Non UK Canadian Rockies

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After a fantastic time in Iceland at the end of January, the wanderlust seem to have well and truly set in. After much deliberation (well not that much actually), I have booked a flight to Calgary in September this year and will be spending 16 days exploring the Canadian Rockies.
There is a ton of information on the 'net and millions of photos on Flickr to get inspiration from, but would appreciate any tips from any TP'ers who have made the trip before.

So far I have booked 8 nights in a hotel a mile or so south of Canmore and 8 days in a hotel in Valemount. Any comments on whether this is a good split, or recommendations as to other locations to stay at would be most welcome.

Many thanks in advance.
 
Hi Peter,

I do not speak from experience, but I am also looking into a visit to the Rockies. So far I have purchased a number of the eguides available on "Oopoomoo", which I would definitely recommend for photo location information.

Personally I'd work out what locations you want to visit and then decide on the best places to stay. We ideally like to be within a half hour drive of any sunrise locations just to make life a little easier and reduce the driving. You've got a decent length of time, so I'd be looking to stay in more than just two locations.

I'll look forward to any photos you post!
 
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for the reply. I have modified my itinerary a bit in that from Canmore I am going to Radium Springs then up to Saskatchewan River Crossing for a couple of nights (so I can do Highway 11), then up to Valemount where I stay for 5 days, then return via Saskatchewan River Crossing to Canmore for the last night before returning to Calgary Airport.
What is quite difficult in terms of coming up with an itinerary is that the accomodation is concentrated in a few towns, with little elsewhere (for example at the Saskatchewan River Crossing there is only 1 hotel!!!). The distances between towns is quite high too.
 
We had 6 nights in The Canadian Rockies in Sept 2008. It wasn't a photographic vacation as I was with my wife.
Day 1- Flew into Edmonton and picked up a rental car.
Day 2 - Visted a Ukrainian Heritage Village (adjacent to Elk Island NP) about an hours drive east of Edmonton. My wife's background is Ukrianian. We got lucky as it was "harvest day". (I can post a photograph if you like).
Day 3 Drove west to Jasper NP - We had booked a cabin for 3 nights at Pocahontas Cabins (Near Malign Canyon/Lake)
Day 4 Hiked down Maligne Canyon in the moring and then drove a bit firther to Maligne Lake , magical scenery and we had a snow fall!
Day 5 Explored around Lake Anne.

We thougrt Jasper NP was a magical place boith for scenery and wild life. Not crowded. I could have spent a week there.

Day 6 Drove down the Icefield Parkway to Johnston Canyon (between Lake Louise and Banff (town)) where we had another cabin booked for three nights. You could spend a couple of days on the Icefield Parkway however there is not a lot of accomodation.
Day 7 Raining so basically just explored Banff (town).
Day 8 To Lake Louse and afternoon hike up to the tea house at Lake Agnes (well worth while).
Day 9 Visited Moriane Lake (very beautiful) and did some hiking - Late in the afternoon drove to Calgary and caught a flight out to Quebec (city) to contiinue the remaing 4 weeks or so of our holliday (new England in the fall and flying back home to Australia via Paris - it is cheaper to continue flying arond the world than to fly back home from Easten North America)

We thought Banff NP was intense - A freeway and railroad thorough the park and large crowds even in September. Much preferred Jasper

Hope this helps.
 
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Hi Richard,
Thanks for the info. Great to hear about Jasper NP as I am spending 5 night (6 days) there, and am hoping to get to see quite a bit of it. I am staying in Valemount, so I am reasonably close to Jasper and especially Mount Robson (the area around which looks fabulous). I am also staying on the icefield parkway for 3 nights (at Sakatchewan River Crossing) I know what you mean about the lack of accommodation - it was pretty much Hobsons choice of The Crossing Resort when I looked to book. I will check out Lake Agnes (thanks for the tip).

Thanks for the heads up about Banff being busy too.

BTW - were the autumn colours out when you were there? I am going 10-26 September and was banking on 2 things -
1. The mosquitos would have decided to stay at home :-); and
2. There would be plenty of Autumn colour (or should that be color?)
 
Hi Peter

We went about the same time of year 2 years ago. We flew into Vancouver and out of Calgary 3 weeks later.

