Canadian Rockies campsites

[Mamaw]

We are planning an extended trip to the Canadian Rockies this summer. We will be visiting Jasper, Banff, Yoho, Kootenay, Glacier, and Mt. Revelstoke.
We are planning to stay at Wapiti campground in Jasper, Lake Louise hardsided campground in Banff, Kicking Horse campground in Yoho, Illecillewaet campground in Glacier, Snowforest campground in Mt Revelstoke. We would very much appreciate any advice about specific campsites in those campgrounds or warnings against them. We have solar and Lithium batteries and are fine with boondocking but are also not opposed to hookups especially if it’s hot.

[cpaharley2008]

Too bad your timing will miss the annual Escape Rally in May in NkMip CG in Osoyoos, one of the prettiest cg's we have stayed in!

[Eggscape]

Sounds like a fantastic trip and being a BC resistant I too would like to do something like that in summer…if it was just that easy.

You will never find an empty camp spot in the summer in BC unless you have reservations or are well off in an area that is not popular. To make your reservations in BC for a Provincial Camp ground you have 5 or less mins, on a specific day, exactly 2 or 4 months prior to the date you want to camp to make that reservation. This means if you are going to be moving/camping each day in that area you will have to be in front of 2 or more computers at home exactly 4 months prior and be on line exactly the time when reservations open and hope in that 5 min time slot you get a camp spot. You will need to do the exact same thing for every new camp site date. If you are moving everyday for a week, you will have to be at home everyday for a week 4 months prior to make the reservations. I am generous by saying you have 5 mins to get this done.

“Frontcountry campsite reservations can be made up to two (2) months in advance of your arrival date. Starting January 3, 2023, reservations can be made four (4) months in advance.”

National and Alberta reservations are a different system but you can expect the same exacting time requirements in making a reservation.

Keep in mind while making a reservation you are up against an army of very smart house wife’s that want to go camping.

My recommendation if you don’t have kids in school would be to come to the Escape Rally in May and work your way to where you want to see. This way you will probably have 15 to 20 mins to make a reservation.

Hope it all works out

[mlowther]

Parks Canada has indicated that they will release the dates for campgrounds later this month, as they tweeted earlier this week:

"Reminder: Camping2023 reservation launch dates for campgrounds and roofed accommodations will be announced later this month! Follow us for updates and bookmark this link: https://parks.canada.ca/voyage-travel/reserve"

From past experience with the Parks Canada site, patience is the key to booking.
The first day made available for reserving can be a long process - for Banff and Jasper, the time that the site is open is usually 8:00 am MT - you log into the site before that time and you are thrown into a waiting room, and when 8:00 am comes along, you are given a number to show you where you are in the queue. When I have done it, one year I was in the 8000; another year I was in the 23000 - which means it is a crap shoot on when you are in queue and for how long (the 8000 I was waiting for almost one hour; for the 23000, I was waiting for 2.5 hours to book).

What I would recommend is that you keep reviewing the Parks Canada site for the announcement of the date, and prior to that date, make sure you have a "My Parks Canada Reservation Account" - which can cause some issues - the options are shown in the screen capture I've attached to this post.

[Mamaw]

Thanks for your ideas and advice.

[prairieboy]

Wapiti, Lake Louise Hardside, Kicking Horse, and Illecillewaet are all very nice campgrounds (haven’t stayed in Snowforest) … you can’t go wrong. There are pictures of each campsite when booking with Parks Canada - but you can’t really see how much sun/shade is on many of the sites, the sites are in the forest. There is always some sun…so it depends on your battery draw. I’m a light user with dual 6 volts and an old trailer with the original 90watt panel and I’m ok for up to 5 days in shade.

Illecillewaet is a bit of an exception - narrow valley with limited sun.

Book early! If you get skunked, there are some ‘first come first served’ campgrounds within Jasper, Banff, and Yoho. The campgrounds further from the town centres usually have space. Given the remote locations and lack of alternative, Parks Canada does have overflow sites if things get too busy.

I go every year…August this time and I’ll be in Yoho and Banff. Let if I know if I’m looking for another 19 with Tennessee plates😊

[Padre]

Reading this thread is disappointing, We were loosely planning a trip to Alaska and back in 2024. Sort of thinking we would boondock our way up and back staying on the CDN equivalent of BLM land. Lot of assumptions and wishful thinking baked into this plan, no research or anything done as of yet.
We have a difficult time planning our lunch, never mind what campsite we plan to be in x-months out.
Is there any hope for a trip like this for the planning impaired?

[Ron in BC]

Yes, there's lot's of hope.

We're not known for our long range reservations. Actually we've crossed both Canada and the US, coast to coast, without any reservations. There's always a place, just maybe not the prime one gotten by someone that reserved months ahead and locked themselves into a fixed schedule. Not our style.

We've arrived in prime Rockies campgrounds and always found a spot. Strangely, sometimes there's several campsites within view that remain empty. People sometimes don't show up.

We are prepared to not be able to get a spot in a highly desired campground but there are alternatives, private campgrounds as well as BC Rec Sites out of the park.

Freedom has a price, not as convenient as a months long reservation but flexibility is worth something to us.

Ron

[Padre]

Ron, thanks for the intel.
I did a quick search and came up with this:
https://www.tourguidecanada.com/free...able-amenities
Seems to be the CDN equivalent of BLM in the American west. We're glad to learn that we can do a trip like this without detailed advanced planning.
Padre

[Ron in BC]

Sort of equivalent to BLM but they range from rustic, no host, free to ones that look just like a Provincial Park and might have a 10 or 12 dollar fee. But those have amenities except for power.

Further info: Recreation Sites and Trails BC

One aspect that we've found traveling is that along the way you often meet folks that have some experience with places that aren't even on your radar. We've found some unexpected places in our chats with fellow travellers.

Ron

[nomade do vento]

We are in Saskatchewan and frequently camp in the National and Provincial campgrounds in Alberta and British.We NEVER make long range reservations. A week or two before , we check the reservation websites up to twelve times a day looking for cancelations. Always find a place. The National and Provincial campgrounds represent a very small percentage of the number of campground sites available. Check private and municipal campgrounds. Also, in our travels we found that even the smallest of towns have campsites to offer. Usually away from the highway and railroad tracks!!!! You will know what I mean when you get there. Kkk

[Lorraine Pittsburgh]

Originally Posted by Padre

Reading this thread is disappointing, We were loosely planning a trip to Alaska and back in 2024. Sort of thinking we would boondock our way up and back staying on the CDN equivalent of BLM land. Lot of assumptions and wishful thinking baked into this plan, no research or anything done as of yet.
We have a difficult time planning our lunch, never mind what campsite we plan to be in x-months out.
Is there any hope for a trip like this for the planning impaired?

Hi Padre,

I too am thinking of a trip to AK in 2024 - a huge bucket list item for me. Lots of boon-docking "planned". Won't get serious about this until the fall, but will keep in touch with any great finds as I plan. Happy Trails!

[AnJ]

We have camped in most of these campgrounds with our Escape in the last few years and many years before that. Regarding reservations, many have been made as late as June for a July/August trip. Snowforest in Revelstoke is small, as is Kicking Horse in Yoho, these may be the toughest to book, so if you are booking more last minute or do not get a spot in those ones, keep checking often as we did get a spot a few weeks before our trip due to a cancellation. I have not experienced the demand or stress booking these sites compared to BC’s park systems. When visiting Canada Parks, you are required to have a day pass, in addition to camping fees, so a nightly rate in these parks runs about $60 with a daily park pass and reservation fees. However, it will likely be worth it for you to get an annual pass rather than pay for park passes daily for all the national parks you are visiting.

