Winter RVing in the Rockies?
I stumbled onto the Canadream site and found that they rent winterized Class C motorhomes for winter camping. It never crossed my mind that this was possible, but I guess it is! (There is no way I w...
Forum Discussion
Couple things you need to think about, not just in the Rockies. I see Canada dream rigs out in the winter, yesterday while loading up our snowmobiles after a day of ridding we saw a Motorhome with Florida license plates drive by us, so your not alone in your idea
Diving conditions are challenging in the winter and you need to be prepaid for that any where you travel. The hwy ( Ice Field Parkway) between Lake Louise and Jasper is considered a secondary hwy and is not a high priority when it comes to plowing sanding.
A few years back in the winter we left sister in laws place in Rocky Mountain House and took hwy 11 west across to where it comes out at Saskatchewan crossing. It had snowed the night before and from Norberg to Lake Louise there hadn’t been a snow plow / sand truck at all. We got to Lake Louise about 10:am and just as we got to the jct with Hwy 1 the sand truck was just staring up the ice field parkway. There are no services at all in the winter between Lake Louise and Jasper, including no cell service, and Saskatchewan Crossing service station is boarded up in the winter.
When winter driving make sure your flexible with driving times. Hwy Accidents, avalanche control and or just slow driving conditions can add hours or even days to your trip in the mountains in the winter.
Dump site ( sani dump) are few and far in between. I have looked before at Canada dream website and they do list sani dumps, however some of the sites that they list are not open in the winter. I would be checking beforehand to where you will be and make sure by either emailing or phoning the establishment that is suppling the sani dump site to make sure they are open. Last time I looked at their list they had a B.C. Provincial campground that is close in the winter by a gate and is under a few feet is snow in the winter.
You will need Power to run a heater in the RV. The heater in the RV operates on propane and requires power to run the fan. That fan can kill the battery in short order so I would hope that the rig you rent has more than one battery to run the living area of the RV and is totally separate from the battery that starts the RV engine.
As well to best conditions to see the northern lights are in northern areas of Canada and in areas where there are no mountains blocking your view. The Canadian Rockies your thinking of going to are not that far north. Clouds, fog and mountains can easily block your view, I’m not saying you won’t see the northern lights in the Rockies but going a lot farther north will give you better odds. We even see them the odd night way down here in south eastern BC, and we are only 30 minutes from the USA border with Canada , but going way up north will give you better odds.
Have you thought about flying to Whitehorse Yukon or Yellowknife NWT and book a Northern Lights tour?
I have seen on some of these northern light tour package sites that some of them supply warm clothing with their tour package.
Flying up north and staying there won’t be cheap, but if your wanting to see the northern lights that would be the place to go.
Soup.
Diving conditions are challenging in the winter and you need to be prepaid for that any where you travel. The hwy ( Ice Field Parkway) between Lake Louise and Jasper is considered a secondary hwy and is not a high priority when it comes to plowing sanding.
A few years back in the winter we left sister in laws place in Rocky Mountain House and took hwy 11 west across to where it comes out at Saskatchewan crossing. It had snowed the night before and from Norberg to Lake Louise there hadn’t been a snow plow / sand truck at all. We got to Lake Louise about 10:am and just as we got to the jct with Hwy 1 the sand truck was just staring up the ice field parkway. There are no services at all in the winter between Lake Louise and Jasper, including no cell service, and Saskatchewan Crossing service station is boarded up in the winter.
When winter driving make sure your flexible with driving times. Hwy Accidents, avalanche control and or just slow driving conditions can add hours or even days to your trip in the mountains in the winter.
Dump site ( sani dump) are few and far in between. I have looked before at Canada dream website and they do list sani dumps, however some of the sites that they list are not open in the winter. I would be checking beforehand to where you will be and make sure by either emailing or phoning the establishment that is suppling the sani dump site to make sure they are open. Last time I looked at their list they had a B.C. Provincial campground that is close in the winter by a gate and is under a few feet is snow in the winter.
You will need Power to run a heater in the RV. The heater in the RV operates on propane and requires power to run the fan. That fan can kill the battery in short order so I would hope that the rig you rent has more than one battery to run the living area of the RV and is totally separate from the battery that starts the RV engine.
As well to best conditions to see the northern lights are in northern areas of Canada and in areas where there are no mountains blocking your view. The Canadian Rockies your thinking of going to are not that far north. Clouds, fog and mountains can easily block your view, I’m not saying you won’t see the northern lights in the Rockies but going a lot farther north will give you better odds. We even see them the odd night way down here in south eastern BC, and we are only 30 minutes from the USA border with Canada , but going way up north will give you better odds.
Have you thought about flying to Whitehorse Yukon or Yellowknife NWT and book a Northern Lights tour?
I have seen on some of these northern light tour package sites that some of them supply warm clothing with their tour package.
Flying up north and staying there won’t be cheap, but if your wanting to see the northern lights that would be the place to go.
Soup.
