Western Canada Roadtrip! - suggestions & info

[Rollin]

Good information here. We fly into Seattle and out of Denver for a 3 week road trip in late July. Trying to work out a scenic route for Vancouver, Jasper, Banff and then to Glacier NP and Yellowstone. Fancy Vancouver Island now too.

[chrisga]

Something else I think that hasn't been mentioned is that a lot of the national parks areas in Canada require passes for the car. Before we went we bought a valid national season pass off ebay over here and used that. Not sure if its strictly legal or not, but as we used it for 2 weeks and it had months left to run we then sold it on again when we got back.

Oh and I got a parking ticket in Jasper on Christmas Eve for parking on the wrong side of the road - bah humbug. Apparently under the Alberta Traffic Safety Act it's an offence to drive across the centre line to park facing against the direction of travel!

Still, rules are there to control the fun huh......

[Thunderace]

Pierscoe1 said:

Symbolica - Excellent set of tips, thanks!

Leithen - good to know re Okanagan. Might add a day there somewhere...

calgarytrainnut - good info, cheers. Revelstoke is on there really just to break up the drive, as Kelowna>Jasper is best part of 7hrs! We'll be in hotels/motels.

Ucluelet sounds great, but I'm not sure we have time... it's quite a trek from say Victoria, so would need an extra night or two to enjoy, and don't know where I'd take them from.

Just been googling the transport... ferry terminals seem quite a way from town at both ends, so seems pointless to pay for busses etc when we will have the car (although it'll cost a bit on the ferry I suppose)

So I think we'll cut a night from Victoria, and just add it to Vancouver, as there's lots there I want to see.

Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver
Victoria (ferry over in the morning, then whale watching trip)
Kelowna (after catching ferry back)
Revelstoke
Jasper
Jasper
Jasper
Jasper
Banff
Banff
Banff
Banff
Fly Out

Maybe swap one of those Jasper nights for a bit more time in the Okanagan area? maybe...
would love to squeeze in Ucluelet, but it'd mean ferry + 2.5hr drive from Nanaimo to get there, one afternoon there, then 4hr drive back to Victoria the next day, where we'd have to squeeze in the whale watching in that afternoon... that seems a lot of effort and travel for an afternoon.

THanks again everybody... really appreciate all the input

Edited by Pierscoe1 on Friday 19th June 19:26

You could do the whale watching at Ucluelet or Tofino, there are several operators at both ends. Bear watching is also available.

I can recommend these :-

Mike White

Dixie IV

Archipelago

The beauty of these boats is that they go at a much more relaxed pace than the ribs and are more comfy with bogs and coffee on board. They're good camera platforms. We try to go out with Mike in particular every time we're out there.

We've travelled to BC every year since 1996, sometimes twice a year. Used to start in Vancouver every year and travel around looking to go somewhere new each time. Eventually settled on Pacific Rim (Ukee/Tofino and the beaches) as a favourite place and all our trips now end up there with a single night back in Vancouver before flying home. Last year was nearly a month over there starting in Calgary for the Stampede and only spending one night at Revelstoke when we across drove to the ferry. This year we're not going until October, starting in Northern Alberta to photograph moose then getting across to Ukee as quickly as we can.

Wherever you choose to spend your time won't be wrong . . . there's fantastic scenery and activities everywhere. Canadians tend to be very friendly too.

[havoc]

We used Eagle Wing out of Victoria - they've got 2x multi-passenger powerboats - no chance taking photos at speed, but they stop when they spot a pod so wasn't a problem. Think there was one head on board. And they can get quite a long way to find a pod.

Journey back was good fun too...getting late (and dark...been out >1hr longer than scheduled) so they turned the wick up the whole way back...

[Pierscoe1]

thanks for hte links thunderace, and Martin.

Was going to ask about the park passes... when we did our last American parks roadtrip, we got an annual pass that made it all quite cheap. Think it was $80 or something, for access to jsut about all of them as much as you like...

[calgarytrainnut]

Afternoon all (at least for me!)

Yes, a National Park Pass is required for national parks in Canada. There are (were?) two of them; one for Eastern Canada and one for Western Canada. If you find a used one, the expiry is on the front. They're plastic and hang from the rear view mirror. Can't remember what I paid for mine but the rates are online.

Pierscoe1, looked at you prelim itinery and as others have said, the entire province is beautiful and you cannot go wrong with places to visit. You appear to have 4 priorities. In chronological order - Vancouver, whales, Jasper, and Banff.

Vancouver - have fun. Great City.

Whales. It's been a long time since I've done this but both times were in Tofino and we saw the gray whales that summered there. No orcas or humpbacks. Friends have done tours out of Victoria and saw orcas. All I can suggest is Google the heck out of the choices and pick one. The speedier the watercraft, the more area they can cover. Some of the outfits use the speedier boats to turn customers faster and run more trips too though. Just saying.

Jasper and Banff. Have fun. Banff is literally my backyard.

Now, if you were my guest and I was make a suggestion. Take two days to get to Jasper from the Island, or cut a day or two from Jasper. Choice 1, spend another day on the Island, then zip to Kamloops (treat it only as a clean bed for overnight despite what you've been told about it) then straight up to Jasper. Highways 1, 5, 16. Choice 2 opens up a lot of possibilities. Stay with one or two nights on the Island, to Kelowna, to Golden, to Jasper, to Banff. Highways 1, 5, 97C, 97, 97A, back on 1, 93. In the Okanagan there are the wineries, the lakes, and Myra Canyon. Between Revelstoke and Golden is something on my bucket list in Glacier National Park. There are some hikes right off the highway:

Google day hikes in Glacier National Park Canada and click on the Parks Canada site. Check the Great Glacier Crest Trail. Or the others. (Silly http://www.pc.gc.ca/ webpages do not give a url that is unique to be copied and pasted.) Usual bear caveats.

