Banff & Jasper National Parks

We were there from 8/26-9/7. The first half of the trip (Jasper) the weather was stellar-mostly sunny with a few scattered showers and in the 60s & 70s. The second half (Banff) was cold and wet with snow at the higher elevations. However, with just a few exceptions the crowds weren't too bad. The bull elk were starting the rut so there was a lot of activity. If you plan on going peak season I'd recommend booking as soon as you fir up your dates.

Moved from Campgrounds to RVing in Canada

When? Depends what you are interested in doing. We were there the 1st week in June a couple years back - lakes still had too much ice to allow for paddling, trails were still snow-covered, so limited hiking. views were incredible! ST

Tunnel Mountain Trailer Village in Banff has huge sites, no problem with a 40 ft rig. Large sites are pull through.Beautiful view surrounded by mountains. Reservable on line as well, I think you can call. Not sure when reservations for next year open up.

For Banff, skip Banff itself and head up to Lake Louise. They're almost all pull-through sites, some have electric some don't. Such a beautiful campground, next to a roaring river at the base of a mountain. Buy a campfire permit and all the wood you want is included free. My last visit to Banff was mid May and it was fantastic. Very little in the way of crowds, no bugs, lots of snow everywhere still (really adds to that Alpine town feel). Days were warm, nights cool, perfect more or less. They have a shuttle bus that makes a circuit of all the stops inside the Banff park.

Jasper is a long haul from Banff, I admit I know less about it. The Whistlers campground is right outside of the downtown, you can walk / bike there easily. Whistlers has a few pull through sites with water, sewer, electric hookups. My last visit to Jasper was end of June? Days were hot, nights were warm, no snow anywhere, huge crowds everywhere... still had a good time but huge crowds are not my scene so I was uncomfortable with that.

June or September would be our favorite time...unless you have children and need to go in summer. Your 40' would fit in both of the park's campgrounds but there are RV parks in both areas, also, if that's what you'd like. We used the campgrounds.

Good idea to be on that forum. In the meantime, it's my understanding that they open reservations for the national parks in January.

Suggest you take this over to the Canada/Alaska forum