Tuolumne Meadows Campgrounds is closed for the season.

profdant139 wrote:
Collie, yes, the Banff area is crowded. For good reason. This was taken from our campsite in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park (not far from Banff) on a September morning, after a dusting of snow:


Click For Full-Size Image.

So I would go, at least once. We've been there three times. And once you are on the trails, you will often be alone.

Same for Yellowstone. Same for Yosemite. Very popular because they are great.

Thanks do you recomend Peter Lougheed and how far out do you need a reservation?

Collie, Peter Lougheed is great. Don't know about reservations -- we snagged a lakeside first come first served campsite in early September. We were almost the only ones in the whole campground.

And we camped without reservations throughout Banff and Jasper for most of September. But that was several years ago -- it is possible that things have gotten more crowded in Canada, just as they have in the US.

Maybe head on over to the Canada forum and see what the experts say. I'm just a tourist. ;)

profdant139 wrote:
Collie, Peter Lougheed is great. Don't know about reservations -- we snagged a lakeside first come first served campsite in early September. We were almost the only ones in the whole campground.

And we camped without reservations throughout Banff and Jasper for most of September. But that was several years ago -- it is possible that things have gotten more crowded in Canada, just as they have in the US.

Maybe head on over to the Canada forum and see what the experts say. I'm just a tourist. ;)

Maybe it's different because we have an early snow in the high sierras, but is Banff snow free in September.

I always thought that in that hemisphere further up north, they will have earlier snows than the Tuolumne and our high sierras.

We did have snow flurries in Canada during the month of September. But nothing major. You should expect night-time temps in the 20s -- great sleeping weather.

Of course, your mileage may vary -- there can be major storms during late September.

Note that the altitude in the Canadian Rockies is much lower than in the High Sierra. So yes, the seasons are different, but it's not the Arctic.

Until January. Then it's the Arctic.

Altitude makes a big difference. I don't think Banff is that high compared to the US West.