Here's the opportunity to visit the birthplace of mountaineering in Canada and to see the moraine from the Great Glacier. Which was receding when discovered in the 1880's. Avoid the old hotel at the visitors' centre at the top of Roger's pass though; which means the nearest restaurants are in Revelstoke or Golden. The visitors' centre is great though. Do pop in.

If going this way, drive the Icefields Parkway both ways between Jasper and Banff. Stop at the Icefields and do the tour. Stop at Peyto Lake and marvel. And the rest of the stops.

The scenery between Sicamous and Banff and then on the Parkway is stupendous. The rest is merely great. The drive is part of the adventure and is not just travelling time.

Whatever you do, you'll have fun.

Cheers!

[Pierscoe1]

calgarytrainnut said:

Pierscoe1, looked at you prelim itinery and as others have said, the entire province is beautiful and you cannot go wrong with places to visit. You appear to have 4 priorities. In chronological order - Vancouver, whales, Jasper, and Banff.

Now, if you were my guest and I was make a suggestion. Choice 2... Stay with one or two nights on the Island, to Kelowna, to Golden, to Jasper, to Banff.

Excellent info... thanks!

...and choice 2 sounds like a good idea to me... I was thinking of taking one of hte jasper nights and swapping it to the okanagan... but Golden is another good idea.

I'll read through the links you suggested tonight.

[Thunderace]

Wherever you go in BC you're likely to see eagles, in trees, flying, fishing if you're lucky.

If you fancy seeing them up close and personal this is a good place, along with lots of other raptors. An hour or so North of Victoria.

Raptors

[Super Slo Mo]

We did a similar trip in 2005, only in reverse, Calgary to Vancouver via Jasper. We landed just in time for the centenary Stampede too, which was quite good.

My favourite part though was going to Maligne Lake from Jasper, then taking the boat trip (although you can hire canoes too, which would be good I think). The silence up there is deafening, it's an amazingly tranquil place.

I was also based in Vancouver for 9 weeks in 2010 for the Olympics. As others have said, it's a city I could easily live in or nearby. Mind you, I could say the same for Ottawa which is where I am currently

Canada's great, easily one of my favourite countries, I'd love to live here.

[Pierscoe1]

Right... itinerary's all set now...

I shall report back in a couple of months with many photos

Thanks for everybody's help!

[Rollin]

As mentioned, we fly to Seattle in late July and have 3 weeks to get to Denver. We've sorted out the route from Glacier NP in the US to Denver, but are trying to sort out a trip into Canada from Seattle.

We'd like to get the car ferry from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo, Vancouver Island and have a couple of nights there. Really like the look of Tofino but not sure if its too far to drive from Nanaimo (Google says 3 hrs). If we don't get there, can someone recommend somewhere good to stay for a couple of nights. We don't mind roughing it and aren't looking for any posh resorts. Quite fancy places like this http://www.freespiritspheres.com/ .

After Vancouver Island we are heading up to Jasper and have 2 or 3 nights to get there. Need suggestions for stop offs along the way. Doesn't need to be a town, cabins/tents in the middle of nowhere is acceptable.

From Jasper, we fancy the going down the Icefields parkway to Banff/Lake Louise for a couple of nights.

We're also looking for a decent route down to Glacier NP in the US. Currently looking at the 95 and then 93 but any scenic suggestions welcome.

Thanks for the PM from a Pher offering help BTW.

[Super Slo Mo]

We stayed at 100 Mile House, which was one of the first stops north of Vancouver during the gold rush (I think). As with many of these little towns, it's only a 2 horse kind of place, but there's a little museum there, and it's friendly, as is everywhere in Canada I've found.

If I remember rightly, from Jasper it took us a full day to drive there as we went the opposite way to you, despite it not being that far in terms of distance.

[calgarytrainnut]

Hi Pierscoe1. Good to hear. Enjoy!

Super Slo Mo, yes Jasper to 100 Mile House is a bit of a jaunt. Google Maps is incorrect on the time. No way can you make it in 5 hours.

Rollin, if you don't get out to Tofino there are lots of places to visit on the island. Basically just pick something on the map north of Parksville or part way to Tofino. I use Trip Advisor for ratings. Island to Jasper gives you some choices of routes; all good. If it really comes down to it, since you are comfortable roughing it, base your choices on your comfortable driving distances and just find the closest camp grounds. A question that I usually ask and not everyone is comfortable answering is what are your interests? If I get an answer then I point people toward things that coincide with an interest. Jasper to Banff/Lake Louise is the Parkway. That is a must as is the Columbia Icefields on that route. Now to get from Banff to Glacier, head to Canmore on #1, then south through Kanaskis and go over the Highwood Pass to Longview. Highway 22 to #3 takes you down the foothills of the Rockies. That's the area where movies like Open Range, Brokeback Mountain, Unforgiven, etc. were filmed. Just for the look and scenery. And you pass within spitting distance of EP Ranch. You might recognize the King who used to own that. When you hit #3, the Crowsnest Highway, you can pick out which way into the States. As you are heading to the Going To the Sun Highway. You are going to drive that, right? And Yellowstone.

Cheers!

Michael