As others had posted, on Trans Canada Highways 1 and 16 you can "pass thru" into Banff and Jasper National Parks without having to pay the daily park fee providing you are entering the gate bypass lane(s) or visitors with park pass lane(s).
My first visit in the region was in Sept 2011 entering the east gate of Banff Nat'l Park as I only had 4 days time to visit since I am still a working stiff and only 3 weeks vacation time is allowed for me, so by the time I make it to the Canadian Rockies it takes me 6 days or so to make it back home pushing it to return to work on time without speeding thru frost heaves and construction zones in between to potentially tearing up my old rig which I refuse to do, to put that into perspective....I would purchase the annual pass permitting I had more time off to be worth it believe me.
Sept 2011 - Trans Can 1 Hwy (westbound) East gate out lying boundary of Banff Nat'l Park...the park per day fee was $9.80 :
A couple better pictures taken in Sept 2013 of the east gate area after returning from a a day visit in Canmore on a gorgeous day driving thru the bypass lane :
My second visit was entering thru Kootenay Nat'l Park (from the BC side) at Radium Hot Springs, as I had 12 clear cloudless days of perfect weather from Kitwanga thru the Kootenays that lasted past a couple days after arriving in Banff Nat'l Park....You can also enter thru this portion of BC Hwy 93 without a park pass however I purchased my park pass here for $9.80 per day as well.
Sept 2012 - Kootenay Nat'l Park entrance at Radium Hot springs (south end out lying boundary) bypass lane to the left of building post :
Sept 2012 - Kootenay Nat'l Park entrance (north end in lying boundary) - note this is at the BC-Alberta border where the four joint National Parks do not cross provincial boundaries at all, also there are no patrol gates or building posts within roadways of "in lying" park boundaries with the exception of the Icefields Parkway (AB Hwy 93) as the north end of Kootenay Nat'l Park is bordered within Banff Nat'l Park :
My third consecutive visit to the Canadian Rockies was planned more flexible with what route to take permitting weather patterns and what side trips to take along the way and potential time constraints, however I had to plan that according to which entry point I had not entered with the remaining two National Parks as I originally planned on returning to Revelstoke and enter thru Yoho on Trans Can Hwy 1, however when the really bad weather on the Cassiar Hwy. finally cleared up after boondocking at Ogilvie Creek, I decided to spend three clear nice days in Stewart and Hyder for my second time visit there, so it was a change of routing plan with juggling a longer route for less leisure time in the Canadian Rockies or go direct with more leisure time, so Jasper entrance point it was.
Sept 2013 - Trans Can 16 Hwy (eastbound) West gate about 4km inside the out lying boundary of Jasper Nat'l Park (from BC)...the park per day fee was $9.80 :
Sept 2012 - Trans Can 16 Hwy (westbound) East gate out lying boundary of Jasper Nat'l Park - the other out lying entry point :
Sept 2013 - Icefields parkway north end gate entry point (southbound AB 93 Hwy) at Jasper Nat'l Park .....
Note : you must have a valid park pass to proceed thru this point:
Sept 2011 - Icefields parkway south end gate entry point (northbound AB 93 Hwy) at Banff Nat'l Park .....
Note : you must have a valid park pass to proceed thru this point:
In 2012 while on my final day in Jasper Nat'l Park, my pass was expiring upon that day, so I planned to head out on Hwy 93a to check out a few sites I didn't get to see on my previous year visit, so when I approached the gate post - the guard noticed my park pass displayed as she said to me "your pass expires in an hour, where are you headed" ? , as I told her I was thinkin' of checkin' out that Edith's cave somethin' place....
She laughed hard and told me that I meant Mt. Edith Cavell and that I would need to re-validate my pass for an extra day in order to proceed, so I did....that was an extra $9.80 for the fee and an extra excuse to spend an extra day in Jasper....and I know for a fact upon my visits that both Icefield Parkway entry points are patrolled 24 hours as I have passed thru there all times of day and night.
Sept 2013 - Alberta 11 Hwy (westbound) East gate out lying boundary of Banff Nat'l Park (looking eastbound as picture turned out blurry) as one of the posters mentioned about this entry point to Saskatchewan Crossing :
This is a nice smooth route and rather scenic all the way past Abraham Lake going eastbound.
This was the first time taking this route upon leaving the park, as I have a friend and colleague that owns farmland and a welding shop between Rocky Mountain House and Red Deer so it wasn't as much out of the way to always visit upon taking the other routes and zig zag side roads to get there for a day layover before heading home or heading to the park depending how I got in the area.
So for the past 3 years I been trying to get to the final entry point and get that fourth remaining park entry reciept that would say Yoho Nat'l Park to add to the other three that says Banff, Kootenay, and Jasper Nat'l Park....so when I ever get to visit that area again, I will be on Trans Can Hwy 1 headed eastbound and purchase a park pass entering Yoho.
cpurves wrote:
The normal entry fee is $ 19.50 a car per day. If you camp then there are the camping fees on top of that.
I am hoping the posted amount is a typo, and if this is true - then Parks Canada have more that doubled their day fee in the area.
