We recently started planning a trip to the Canadian Rockies and posted pictures from our last trip to encourage and inspire others to visit. All the pictures were taken from paved roads but one which is a trail picture. The drive from Banff to Jasper is one of the most scenic in North America.
We visit the Canadian Rockies once every ten years and so are planning our fourth trip. Previously, we flew into Calgary and drove one hour west to Banff with a car rental; flew into Seattle and drove one long day to Banff with a car rental; and finally drove from Iowa for more than three days to reach Banff for a tent camping trip with our kids. The Banff to Jasper corridor is an excellent one week destination if flying or driving from Seattle which we did on our first two trips. Passport in hand, our last trip border crossing was easy compared to our earlier trips prior to the passport requirements.
We purchased an annual Canadian National Park pass in a trip to Waterton CNP in August 2004 and then used the pass for a second trip to Banff and Jasper the following July so one pass can cover two explorations of Canada parks. The campgrounds functioned like our NP's with a mix of no reservation and all reservation campgrounds. No reservation campgrounds could fill in the late afternoon and of course during the weekends. Banff has many hotels but they can be expensive while the campground costs were similar to our parks. Purchasing the Parkways of the Canadian Rockies guidebook was invaluable to finding and seeing all the road accessible wonders including the top tier free fall waterfall, Takakkaw at over 1,000 feet. The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide is the most comprehensive trail book and the Trails Illustrated hiking maps are very useful for finding all the trails.
We do our trip planning one or more years in advance so this trip will not occur for awhile but we enjoy the research and planning during the winter months. We hope you are inspired.
We visit the Canadian Rockies once every ten years and so are planning our fourth trip. Previously, we flew into Calgary and drove one hour west to Banff with a car rental; flew into Seattle and drove one long day to Banff with a car rental; and finally drove from Iowa for more than three days to reach Banff for a tent camping trip with our kids. The Banff to Jasper corridor is an excellent one week destination if flying or driving from Seattle which we did on our first two trips. Passport in hand, our last trip border crossing was easy compared to our earlier trips prior to the passport requirements.
We purchased an annual Canadian National Park pass in a trip to Waterton CNP in August 2004 and then used the pass for a second trip to Banff and Jasper the following July so one pass can cover two explorations of Canada parks. The campgrounds functioned like our NP's with a mix of no reservation and all reservation campgrounds. No reservation campgrounds could fill in the late afternoon and of course during the weekends. Banff has many hotels but they can be expensive while the campground costs were similar to our parks. Purchasing the Parkways of the Canadian Rockies guidebook was invaluable to finding and seeing all the road accessible wonders including the top tier free fall waterfall, Takakkaw at over 1,000 feet. The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide is the most comprehensive trail book and the Trails Illustrated hiking maps are very useful for finding all the trails.
We do our trip planning one or more years in advance so this trip will not occur for awhile but we enjoy the research and planning during the winter months. We hope you are inspired.