Ice Fields Parkway Hwy 93

[oldtrojan66]

I searched all the known names of this highway, with no success. Who has driven Hwy 93 either way through the national park? The questions I have are condition of highway (Google earth looks good). Also, with the Canadian National Park Pass, will a daily pass allow us to stay more than one day after entering the park? Also, are reservations needed at Lake Louise campground in June?

[BFL13]

One thing is sunshine while trying to see the mountains while driving. Southbound or Northbound, which is better? Of course, "It depends" Most of the pretty stuff is to the West of the road ISTR, so an early start going North works. YMMV.

[Rolin]

We went in September in a 26ft Motorhome. Hwy 93 was great...except there are a few pretty steep grades. We took hwy 93A from Athabasca Falls toward Jasper, very pretty.

We purchased an annual National Park pass for each of us. We did not make reservations....but had to be at each nights destination early to get a spot and to take what ever was available. Some small campgrounds are very tight for larger rigs. You can see the scars on the trees ;-).

It was a great trip...so much to see. We just touched the surface. Think it would take about three trips to do it justice.

Thought that there would be a lot fewer rigs after school started...but there were a lot of Europeans who had the same idea. Lots of Fraser /
Canada Dream / Cruise Canada rental motorhomes ;-).

[paulj]

Mosquito Creek is typical of the basic campgrounds between LL and Jasper.

There is a major railway running through Banff Nat Park, following the same route as the Trans Canada Hwy. In fact the railway is part of why there is a park - the park lodges (grand hotels) were built by the railway to promote tourism. At one time there was even coal mining operation to supply the locomotives (near Banff).

Tracks close to the Lake Louise campgrounds. LL has 2, one with services for RVs, the other for tents (and smaller rvs) that is surrounded by a bear fence. I don't recall much train noise at the tent campground. I must have heard it, but it was far enough away from our site to not stand out.

The main campground in Yoho, just over the Kicking Horse pass, is right below the railway as it climbs through the famed tunnels. So the the train noise is quite noticeable, even though it isn't as close. Still it is a lovely setting (and every bit as busy as LL).

[answerswillvary]

Moved to RVing in Canada for more responses.

[profdant139]

By the way, someone mentioned Lake Louise campground. We loved all of the Canadian Rockies, except for that particular campground -- very loud train horns all night long. We left after one night. But the hiking in Lake Louise is out of this world. We "commuted" to the trailheads from Yoho, about a half hour away.

[BillMFl]

I am always impressed with the Canadian park system. Always so clean and well maintained!

[Heap64]

What a great place to visit. You can easily spend one the two weeks there without a problem. I was surprised to see how far that glacier has receded in the 35 years since I was last there.

[oldtrojan66]

All right, All right, All right! I knew this was going to be fun! Thanks for the Great Pix!

[profdant139]

Wonderful photos, and you are so right about Wilcox Pass -- one of the greatest hikes we have ever taken -- this shot is from the summit, looking DOWN at the Icefields!

[Heap64]

In 2012 Kim and I were asked by one of my sister's if we would be up to taking our '85 year old mother back to see the Canadian Rockies. My parents and I had been through there 35 years earlier on our trip to Alaska. We jumped at the chance to go back. We visited in the spring in a rental car and stayed just outside the parks in motels.

No trip to the Canadian Rockies would be complete without visiting Moraine Lake


Moraine Lake - Banff National Park


Mom sketching in front of the Rockpile at Moraine Lake.



Columbia Ice Fields - Jasper National Park



Kim and I enjoyed this trip so much that we started talking about returning in the fall to enjoy the Rockies in a different season. We wanted to spend more time hiking and photographing and less time driving. The more we talked we decided to look into renting an RV for our return trip. So we returned in late September renting a small class C motorhome from CanaDream in Calgary.



Peyto Lake - Banff National Park



Crowfoot Glacier at the Bow River Outlet - Banff National Park



Bow Lake - Banff National Park



Sunrise at Mosquito Creek Campground - Banff National Park



Wilcox Pass - Jasper National Park



"Keep close to Nature's heart.. and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." -John Muir

Wilcox Pass is one of the top day hike in the Canadian Rockies. We started out in the forest and quickly climbed through the alpine to a mountain pass with panoramic views of glacier and mountains. Kim wanted to bottle up the scent of the flowers to bring it home, and I couldn't help but sing a few lines from the "Sound of Music" while hiking. I'm so thankful that we pushed ourselves a bit and continued on this hike. It was one of the highlights of the whole trip.



Spirit Island on Maligne Lake - Jasper National Park


For anyone considering a trip to the Canadian Rockies all I can say is GO GO GO, you won't regret it in anyway. Plenty of great places to stay and the scenery is second to none.

-James


P.S. The rental experience was great with CanaDream I would highly recommend them if you don't want to take your own RV for the trip. But it did cost me dearly in the long run as we decided after this trip to research and purchase our own Arctic Fox 25Y.

[Lynn0527]

oldtrojan66 wrote:
I searched all the known names of this highway, with no success. Who has driven Hwy 93 either way through the national park? The questions I have are condition of highway (Google earth looks good). Also, with the Canadian National Park Pass, will a daily pass allow us to stay more than one day after entering the park? Also, are reservations needed at Lake Louise campground in June?

Hi, I live in Calgary so I am only an hour from the park and up there most weekends x-country skiing.

We have had a very mild winter this year, very little snow compared to most years. Those roads are always keep clear because of the traffic going back and forth to the various ski resorts. No worries at all. I would always make reservations ahead as the parks are used extensively. In June it will be easy to get a spot but reserving is better.

Just go to the Government of Canada National parks website and pick the park you want to stay at. You can see what site is available, pick a site and view the pictures of the site, reserve with a CC and you are good to go. Maybe just reserve a week or so ahead. In July and August, it is a different story, sites fill up quick when the kidds are out of school.
Lynn

[paulj]

Between Lake Louise and Jasper there are number of organized, but basic campgrounds. That is, no hookups and such. But you still need to register, pay and follow the rules. The newspaper that you get at the gate has that information. You can also download the pdf.

[GordonThree]

oldtrojan66 wrote:
Thanks for all the great responses. Just Feb and we are already antsy about leaving. I think we will take our chances. Yes, I know this is not the advised path, but we really don't want to be tied to dates. If we have to stay outside the park until a reservation opens up, so be it. Have some people to see before we get out of the states, so dates are really hard to pin down. Thanks again!

HAHA sounds like what I went through last year before my grand adventure. Start packing your RV now... I started a month before I left and was still adding and removing things up until the day I left, as I'm terrible at organization.

I'm not schooled on what is/isn't allowed in Canadian National Parks, but I will say, driving around the dirt roads / trails that lead off 93, I saw plenty of sites that are obviously being used as boon docking campsites. Actually right off the main highway maybe 20-30 miles North of Lake Louise there's a huge dirt parking lot that once served a now abandoned campground. You can't get into the campground itself, that's thoroughly barricaded, but the parking lot had people camping in it when I drove past mid June.

[oldtrojan66]

Thanks for all the great responses. Just Feb and we are already antsy about leaving. I think we will take our chances. Yes, I know this is not the advised path, but we really don't want to be tied to dates. If we have to stay outside the park until a reservation opens up, so be it. Have some people to see before we get out of the states, so dates are really hard to pin down. Thanks again!