Canadian Rockies in June 18

In Banff, make reservations at Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court, or Tunnel Mountain Village II, if you want hook-ups.

Lake Louise, make reservations at Lake Louise Trailer Court. (We usually tour Lake Louise and the lower portion of the Icefields Parkway from Banff.)

In Jasper, make reservations at Whistlers.

Banff is touristy, lots of shops and places to eat. The Gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain is expensive, but provides spectacular views of Banff and the Bow Valley. You should see Bow Falls and Lake Minnewanka.

In Lake Louise: Lake Louise, obviously. But don't miss Moraine Lake. If you like hiking, the Boom Lake hike to a beautiful alpine lake is not difficult. We also like the more difficult Taylor Lake hike, which takes you to a spectacular waterfall. Marble Canyon, actually in Kootenay National Park, is fabulous. We enjoyed Johnson Canyon. The Silverton Falls hike was a little scary, because we took two of our dogs and there were a couple of narrow sections.

I won't list all of the things along the Ice Fields Parkway - don't miss any of them. The upper portion, down to the Columbia Icefields discovery Centre, we do from Jasper. I must suggest the short movie at the Columbia Icefields Discovery Centre. It is the best short movie I have seen at a visitors' center.

There is much to do in Jasper, Mount Edith Cavell, Maligne Canyon, Medicine Lake, and Maligne Lake. We have often seen bears on the drive to Patricia and Pyramid Lakes. Pyramid Lake has secluded picnic/swimming areas, where we let the dogs swim - too cold for our southern blood.

Have a great trip.

Tom

I second the recommendation on not missing Moraine Lake.

I recommend dry camping in the icefields discovery center parking area. The north part has spaces you can overnight for a small fee payable at a kiosk in the parking area. From there you can leisurely explore the area and take a large wheeled bus into the glacier.

southernsky wrote:
Working on our plans for trip to the Canadian Rockies in June. Banff, Jasper, Icefields are on the agenda. Any suggestions for the area would be appreciated. Places to stay, things to see and do. Road conditions and routes.

What do you like to do? How much hiking can you do in a day? Do you want to be with hoards of people or do you seek a more solitary experience? Do you need FHU or can you dry camp?

You can boondocks right at the ice fields for one night, hear it cracking! Also a museum and restaurant. It is in the middle of nowhere in the mountains, make sure you have everything, did it 3 times now

Machzer, is it true that you can hear the icefields at night? We were there in the daytime and there was too much ambient noise.

make reservations early our Canadian neighbors love to camp and what they don't fill the "staters" will

We second staying at Johnston Canyon, but it is dry camping unlike Tunnel Mtn., Lake Louise, and Whistler's. The hike to the waterfalls is well-worth the time.

While in Lake Louise, also don't miss driving CA 1 over Kicking Horse Pass to see spectacular 1250-ft. high Takakkaw Falls (take the truck, but not the trailer!). And be sure to stop at the highway overlook for the Spiral Tunnels to watch a long Canadian Pacific train go through the complete spiral.

Info so far very good. You might check weather - normal temps and snow, etc. Just saying; I have not looked at this but June is pretty early. We were there first week in July years ago and all the wood in the woodpile was still frozen.

Here is our site in Tunnel Mountain RV Village, July, 2017: