Trip 9/17 to 10/7 to Lake Louis/Icefield/Jasper.

valhalla360 wrote:

StirCrazy wrote:
not really an entrance fee but rather a stopping fee. for instance, I don't have to pay it when I go back to Alberta to see my family as I just drive through and not stopping while I am in the park. but even if you stop for gas you are supposed to have pai for one. I buy an annual pass every year as I am up there camping a lot, where I live is 4 hours from Jasper and 5 hours from Banff, so the family pass saves me a lot of money. Usually we do a lait September / October trip to Banff for a night or two, then some place like Mosquito creek for 4 days then up to jasper for a couple of nights then home I don't mind the cooler weather, just crank up the campfire a bit more... as long as the wind isn't ignorant ;)

I doubt the OPS intent was to cross into Canada and bee line it to North of jasper in a day without stopping. So while it is allowed to pass thru without paying the entrance fee if you don't stop... its not relevant to the discussion.

nope because you cant get onto the icefield parkway with out paying. that's the one road that is pay even if you were to drive strait through.

StirCrazy wrote:
not really an entrance fee but rather a stopping fee. for instance, I don't have to pay it when I go back to Alberta to see my family as I just drive through and not stopping while I am in the park. but even if you stop for gas you are supposed to have pai for one. I buy an annual pass every year as I am up there camping a lot, where I live is 4 hours from Jasper and 5 hours from Banff, so the family pass saves me a lot of money. Usually we do a lait September / October trip to Banff for a night or two, then some place like Mosquito creek for 4 days then up to jasper for a couple of nights then home I don't mind the cooler weather, just crank up the campfire a bit more... as long as the wind isn't ignorant ;)

I doubt the OPS intent was to cross into Canada and bee line it to North of jasper in a day without stopping. So while it is allowed to pass thru without paying the entrance fee if you don't stop... its not relevant to the discussion.

valhalla360 wrote:

StirCrazy wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

SideHillSoup wrote:


Your routing and ideas are all over the map.
1, first there is no “boondocking in any Canadian National Park period. There is over flow camping and places that you can “camp / park “ over night in the NP’s however they are regulated areas that you can stay at, you just can’t park anyplace you like for the night.
2 that Casino your talking about is about 30 miles from the Banff Park entrance, it is east if Deadman’s Flats, which is east on Canmore…
3. Cranbrook is 3.5 hours south southwest of Banff, there are a lot of places that you can dump your tanks without driving to Cranbrook. As well there are a lot and I mean a lot of campgrounds and our places to camp between Banff and Cranbrook, however because you can’t camp anywhere in a Canadian National Park unless it is a campground ot a permitted area, you won’t find any places to camp legally until south if Radium Hot Springs .
4 you have a campsite at Lake Louise… did anyone tell you that the campsite is only a few hundred yards for the CPR mainline tracks? The trains run past that campground 24/7/365..that means train running near your campsite all night long.

I do hope you have a wonderful time in thebCanadisn Rockies, they are fabulous
Soup.

One of the things we found great about the Canadian NP campgrounds were they were cheap.

We were paying $35CAD/n (~$25USD) for a site with electric.

Last fall we were in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. $83USD/n full hook up in Yellowstone and $50USD/n dry camping at Grand Teton.

don't forget you have to add your park fees to that which are 10 bucks/adult per day so if its two of you that 35 buck site just became 55 bucks. if there are 3 then get the family pass for 20 bucks a day

You need to pay the park entrance fee...camping or not, so not really part of the camping cost.

The OPs dates suggest at least a week in the national parks. With the full itinerary, the OP should check against the cost of the annual pass. We found it cheaper than buying day passes.
.

not really an entrance fee but rather a stopping fee. for instance, I don't have to pay it when I go back to Alberta to see my family as I just drive through and not stopping while I am in the park. but even if you stop for gas you are supposed to have pai for one. I buy an annual pass every year as I am up there camping a lot, where I live is 4 hours from Jasper and 5 hours from Banff, so the family pass saves me a lot of money. Usually we do a lait September / October trip to Banff for a night or two, then some place like Mosquito creek for 4 days then up to jasper for a couple of nights then home I don't mind the cooler weather, just crank up the campfire a bit more... as long as the wind isn't ignorant ;)

TenOC wrote:

SideHillSoup wrote:


Your routing and ideas are all over the map.
1, first there is no “boondocking in any Canadian National Park period. There is over flow camping and places that you can “camp / park “ over night in the NP’s however they are regulated areas that you can stay at, you just can’t park anyplace you like for the night.

