View topic - Camping in Jasper/Banff area

Hi there.

I am from Toronto and have zero experience camping in the western provinces. We have 2 adults and no kids. We are planning a trip to the CDN Rockies. It will include visits to Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Kootenay, Glacier, Revelstoke NPs and the Dinosaur PP in a 9 day trip in September.

We plan to stay in hotel(s) for part of the trip and camp for the rest in campground(s). We do not plan to do backcountry due to our unfamiliarity of the area. We'll arrive at the Calgary airport and rent a car for the entire trip.

My initial plan is to stay in a hotel/motel in Canmore or Banff for the first couple nights, and then camp in the areas of Banff/Kootenay/Yoho or Jasper, then stay in different hotel/motel, and finally drive to Dinosaur PP and camp there.

The goal is to make the trip comfortable and yet as close to wilderness as possible, without being commercialized.

We'll access individual parks by car, and then do some hikings in the parks. I am also looking for photographic opportunities of natural landscape/wildlife. So good campsites that are close to scenic trails are desirable.

Any tips and suggestions for campgrounds, hiking routes, safety, food, etc would be very very welcomed!

Thank you!

[This post is cross-posted in BC forum.]

There are some very good books available at Mtn Eqpt and possibly the W's Biggest that give lots of detail We bought a couple last year for our trip and it was worth it. Much more detail than anyone is likely to post here.

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Old canoeists never die---they just smell that way.

There is a small, and a bit rugged, campground about 1 km. north of the Icefield Center - it's on the east side of the Hwy, up on the ridge opposite the glacier. Stunning view, & the last time I was there (during the rut for Bighorn Sheep), I was treated to a 15 minute head-banging contest between 2 would-be stud-muffins, right behind my tent - very cool...

here's the contact info.

http://www.greatcampingspots.com/Direct ... sp?ID=1692

Make sure your coolant is full if you're driving that Hwy. in hot weather - some of those hills are brutal!

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In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.
Mark Twain

We always enjoyed Yoho park. The Hoodoos is a nice hike and so is the hike up to Twin Falls. It seemed like there were less people in that park too. It's been a while though and that may have changed. In Canmore, hiking up Chinaman's Peak (it's been renamed something, can't remember what, ask at the info place) is pretty cool, so is mtn biking from Banff around the Rundle range to Canmore and back.