How to plan one week in the Canadian Rockies

Thanks, Uncle Rj ... good advice. No, no reason to go via Calgary, just headed down to Glacier.

Lots of good recommendations about the Banff and Jasper National Parks here. You might also want to look at the campgrounds at Johnston Canyon and Two Jack Lakeside. There is a nice easy hike to some waterfalls at Johnston Canyon.

As far as the route to Glacier goes; do you have a reason to go through Calgary? If not, I would go through Kananaskis (hwy 40) and stop at Mount Kidd or any of the campgrounds in Peter Lougheed provincial park (Boulton Creek, Elkton, Interlakes). It's a really pretty area and the drive is a lot more scenic than going through Calgary.

From there, you can either go south on 22 to Waterton or jog over to highway 2 to Fort McLeod.

A really good place to stop before the Can/Us border is at the Lee Creek campground in Cardston. Cleanest washrooms we've ever seen at a campground.

We were there last summer (2015) and spent a week between Banff and Jasper, on our way to Alaska. I would agree with recs so far, emphasize reserving early, and spend the most amount of time possible to exploring these areas. Remember that July 1, Canada Day, is a national holiday in Canada (like our July 4), and that Calgary is close to Banff and the Icefields, so there can be crowds in these beautiful areas at that time.

Here's another photo of the Waterton Townsite CG and following that is a link to places we stayed when we traveled to Canada.






Link to Blog of Canada Trip

Army11Bravo wrote:
We are planning a similar trip next summer and expect to make our reservations in January. The earlier, the better!

Our trip will start north of Glacier National Park in Wateron. I have heard Townsite Campground is nice with full hookups right along Waterton Lake. After Waterton, we'll spend a couple days in Banff at Tunnel Mountain Village before driving up north to Jasper. On the way back south, we'll stay a night or two in Lake Louise before heading home to Montana. We still have more research to do before we decide where to stay in Jasper. I believe we are going to stay for at least 2 days at every campground in order to hike a little in each area.

We weren't going to go as far north as Jasper, but after reading about it, it seems like a spectacular place to hike and enjoy nature away from most tourists. I found a great blog written by a local husband & wife that give lots of insights to the Canadian Rocky Mountains called Banff and Beyond. Their articles are quite good and worth the read.

Clicky--> Banff and Beyond

When you head south to Glacier Park, I suggest staying at the St. Mary Campground inside the park. It's a great base to view the whole east side of Glacier National Park. Be sure to drive to Many Glacier and Two Medicine from St. Mary. There are plenty of hiking opportunities for even the most novice of hikers and your reward will be beautiful waterfalls, lakes and wildflowers. Enjoy your trip!

We just came from Glacier/Waterton. The Townsite CG in Waterton is not on the lake, but the views all around are amazing. Here are some photos

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Blazing, do you mean Wilcox CG? I don't remember any provincial campgrounds in that area -- I thought that was all national park land? I could easily be wrong!

About 4 miles South of the Columbia Ice fields, is a provincial GC on the East side of the highway. It's back in the forest about a mile, quiet, and has a dump station. No hook ups, but very alone and has firewood. At the time, it cost a weird amount like $16.37 Canadian.
The trip up on the glacier was worth the cost.

Pipeman wrote:
If you like to dry camp, you might want two try the Big Horn Dam area. It's at the east end of Abraham Lake. Stayed there for 2 and a half weeks this past summer. Try to get in there in the middle of the week as it's very popular for dry camping and ATV riding. Nothing there but trees, the lake and Nellie the black bear. If you want it, you bring it. You can dump in Nordegg which you pass on the way to Saskatchewan Crossing.

And if you want to camp in among the mountains, continue west on the highway beside Abraham Lake to the end. A boon docking area on the left side of the highway called Preachers Point overlooking the lake and the North Sakatchewan River that flows into the lake. About 32 KM from the Big Horn Dam turnoff.

A couple shots from Preachers Point

NCWriter, thanks for the kind words. We have done a lot of traveling in the Western US and Canada over the last eleven years. So far, the Canadian Rockies are the most spectacular mountains we have seen -- it is almost impossible to take a bad photo in that whole area. But there are some very close runner-ups -- we just got back from the Sawtooths in Idaho, last year we were all around Colorado, we love the North Cascades of Washington, and don't forget the Eastern Sierras.

And although we have been on a bike tour in Alaska, we've never taken an RV to the Far North. So there is a lot of territory yet to explore.

profdant139 wrote:
We spent several weeks in that area four years ago -- this is the first of several posts that might be helpful. Mostly we were hiking, but there are some things that still could be useful. Good luck!


Blog post -- Canadian Rockies

The photos are wonderful - such magnificent scenes of the sun on the peaks.