Soup.

We plan to stay 2-3 nights at the Icefield parking lot.

did you look at how the ice field works?

"Icefields Centre RV
Open: May 17 to October 9, 2023
Reservable: All sites available on a First Come, First Served basis. No reservations possible.
Sites: 100
Trailers and RVs only. Water and fire not available on site.
Fees:
Unserviced: $16.75
Used for RV parking during the day, this parking lot becomes an easy place to overnight while exploring the Icefields Parkway. This location offers great views of the Athabasca Glacier with your coffee in the morning."

so remember you may have to leave during the day if there is demand, which I doubt but it is a chance. you timeline restricts you to what's available as most of the campsites are closed at the beginning /middle of September as that's the start of snow season haha

If you wanted to break up your icefield parkway a bit you could stop when you leave Lake Louise at Mosquito creek its only 18 per night and has free firewood available a couple nice hikes from there. I think Silverhorn creek is still open in the beginning of October but everything else is closed unless your around the main Banff sites, hard side lake Louise or up at the jasper big campgrounds.

I almost forgot, just so you are prepared the icefields is a high wind area and in October that wind will be bitterly cold. Mosquito creek I mentioned is one hour south of the icefield and really unless there is a specific reason you want to be there other than seeing the icefield I wouldn't recommend more than a day there.

StirCrazy wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

SideHillSoup wrote:


Your routing and ideas are all over the map.
1, first there is no “boondocking in any Canadian National Park period. There is over flow camping and places that you can “camp / park “ over night in the NP’s however they are regulated areas that you can stay at, you just can’t park anyplace you like for the night.
2 that Casino your talking about is about 30 miles from the Banff Park entrance, it is east if Deadman’s Flats, which is east on Canmore…
3. Cranbrook is 3.5 hours south southwest of Banff, there are a lot of places that you can dump your tanks without driving to Cranbrook. As well there are a lot and I mean a lot of campgrounds and our places to camp between Banff and Cranbrook, however because you can’t camp anywhere in a Canadian National Park unless it is a campground ot a permitted area, you won’t find any places to camp legally until south if Radium Hot Springs .
4 you have a campsite at Lake Louise… did anyone tell you that the campsite is only a few hundred yards for the CPR mainline tracks? The trains run past that campground 24/7/365..that means train running near your campsite all night long.

I do hope you have a wonderful time in thebCanadisn Rockies, they are fabulous
Soup.

One of the things we found great about the Canadian NP campgrounds were they were cheap.

We were paying $35CAD/n (~$25USD) for a site with electric.

Last fall we were in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. $83USD/n full hook up in Yellowstone and $50USD/n dry camping at Grand Teton.

don't forget you have to add your park fees to that which are 10 bucks/adult per day so if its two of you that 35 buck site just became 55 bucks. if there are 3 then get the family pass for 20 bucks a day

You need to pay the park entrance fee...camping or not, so not really part of the camping cost.

The OPs dates suggest at least a week in the national parks. With the full itinerary, the OP should check against the cost of the annual pass. We found it cheaper than buying day passes.

