Lake Louise trailer park or Icefield parking lot.

[TenOC]

Hopefully next year with the coronavirus vaccine the Canadian - US border will be open for travel. If so, we are planning a trip in early June to see the Canadian Rockies. We like to boondocks or dry camp and sightsee mother nature and hike. The tourist traps in a town have no interest to us. So the crowded campgrounds in the towns of Banff or Lake Louise are less than desirable for us. We had wanted to camp at Kicking Horse campground, but it does not open until a couple weeks after our trip .


We have narrowed our selection to two options, camp at Lake Louise trailer park campground or dry camp at the Icefield parking lot. The advantage of Lake Louise is that it is somewhat centrally located for day trips both north and south. In addition we will have electricity and can make reservations. The disadvantage as I understand it you're very close to your neighbor; however, with the virus there may be some distance between the campsites if they only operate at about 50%.


The advantage of the Icefield parking lot is less crowds. We are self-contained with a generator and can dry camp for about a week. The disadvantage is that it is somewhat north of Lake Louise which makes travel to the southern part of the National Park a longer distance.

Your thoughts and comments and other options are very welcome. Thank you.

[pianotuna]

TenOC,

If you come in early June you will need your winter woollies. Expect snow and/or rain (and more rain).

Fill your fuel to the gills before entering Canada.

BC Provincial Campgrounds are wonderful--but do NOT have power.

There is a Campground at Sparwood BC that I love (with power, and wifi iirc). The town has a display of the "worlds largest truck".

Some areas will NOT have cell phone service. For example from Radium Hot Springs to Lake Louise. It is possible that roads may be closed due to an avalanche (snow) but the highway department is efficient at clearing such blockages.

Buy fuel at the town of Crowsnest before you enter B.C. It may save you 30 cents per (US) gallon. The same is true of Lake Louise.

There is very little in the way of boondocking locations on or near major highways. In B.C. there are some on logging roads--but I'd not dream of going to most in my class C.

Things to see and do in no particular order:

https://frankslide.ca/

https://tourismfernie.com/accommodations/camping-rv/mt-fernie-provincial-park


https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/voyage-travel/promotion/sources-springs/miette/

https://www.scenic.ca/our-ships/our-space-ships/scenic-jasper---opal---amber

https://northernlightswildlife.com/

https://headsmashedin.ca/ This is a World Heritage site.

https://www.albertaparks.ca/parks/south/lundbreck-falls-pra/information-facilities/camping/lundbreck...

https://www.hotsprings.ca/radium

https://www.chateau-lake-louise.com/dine/afternoon-tea/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moraine_Lake It is a hike to get to the actual lake. There is a good restaurant in the resort area. Try the Monte Cristo sandwich if they still make it.

Depending on your time frame (If you come in the fall) https://shuswaptourism.ca/festivals-and-events/adams-river-sockeye-salmon-run/

Towns to visit:

Revelstoke

Golden

Cranbrook

These are just a taste of what is on offer. I hope you will love your visit to the North.

[TenOC]

pianotuna wrote:
And your destination is?

To see the Canadian Rockies.

After leaving I will go to WA state.

[Harvey51]

Pianatuna’s post is right on.
I must add that a short drive, bus ride, or long uphill walk takes you from the roomy campsite to the beautiful lake. Take time to walk to the far end of the lake.

[StirCrazy]

park in banff at the tunnel mountian campground villiage two. there big campground but the way they put the rvs you have room. there are different sections of it, if you want to be able to take the bus into jasper or lake louise I stay up there severl times a year. if you want a bit more like being in the bush feeling and full hookups, you pick somthing in tunnel mountian village 2 section A. you pull off the road into a little horseshoe type site. section B and C (where I usaly stay ) its just a extra wide road that you pull to the edge and camp infront of your site, but its just power at these. I pull a 40 foot 5th wheel and size has never been an issue as you can put the size of your unit in the reservations section. for yours I would put "up to 35 ft"

very reasonablely priced, conveniant to get to banff, lake louies, and canmore. the biggest issue with going into Banff or Lake louise is parking. Being able to take a city bus out there now is great.

Steve

[pianotuna]

And your destination is?

[TenOC]

TUCQUALA wrote:
A nice spot but south of Lake Louise, is Johnston Canyon. Along the Bow Valley Parkway.

We have a 36 foot 5er. Too big for Johnson Canyon CG. We do expect to make a day trip the the hiking trail

[TUCQUALA]

A nice spot but south of Lake Louise, is Johnston Canyon. Along the Bow Valley Parkway.

[Crowe]

TenOC wrote:

Crowe wrote:
I would stay where I will waste less time traveling to where I want to be.

But I expect that the drive is very scenic so not a waste of time.

I've been there twice-it's very scenic but with traffic it can take a very long time. If you are there for scenery no issue but if you are there to explore and do things the less time on the road some days the better.

[TenOC]

pianotuna wrote:
TenOC,

Where will you be coming from?

Glacier/Waterton NP

[TenOC]

Crowe wrote:
I would stay where I will waste less time traveling to where I want to be.

But I expect that the drive is very scenic so not a waste of time.

[Crowe]

I would stay where I will waste less time traveling to where I want to be.

[pianotuna]

TenOC,

The last time I was at the Ice Fields the parking lot was jamb packed.

Spaces at the Lake Louise campground are not cheek by jowl. It is bear protected by an electric fence.

Lake Louise does have an overflow campground down the road towards Banff on the south side. There are no services. It is not free.

There are two gas stations at Lake Louise. The Petrocan is, in my experience ALWAYS cheaper for fuel. If you are going farther west, fill to the gills as fuel costs much more in B.C.

There is a shuttle bus from the town of Lake Louise up to the Chalet and lake. I think it make stop at the campground--but I can't remember for sure.

Banff is a tourist trap with prices that reflect that. I much prefer Lake Louise.

Where will you be coming from?

[PartyOf_Five]

The icefields parking lot is a hidden treasure, as far as we're concerned. We thought about spending a night but decided to continue to Jasper, but not before having dinner there and taking advantage of the various facilities available.

Although the building shuts down, there are plenty of fellow campers and so no concern with safety, and it's a big parking lot. You do have to be mindful of animals like bears when it comes to food being out. If you have plans to go into Jasper or see Athabaska Falls, this is a good halfway point.

It seems like you're thinking to commute back and forth after setting up camp somewhere- I would set a 30 minutes max 1 way, and am thinking Lake Louise to the Icefields is about 2 hours (plan extra time for slow traffic cuttings, and mountain driving). DM if we can help further, or you want pics.

[agesilaus]

One thing to know about Banff, bring lots of money...heh. But I get the impression that the exchange rate is much better than when we were up there. Yeah it's 1.30 Canadian to the dollar, but that may change when the open the border

[TenOC]

BobsYourUncle wrote:
If you look at Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court in Banff you will find that the way they have it set up is so the RVs are end to end rather than side by side. Basically parallel parking from the access roads.

I saw that and was worried about "Parallel Parking" a 36 foot 5er