Touring British Columbia

I know this is in alberta but consider spending a couple of days at Tunnel mountain rv park (national park) in Jasper. Our favourite rv park of all time.

riltri wrote:
We are considering taking our 5th wheel to British Columbia next fall (2021). We have never been there, so we are starting our trip planning from scratch. Once there we will have about 4 weeks to explore.

Suggestion regarding resources, literate, personal experience, etc will be greatly appreciated!!!

Spend some time on the island. Butchart gardens. Victoria (our capitol). The parliament buildings etc.

Spend some time in the Rocky Mountains which straddle the BC/Alberta border. The Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper is one of the most scenic drives in the world.
The Okanagan Valley in the middle of the Southern part of the province is a semi arid, scenic valley that is full of orchards, Lakes and vineyards.
Vancouver is a big, bustling, multicultural city, with a dramatic location surrounded by ocean with a high mountain backdrop.
Vancouver Island has the lovely old, colonial. harbour city of Victoria with its Butchart Gardens, Empress Hotel, wonderful museum, parliament buildings and whale watching. Farther up the Island are massive forests, huge trees and the stunning and wild West Coast resorts of Tofino and Ucluelet .
Just a few, there are MANY more!

There are a lot of places to visit up here. Banff / Lake Louise (LL) and Jasper are located in Canadian National Parks ( Canadian Rocky’s) and are very popular, so even in September if you have a “guesstimate” of when you will be in the area make reservations.
Note: the campground in LL is right by the CPR mainline Railways that crosses Canada.
Between now and when the National Parks system open for reservation for 2022, make an account and familiarize how it works well before the reservation opening date. Theses three towns I listed are very very very busy, and a reservation with hookups is a must.
Parks Canada
British Columbia Parks system also have a reservation system so same goes here with getting familiarized with it before next spring. However, 98% of all BC parks stop taking reservation after labour day weekend, and most close up for the season the last weekend in September. You can still drive in and get a FCFS site, and some of the park facilities may have also closed for the season on Labour day weekend. On the BC Parks page for making reservations you it will tell you how big a rig will fit into the site and most have pictures as well.
BC Parks
Lots of Private campgrounds all over BC and there are a lot of hidden gems out there. Easiest is to just Google a town or area you will be in a type in Campgrounds, most show up.
Some of the areas you should be googling over the fall and winter are: Okanogon Valley, Thompson Region & West & East Kootenays
As I live in the Kootenays check out:
Slocan Lake, Kootenay Lake, Arrow Lakes, Jewel Lake, Christina Lake, Moyie Lake, Kootenay River, Columbia River, Wasa Lake, towns of Nelson, Castlegar, Rock Creek, Greenwood, New Denver, Silverton, Ghost town of Sandon, Kaslo, dry docked paddle wheeler SS Moyie, Nakusp, Kimberley Revelstoke. Revelstoke Railway Museum,
Railway cam
Spiral Tunnel, Rogers Pass, Golden, Raduim Hot Springs, Fairmount Hot Springs, Ainsworth Hot Springs , Nakusp Hot Springs, Halcyon Hot Springs, Fort Steele Historic Site. Kootenay Lake Ferry, which is the longest free ferry ride in the world. Creston Valley ( fruit and Vegie, Hwy Stands)
Most of theses committees that I listed are small towns with a scatter of small cities, and most have small community campgrounds. As well PC Parks are scattered everywhere and some are not close to towns.
Note: there are two differnt ferry systems in BC. The Inland Ferries ( fresh water ferries) in BC, are all free.
Inland ferries
The BC Ferries Corp. cost $$$$, theses ferries are located on the BC coastal areas of BC ( salt water ferries)
BC Ferries

BC Hwy Cams
The Kootenay region alone from ( Alberta Boarder) east to west is about 5.5 to 6 hr drive, USA boarder) south to north is a 5 to 6 hrs drive. So there is a lot of other places you can see in BC, and hopefully others from theses areas will chime in with that info.
Your biggest dilemma is how much road traveling do you want to do, and or how much relaxing do you want to do. As in days between travel time.
Good luck with your quest and adventure.
Soup.

This picture was taken in June from our BC Parks campsite on Kootenay Lake.

Awesome information!!! Thanks so much!!

dkilley wrote:
I know this is in alberta but consider spending a couple of days at Tunnel mountain rv park (national park) in Jasper. Our favourite rv park of all time.

only problem with this is tunnel mountian is in Banff.

I am not sure where you are coming from, but I can tell you this fall BC will most likly still be covered in smoke the way the forest fire season is going now. a lot of places are under evacuation alerts and such. unless you are going to vancouver I would not comitte any money to reservations or such so you can cancle if conditions are not improved.

Steve

StirCrazy wrote:

dkilley wrote:
I know this is in alberta but consider spending a couple of days at Tunnel mountain rv park (national park) in Jasper. Our favourite rv park of all time.

only problem with this is tunnel mountian is in Banff.

I am not sure where you are coming from, but I can tell you this fall BC will most likly still be covered in smoke the way the forest fire season is going now. a lot of places are under evacuation alerts and such. unless you are going to vancouver I would not comitte any money to reservations or such so you can cancle if conditions are not improved.

Steve

Good point Steve, I never saw the date, yes this year would not be a good time to visit southeastern BC

Castlegar today.

And today clear skies.
Yesterday we were inside all day, today it’s coffee on the sundeck.... so far

Someone suggested waiting till next year -- but will the smoke be any different? Ten years ago, we could count on clear air in September in the Canadian Rockies. But for the last several years, it has been bad.

And that is true, of course, for the entire Western USA, as well as Canada.

The immediate problem is a backlog (so to speak) of timber killed by bark beetles, all dried out and ready to burn. I don't know how many years will pass until that is no longer a significant factor.

But the alternative is to just sit home and grumble, which is what we (DW and I) did last year. So my advice would be just to hit the road and hope for the best.

Focusing on riltri's question, I have a couple of questions of my own, to narrow things down. Riltri, what sorts of things do you enjoy? Are you a hiker? A biker? Do you like to spend several days in one place, or do you like to move your campsite frequently?

One more random observation: DW and I have done a lot of traveling in North America. The Canadian Rockies, from Peter Lougheed in the south to Jasper in the north, are the most spectacular mountain range we have ever seen.

profdant139 wrote:


Focusing on riltri's question, I have a couple of questions of my own, to narrow things down. Riltri, what sorts of things do you enjoy? Are you a hiker? A biker? Do you like to spend several days in one place, or do you like to move your campsite frequently?

One more random observation: DW and I have done a lot of traveling in North America. The Canadian Rockies, from Peter Lougheed in the south to Jasper in the north, are the most spectacular mountain range we have ever seen.

We are very active.....enjoy hiking, white water rafting, run almost daily once settled into a park and touring historic sights. We will have a 70lb dog with us. Prefer to find 4 locations to use as home base for a week each.