It's time for me to start bugging you kind folks again. The DW and I plan to try for Alaska this summer, and hope to spend some time in the Banff to Jasper area on the way. It's hard to narrow down the things we want to do, but we need to in order to have time to see Alaska, too. I'm thinking about 6 nights total in that area. I have a list of things we want to do in each general area:5 in Banff6 in Lake Louise4 in JasperDoes it make more sense to stay in Banff (I'm thinking Tunnel Mountain Trailer Park) for 4 nights and do all the driving to LL or 2 nights in Banff and 2 in LL. We do plan to do 2 nights in Jasper at the end. It seems that for everything we want to do in LL we need to be there early before parking lots fill up. I can see distances on a map, but I'm not sure how that translates into driving time in late July. I hope to make reservations for all areas as soon as the reservation system opens up in Jan. We hope to get at least electric sites if not more. Anyway, if anyone has an opinion, I welcome it.TIA

Oh yes! Tunnel Mountain Trailer Park for sure, just you and 400 other RVs that need water, sewer, 120 volts and don’t want to experience the Canadian wilderness. I hear the RV park street lights make a flashlight unnecessary. Leave them at home. I had to camp once without an electric hookup but I didn’t die. Thankfully.

We stayed at tunnel mountain and day tripped from there. The TM CG was fine. Lake Louise was a excellent photo site, there is another site close to LL, I don't recall the name but it was another lake. Not as photogenic as LL but worth a stop. You will see signs for it. Walk the trail around the Lake Louise. We traveled to a couple of other close areas with no trouble. Bring lots of money if you shop at Banff, a green pepper was $5 Canadian and other items priced to match. They have very odd flavored potato chips. A Canadian thing I guess. Banff itself is a standard tourist trap.

It can be a few hours at least to Lake Louise, depending on how frequently you pull out to stop. I'd spend a night or to at LL in your shoes, probably. The shuttle bus system does stop at the campground at Lake Louise, as I recall, so you don't need to go find parking if you stay at the campground and take the bus...which is what you really, really, really want to do in the peak season. The same can be said for Banff and probably Jasper, too. (There are overflow parking areas that are served by the busses, too, which work out okay.)

DrewE wrote:It can be a few hours at least to Lake Louise, depending on how frequently you pull out to stop. I'd spend a night or to at LL in your shoes, probably. The shuttle bus system does stop at the campground at Lake Louise, as I recall, so you don't need to go find parking if you stay at the campground and take the bus...which is what you really, really, really want to do in the peak season. The same can be said for Banff and probably Jasper, too. (There are overflow parking areas that are served by the busses, too, which work out okay.)I guess what you said is what I was thinking. Do we lose driving time several days staying in Banff, or just once moving the camper to LL. If I can get an electric site at LL, I'm leaning hard toward that option. My biggest concern is train noise, but we should be able to live with that for a couple of nights.Thanks for the responses.

Just a word of advice about staying in Jasper next season, Whistlers Campground is closed for renovations the entire year. That's 700 stalls out of circulation, could be tough to get a spot.

Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper | Good Sam Community

Lwiddis
Explorer II
Nov 17, 2018
Oh yes! Tunnel Mountain Trailer Park for sure, just you and 400 other RVs that need water, sewer, 120 volts and don’t want to experience the Canadian wilderness. I hear the RV park street lights make a flashlight unnecessary. Leave them at home. I had to camp once without an electric hookup but I didn’t die. Thankfully.
agesilaus
Explorer III
Nov 17, 2018
We stayed at tunnel mountain and day tripped from there. The TM CG was fine. Lake Louise was a excellent photo site, there is another site close to LL, I don't recall the name but it was another lake. Not as photogenic as LL but worth a stop. You will see signs for it. Walk the trail around the Lake Louise.

We traveled to a couple of other close areas with no trouble. Bring lots of money if you shop at Banff, a green pepper was $5 Canadian and other items priced to match. They have very odd flavored potato chips. A Canadian thing I guess. Banff itself is a standard tourist trap.
DrewE
Explorer II
Nov 17, 2018
It can be a few hours at least to Lake Louise, depending on how frequently you pull out to stop. I'd spend a night or to at LL in your shoes, probably. The shuttle bus system does stop at the campground at Lake Louise, as I recall, so you don't need to go find parking if you stay at the campground and take the bus...which is what you really, really, really want to do in the peak season. The same can be said for Banff and probably Jasper, too. (There are overflow parking areas that are served by the busses, too, which work out okay.)
K_and_I
Explorer
Nov 17, 2018
DrewE wrote:
It can be a few hours at least to Lake Louise, depending on how frequently you pull out to stop. I'd spend a night or to at LL in your shoes, probably. The shuttle bus system does stop at the campground at Lake Louise, as I recall, so you don't need to go find parking if you stay at the campground and take the bus...which is what you really, really, really want to do in the peak season. The same can be said for Banff and probably Jasper, too. (There are overflow parking areas that are served by the busses, too, which work out okay.)

I guess what you said is what I was thinking. Do we lose driving time several days staying in Banff, or just once moving the camper to LL. If I can get an electric site at LL, I'm leaning hard toward that option. My biggest concern is train noise, but we should be able to live with that for a couple of nights.
Thanks for the responses.
fly-swatter
Explorer
Nov 17, 2018
Just a word of advice about staying in Jasper next season, Whistlers Campground is closed for renovations the entire year. That's 700 stalls out of circulation, could be tough to get a spot.
K_and_I
Explorer
Nov 17, 2018
fly-swatter wrote:
Just a word of advice about staying in Jasper next season, Whistlers Campground is closed for renovations the entire year. That's 700 stalls out of circulation, could be tough to get a spot.

I understand. That's why I need to get decided what I'm going to do before the reservation window opens in Jan.
Thanks for the reminder.
zigzagrv
Explorer
Nov 17, 2018
We spent 3 days in Canmore at a cg (I don't remember the name) and toured Banff, LL, and Moraine lake, not far from LL, and about halfway up the Icefield Parkway. We then went up to Jasper and spent 3 days in Hinton KOA and toured the other half of The Icefield Parkway, including Athabasca Falls. The scenery is spectacular along the whole length of the IFP, and is one of our favorite drives on the way to Alaska.
K_and_I
Explorer
Nov 17, 2018
zigzagrv wrote:
We spent 3 days in Canmore at a cg (I don't remember the name) and toured Banff, LL, and Moraine lake, not far from LL, and about halfway up the Icefield Parkway. We then went up to Jasper and spent 3 days in Hinton KOA and toured the other half of The Icefield Parkway, including Athabasca Falls. The scenery is spectacular along the whole length of the IFP, and is one of our favorite drives on the way to Alaska.

That's the other alternative. Did you feel like you spent too much time driving between Banff and Lake Louise? The time doesn't look bad now, but late July it seems like it would be more crowded and take longer to drive. We don't want to spend half the day driving from the campground and back again.
Thanks for the input.
agesilaus
Explorer III
Nov 17, 2018
-Considering the time it takes to break down a campsite drive to the new site and set up, I don't think a relatively short drive justifies moving. According to Google maps it is a 39 minute drive from Banff to Lake Louise. Map

We also drove to Moraine Lake that same day after a leisurely walk around LL trail.

And on the next day drove to Johnson canyon where a trail takes you past a number of waterfalls, right next to them. Excellent trip.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Nov 17, 2018
Don't forget the Alberta Provincial Campground irrc it is Called Bow Valley.