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TenOC's avatar
TenOC
Nomad
Jan 01, 2017

Banff and Jasper Camping in Late May or mid June.

Next summer plans: 33 foot TT over all length 65 feet. Late May to mid June depending on how much time we spend at Yellowstone and Glacier.

After dry camping a few days at St Marys CG at Glacier NP we plan to spend about 5 to 7 days in the Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper areas. I have read the reviews about the campgrounds in the area but I am not sure if I understand the difference in the campgrounds. My initial thoughts is to spend two nights at Tunnel Mountain 1 or 2 . . :h . . . Where we can get electrical and water to "clean up" after dry camping at Glacier. We will take day trips around Banff and Lake Louise. Then we will move to Jasper and stay at Whistlers Campground . . :h . . . for a 2 or 3 more days.

I noticed RV Park Reviews web site there are a number of different rates quoted. The official campground site was down so I could not understand the different rates.


I welcome your suggestions
  • GordonThree's avatar
    GordonThree
    Explorer
    Jan 01, 2017
    The free showers at the Lake Louise campground are excellent. There's the typical fill and dump station near the entrance. Some sites are rustic, others have electric. Buy a campfire permit and you can burn all the wood you care to carry and split.
  • TenOC's avatar
    TenOC
    Nomad
    Jan 01, 2017
    GordonThree wrote:
    The free showers at the Lake Louise campground are excellent.


    What is the name of the campground you are talking about at Lake Louise? Johnston Canyon Campground ????

    Big Rig for my TT ???
  • accsys's avatar
    accsys
    Explorer
    Jan 01, 2017
    At Banff, Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court has full hookups, Tunnel Mountain Villages II has 30 amps and water, and Tunnel Mountain Villages I has no hookups. At Jasper, Whistler has full hookups in some loops but you must be careful to get in the right loops. At Lake Louise they have 30 amps, no water or sewer but both are available in a very nice dump station.

    While in the Banff area be sure to hike the Johnston Canyon and Stewart Canyon, both are a little rigorous but really, really worth it.

    When trying to make reservations make sure you use the Official Canada Parks site.
  • GordonThree's avatar
    GordonThree
    Explorer
    Jan 01, 2017
    TenOC wrote:
    GordonThree wrote:
    The free showers at the Lake Louise campground are excellent.


    What is the name of the campground you are talking about at Lake Louise? Johnston Canyon Campground ????

    Big Rig for my TT ???


    It's called the Lake Louise Trailer Campground. It's a Federal campground, run by Parks Canada. It's a beautiful CG, right on one of those brilliant blue rivers they have in the park.

    Most if not all the sites are pull-through, and there are many big enough for a big rig with all the toys.

    Link

    ^ I'm not sure about that link, it might contain malware. The first time I clicked on it, I got a bunch of pop-ups, when I tried again, it was clean.

    The official Parks Canada website seems to be crashed at the moment, nothing but their main page is loading for me.
  • GordonThree's avatar
    GordonThree
    Explorer
    Jan 02, 2017
    Just to add, my last visit was mid-May 2013. All the lakes were still iced over. Lake Louise was in full swing, however ice skating was over for the season due to melting ice. The road to Lake Moraine was closed by deep snow (and barricades).

    Many of the campground sites were not open yet (still several feet of snow).

    The little town Banff itself was all open, in a sort of transition. There were a few winter tourists still lingering.

    It was warm (60s) during the day and a bit chilly at night. It did not snow at all while I was there.
  • SideHillSoup's avatar
    SideHillSoup
    Explorer
    Jan 02, 2017
    Just a heads up:
    May 21, 2017 is a stat long weekend in most of Canada and is the unofficial start of camping season. That's usually when all us Canucks park the dog sleds and snow shoes and pull out our RV's of every size, shape and colour.
    If your in Canada for that weekend make reservations as soon as possible for the entire weekend. This year will be especially busy ( nuts) in the Canadian National parks as all " natinonal parks" entrance fees will be free for 2017 which is Canada's 150th Birthday.

    And a heads up to anyone that plans on camping anywhere in Canada over the July 1, 2017 weekend, book reservations as soon as possible as that is the " official" 150th Birthday of Canada, and as I have said before it will be nuts.
    Soup.

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