad anywhere within the park.

If you plan to visit Lake Louise (nearby) I suggest you take a tour shuttle, finding parking at the Lake location is near impossible after 6am. There is a parking area on Hwy 1 for Lake Louise shuttles.



I have stayed at the Fairmont Hot Springs RV park as well as the Condos, both are near the hot springs pool and golf.


Hwy 93 is a 2-lane scenic route, nothing to worry about.


Thanks! Would it be unreasonable to stay at Fairmont and drive in to Banff and even Lake Louise? Considering staying outside the park itself and then exploring in the toad.
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Old 10-14-2018, 12:29 PM   #6
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I live a few blocks from Canyon RV Resort in Radium. It is nice with FHU. Sinclair Creek runs through it. Reserve early and request a site backing on to the creek. It is usually booked solid all summer. World famous hot pools are a couple of minutes from the campground. Watch for Bighorn sheep there is usually a large herd walking around town. They are docile so no need to run from them. They will move out of your way.
Thanks! Do you think it would be unreasonable to stay at Canyon RV resort and then taking the toad to the park? Considering staying outside it and then driving in with the toad.
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Old 10-14-2018, 12:56 PM   #7
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Thanks! Do you think it would be unreasonable to stay at Canyon RV resort and then taking the toad to the park? Considering staying outside it and then driving in with the toad.
No not unreasonable. Kootenay NP starts right at Radium and borders Banff NP to the East. Drive from Radium to Banff less than 1.5 hrs on scenic HWY 93. Easy drive. From Radium (Canyon RV resort) to Fairmont Hot Springs is about 30 minutes South on HWY 95.
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Old 10-14-2018, 11:44 PM   #8
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Regarding reservations at the national parks, the online reservation system opens in January on various dates depending on which park. The sites fill quickly if you are wanting to stay at one site for any length of time without having to move to another campsite. So keep your eye on the reservations website and book immediately the morning they open.
I have sometimes been unable to book a site for 10 days within two minutes of the system opening for reservations.

There will be cancellations and often open sites for one or two nights but not much more during July and August.
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Old 10-15-2018, 10:57 AM   #9
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Thanks for the comments. It looks like for the date we are looking at, the Tunnel Mountain Village accepts reservations in Jan/Feb and from what I have read/heard (and expect) they go quick.

Canyon resort wouldn’t let me book until Feb/March however the Fairmont Hot Springs resort had 2 spots open so I took one. It looks like a nice RV resort /Hotel with lots of amenities which the kids will love. Since we have our toad I think it will give us the best of both worlds. Plus / with our itinerary we were going to have to split the drive from Idaho to Tunnel Mountain over two days and since we won’t need to now, we’ll be staying at Fairmont Hot Springs for 5 days which I think should give us enough time to explore without being rushed.

Anyone have experience here? We’re booked but open to hearing others experiences.
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Old 10-16-2018, 07:01 PM   #10
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Near the city of Banff are 3 national park campgrounds. All 3 are right next to each other and are about a 5 minute drive to downtown Banff. They are only connected by bike trail or hiking path.

~ The Tunnel Mt Village 1 is a 620 site campground with only dry camping. I believe it is mostly wooded with gravel pads. The larger RV sites are at the rear of the campground up the hill.

~ Tunnel Mt Trailer Court is a full service campground that was re-built in 2015. The roads are all paved, with gravel pads. 99% of the sites are level and I believe all pull-thru's with good size sites. 320 sites

~ Tunnel Mt. Village 2 Was to be re-built in late 2016 and 2017. So I assume it is finished. I know the sites are electric, I'm not sure they have any full-service. I believe they are also pull-thru sites. 188 sites

In 2016 we stayed 3 nights at Tunnel Mt Trailer Court. I made my reservation about 4 months ahead of time for a late May date. Banff's tourist season generally runs July 1st to Oct 1st. So we felt downtown was busy, but locals said you have not seen the July crowds....yet

Here is a link to Banff's campground page. There are 14 campgrounds in the Banff system. Some don't open till later in June, some don't take reservations and some can't handle larger RV's. So the trailer court one is a safe bet.

Below are two pictures of the full service trailer court campground in Banff.
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Old 10-17-2018, 12:24 PM   #11
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Reservations open Jan. 9, 8am, mountain stand time.
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Old 10-17-2018, 04:57 PM   #12
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We stayed there coming and going. We had no trouble with transportation or traffic. Lake Louise was crowded, but we were ok. We went in the afternoon, and that may help with traffic. We road the open air gondolas at Lake Louise. Beautiful views, and we got to watch 2 grizzlies in the process. Golf course is phenomal. I am an avid golfer, but still found myself just staring at the scenery. Beautiful place, we stayed at Tunnel Mountain RV park with full hookups.
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Old 10-17-2018, 05:11 PM   #13
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spring creek rv park is a full service rv park in Canmore. only about 15 minutes to banff
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