Plus the prices I listed didn't include the US park pass for the comparable to Yellowstone & Grand Teton which would cancel out the cost difference you bring up.

valhalla360 wrote:

SideHillSoup wrote:


Your routing and ideas are all over the map.
1, first there is no “boondocking in any Canadian National Park period. There is over flow camping and places that you can “camp / park “ over night in the NP’s however they are regulated areas that you can stay at, you just can’t park anyplace you like for the night.
2 that Casino your talking about is about 30 miles from the Banff Park entrance, it is east if Deadman’s Flats, which is east on Canmore…
3. Cranbrook is 3.5 hours south southwest of Banff, there are a lot of places that you can dump your tanks without driving to Cranbrook. As well there are a lot and I mean a lot of campgrounds and our places to camp between Banff and Cranbrook, however because you can’t camp anywhere in a Canadian National Park unless it is a campground ot a permitted area, you won’t find any places to camp legally until south if Radium Hot Springs .
4 you have a campsite at Lake Louise… did anyone tell you that the campsite is only a few hundred yards for the CPR mainline tracks? The trains run past that campground 24/7/365..that means train running near your campsite all night long.

I do hope you have a wonderful time in thebCanadisn Rockies, they are fabulous
Soup.

One of the things we found great about the Canadian NP campgrounds were they were cheap.

We were paying $35CAD/n (~$25USD) for a site with electric.

Last fall we were in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. $83USD/n full hook up in Yellowstone and $50USD/n dry camping at Grand Teton.

don't forget you have to add your park fees to that which are 10 bucks/adult per day so if its two of you that 35 buck site just became 55 bucks. if there are 3 then get the family pass for 20 bucks a day

valhalla360 wrote:

StirCrazy wrote:
if it was me, I would stay in Banff for a night or two instead of Lake Louise. there is a bus that you can catch from banff to take you out to lake Louise, and you can spend the day there then take the bus back. This way you can see both banff and lake Louise. if you have the time there are several cheap campgrounds that do not take reservations along the Icefields parkway between banff and jasper that you can do several hikes from.

Check the rules for Lake Louise. We were there in May and you could just drive up and park. No need to mess about with the bus. I wouldn't be surprised if you experience the same thing late September.

it might not be that busy by then, at the end of September last year when we were out there it was still a huge wait for parking and as of this may they have brought in paid parking which is 21 bucks a day from mid-May to Mid-October. They also eliminated parking at a few other lakes like moraine and another lake this spring. It seems to be a campaign against bringing autos to the site which ya I agree with in some ways as long as you have a reliable bus system to take people places and Banff does now since 2018. if you are staying at the tunnel Mountain site the bus into town is free, back its 2 bucks. you can pay 5 bucks to get out to lake Louise or into canmore, it actualy worked so good I see Jasper is looking at starting a buss system now.

TenOC wrote:

StirCrazy wrote:

if it was me, I would stay in Banff for a night or two instead of Lake Louise. there is a bus that you can catch from banff to take you out to lake Louise, and you can spend the day there then take the bus back. This way you can see both banff and lake Louise. if you have the time there are several cheap campgrounds that do not take reservations along the Icefields parkway between banff and jasper that you can do several hikes from.

Have reservations at Lake Louise hard side. We will do a day trip into the "big city" of Banff. City sites do not turn us on. We like boon-docking.

Where did you get the idea it's a city site. Tunnel mountain is 10 min out of the town, just stay in Tunnel Mountain village 1 and it is like being in the forest. Village 2 isn't bad either depending which side you're on.

If you mean boon docking as in pulling over anywhere and not paying that's not going to happen in the park. that's a good way to get a fine and moved along as it is illegal to camp anywhere except in a approved campground, now if you mean now power, ya vilage 1 has no power areas which I usually stay in as it doesn't matter much to me weather, I have power or not unless it's in the winter

SideHillSoup wrote:


Your routing and ideas are all over the map.
1, first there is no “boondocking in any Canadian National Park period. There is over flow camping and places that you can “camp / park “ over night in the NP’s however they are regulated areas that you can stay at, you just can’t park anyplace you like for the night.

Soup.

We plan to stay 2-3 nights at the Icefield parking lot.

pianotuna wrote:
HiTenOC,


Take along a bathing suit and visit one of the hot springs. My favourite is https://hotsprings.ca/miette/

I REALY wanted to go to Miette but

"Miette Road sustained significant damage due to a mud slide and washout of a portion of the road. The Miette Road and Miette Hot Springs are closed and an area closure order is in place for public safety."