Glacier and Revelstoke CNP

[iowahiker]

During our summer 2015 Canadian Rockies trip we spent one week in the Glacier/Revelstoke Canadian National Parks area of British Columbia. Revelstoke CNP has a long paved road to high country views and no campground. Glacier CNP is best described as a hiking park with two campgrounds suitable for both tents and smaller RVs. The weather during our stay in July was cloudy with periods of rain and so we have no pictures from Revelstoke CNP and all Glacier CNP pictures are from trails.

The two non-reserveable campgrounds at Glacier CNP are a short drive west of Rogers Pass and have a good selection of sites available in the early afternoon everyday (other than holidays) since many travelers break their Vancouver to Banff journey here and so leave in the morning. The lower or western campground is smaller but contains larger and more level camping sites. The upper campground provides great access to the trail system with most trails climbing around 700+/- meters (2000 feet). Many trails have Grizzly bear activity and require a hiking party of at least four adults. We found other hikers from the Netherlands, Australia, Austria, and French Canadian from the trailhead postings and enjoyed our international hiking groups.

Glacier CNP trail views:

 

[longhorn1]

Great pictures and report. British Columbia is high on the bucket list. jd

Sent from my SM-G900V using Wander The West mobile app

 

[craig333]

Fantastic scenery. Unfortunately last time I was up that neck of the woods I was ten.

 

[steelhead]

Very nice photos of very nice places - thanks for sharing. Like longhorn1, the Canadian Rockies are high on our bucket list too.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Very beautiful shots.That is some wild country.
Thanks.
Frank

 

[Timothy McGowen]

Great photos. Another one for the bucket list.

 

[iowahiker]

Thank you. The Kananaskis to Banff to Lake Louise to Jasper is a much more scenic and compact touring route than Revelstoke and Glacier CNP. Glacier CNP is a top tier hiking destination if you are fit with most hikes around 700 meters (2000 feet) of climbing but not excessively long hikes. Getting up and on the road or trail early, 8-9 am, is the best way to avoid the crowds in the busy summer season and then into a campground early enough to get a nice site and have a beer (root beer).

Also, try to avoid Canadian national holidays or settle into a camp site a couple of days before the start of the holiday period and hunker down. Canadians go out and camp in huge numbers during holidays.

 

[ski3pin]

More spectacular terrain to explore!

 

[Tuff Guy 62]

Absolutely breathtaking.

Thank you for sharing with us.

 

[N'kwala]

Spent lots of Canadians Thankgivings here. Love Glacier although it can be really wet.

 

[MuleHawk]

We spent some time there this July and unfortunately we had near constant rain and heavy cloud cover. Still beautiful!


www.mulehawk.com

 

[Lighthawk]

Truly spectacular! Your photos are compelling.

Your comments about min four hikers per group regards grizzly is an eye opener.
Safety in numbers? Are dogs okay in this environment?

 

[Vic Harder]

Truly spectacular! Your photos are compelling.

Your comments about min four hikers per group regards grizzly is an eye opener.
Safety in numbers? Are dogs okay in this environment?

I had heart that there apparently has never been a bear attack on a group of 6. 4 is new to me. Dogs are not safe, as they go "fetch" the bear and bring it back to you to play with. And generally dogs are not allowed (even on leash) in the trails in the National Parks.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Great photos! Glacier may be my next trip.

 

[MuleHawk]

I had heart that there apparently has never been a bear attack on a group of 6. 4 is new to me. Dogs are not safe, as they go "fetch" the bear and bring it back to you to play with. And generally dogs are not allowed (even on leash) in the trails in the National Parks.

Dogs are allowed virtually everywhere in the Parks Canada system. At some points of the season and circumstances the park may issue a 4 person group notice on trails, fines up to $5k if you don't follow the mandatory notice!


www.mulehawk.com

 

[iowahiker]

The four person per hiking group rule is down from six several years ago. The research we read online said no group of six adults has suffered an injury from a Grizzly. We assumed the reduction from six to four adults per hiking group was to allow better access to the highest and most difficult hikes (imagine trying to find six people at the same place and time capable of day hiking with a climb of over 1000 meters). We saw no dog restrictions other than requiring a leash. Some areas of Lake Louise as well as Glacier CNP have the four adults rule. We hiked two Glacier CNP trails which did not require 4+ adults as well as the gather a group hikes. Our groups were generally six or eight to avoid stranding a couple at the trail head. Thank you for the comments and we find traveling in the Canadian Rockies easy so long as you either have reservations or avoid changing non-reservation sites during a weekend/holiday.