Snowforest in Revelstoke is a newer campground. It is quite nice and while we were there in June and August, we had electrical hookups both times. It was very hot and we did run our A/C and were glad we went with the electrical option. Electrical sites in the inner A loop do not offer much privacy, but our observations and experience has been that people are generally quieter with smaller crowds during the week days, whereas the weekends were more noisy. The outer A loop sites are not level, but doable if you have levellers- we had a 4 inch difference from one side to the other. In August, they phoned us the night before to cancel our next day reservation as someone had left food out and there was a too friendly bear visiting the campsite! B loop is quiet, more in the shade, no hookups and sees less traffic. B7 or B8 are really nice if you plan to spend much time at your site. It is about an hour drive up the mountain to see Mount Revelstoke, so keep in mind that you will likely want at least a full day to explore this national park, it’s not one you can see in an evening very well after a travel day. There are no sani dumps in this park. Yoho has one on the road into Kicking Horse that is open seasonally, I believe. Sani dumps in the national parks are not very common, Banff has the best, but also has lineups in the morning typically and is best to fill up or dump the night before.

Yoho- we stayed in Kicking Horse. It is a small campground and most people are away seeing the park so it was quiet while we were there It’s often cold and rainy- only 3C during our stay once in July. The demand for popular attractions here in summer is crazy. Staying at Kicking Horse allowed us to be at Emerald Lake by 7am for a hike around the lake. Plan to arrive at major attractions early in the day! When we departed at 11, we were driving by a lineup of cars for 15 minutes going the opposite way waiting to get into a very small parking lot. Some parks have set up ticket purchasing or access only by bus to ease the congestion. Visiting these attractions in the early mornings and late evenings helps.

Banff- I’m not sure if you meant Lake Louise and missed a comma and then Banff or if Lake Louise was your destination in Banff National Park. I have not stayed in Lake Louise but it would be a good bet as you’d be close to the lake if you wanted to be able to see it early in the morning or evening. Banff is 40 minutes from Lake Louise. If you want to stay in Banff, many of the smaller campsites, such as Two Jack Lake are really hard to get. Tunnel Mountain has more options but be aware some of these campsites (is it Tunnel Mountain 2?) have two trailers sharing a pull in site! We made this mistake once and basically shared a campsite with some strangers! Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court 3 is a parking lot with electrical hookups, but the views of the mountains are spectacular enough that you forget you’re in a parking lot. The views are truly stunning and a great spot to have your morning coffee and watch the sunrise in the valley. There is so much to access from this campsite from hiking to downtown Banff. You can take a bus to downtown for a toonie from bus stops in this trailer court, it is the best way to access it or it is a short 20 minute hike into town. Parking can be crazy in town.

The Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper is a must do- it is best to do it from Jasper to Banff to do the stops as many are on the right hand side of the road this way. There are some really nice campsites along this route and it’s our dream to stay in one of them when we have more travel days to go slower!

Jasper- we stayed in Wapiti in a site near the river. Honestly, it felt like it was the forgotten campsite in comparison to Whistler’s campground that looked all shiny and new. Wapiti has many little tree stumps leftover from clearing out pine beetle damage and not a lot of privacy in many of the sites. It was almost empty on a June weeknight during our 2022 stay. In the past it was a great campsite but they have had to take down many trees. Many sites are gravel and unlevel.

We have not stayed in Glacier. Many of the attractions in this park have been closed for miscellaneous reasons for many years, so there’s less to do there. Kootenay National Park has many attractions and is beautiful, even to drive through if you have the time, as is Waterton Lakes, but that is farther away.

This should be an amazing trip for you, enjoy!

[Mamaw]

Thanks AnJ for your detailed reply. It looks like good info.

[G.D.S.]

We are like Ron and travel without making long term reservations. By doing that if you find a spot that you wish to spend more time at or one that you dislike and want to move on you have that flexability. You will always find a place to stay. Last summer we spent 6 weeks travelling the Stewart Cassiar highway in BC with no reservations and had zero problems. A couple years back we spent 2 months travelling right across Canada and back with no reservations (except for the ferry crossings and that was only about 3 days advance booking). This summer we are spending 6 weeks heading up the Alaska highway to Dawson City and Alaska with no reservations. Freedom to go where you want when you want mean more to us than having prime spots every night.