My advice would be to not stop too long in Canmore. It is right at the south end of the Rockies and there are much better places with better sights around higher up. Banff is awesome, both the town (very touristy) and the surrounding area. Lake Louise and moraine lake are stunning and well worth any time you spend at either.

The drive north to Jasper is incredible and you could stop at every turn to take pictures. Icefield Parkway is beautiful and the walk up to the Athabasca glacier worth it if only to see how much is disappearing and the rate it is melting is extremely alarming.

There are stunning waterfalls along the route, Athabasca, sunwapta, takakkaw to name a few. Lakes that are well worth a visit include, Louise, bow, moraine, emerald, maligne, moose, talbot, peyto (incredible), too many to mention and all you could stay a day at and still not be satisfied photographically!

All mountain ranges were just jaw dropping.

A couple of tips, make sure you drive the 93A south of Jasper as it is much more scenic and will be open in September rather than staying on the 93.

We didn't worry too much about pre booking accommodation and literally booked in the tourist information along the way for the next night. If we liked an area we booked 2-3 nights but that way you get to decide when you're there and how long you want to stay in the area. It's often cheaper too and we were able to beat them down on price when we arrived.

Be prepared also that you have to buy a ticket to be in the national parks and they range from a day to a years pass. We ended up buying a years pass as it was cheaper than the 2 weeks we stayed.

Whatever you decide to do, you won't regret it and pretty much everywhere is stunning.

If you need anymore info just let me know, be happy to help...

Rich

PS. No mossies but also no colour as you will be there too early for the autumn turn I think.
 
Sorry, forgot to say we drove the very long and winding route to Radium Hot Springs and tbh, felt there were many better roads and areas we had visited and were quite disappointed when we got there. So much so, we turned around and went straight back again!!!
 
We arrived in Canada on the 6 Sept - No mozzies and no autumn colours in the west. Probably about 3 weeks too early. We saw a lot of autumn by the time we departed, from Montreal, on 8 Oct). So you may get a little colour by the end of your holiday.
I am Australian so it is colour.
 
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Rich and Richard,
Thanks for the info. The tip on highway 93A is noted :-)
I am aware of the need for a park pass - were you able to purchase one locally, or did you have to get it posted to you at home beforehand?
I am surprised at you comments on the accommodation as Expedia, Booking.com etc all have fairly limited availability for the weeks I am there, to the point that I have struggled sometimes to get the twin rooms I need at a reasonable price.....
 
Hi Peter

You could easily buy a pass on the road at the kiosk as you enter or at the tourist information offices along the way. No discounts Anywhere so you may as well get them when you're there and know how long you're likely to spend in each park.

Accommodation is one of those things that everyone always say you should pre book but honestly we were NEVER told they had no rooms anywhere we went and trust me, we were picky at times! If is was going the same time as you are I would never pre book so I had maximum flexibility to keep driving if I wanted to or stay longer if desired. Also, the tourist info places offer things like cabins on holiday camp sites by the rivers etc. they are really cool as not too busy and much cheaper for one or two night stays.

Trust me tho, if you've never been, Canada is expensive for everything. Food, accom, parks, snacks, beer, everything. We had to stop ourselves after day 2 as we were in danger of constantly talking about how much everything cost the whole time. The only thing is that mostly (Jasper and Banff excepted) they aren't ripping you off. It's just the cost of life over there.

Whatever you do, you'll love it and I'm jealous just thinking about it.

Rich
 
Rich,
Thank you. I think I will buy an annual pass (as we will be in the parks for the whole of the 16 days we are there and the annual pass works out cheaper). Most of the accommodation I have booked can be cancelled at short notice without any penalty, so once I am there I can check out the tourist information offices and what they have to offer. I know Canada is expensive (I have relatives who live there) hence booking accommodation which (mostly) have kitchen facilities - I figured 16 days of eating in restaurants would probably break the bank !
 
Here's some notes I kept from a road trip from Vancouver - Calgary last year, some of which might be useful:

Road trip

One night harrison hot springs. Lakeside view resort. Very swanky appartments. Great location and beach.

3 nights in Beaver Creek Mountain resort outside kelowna. Okay. Nice little beach. Abit redneck. Lots of atv's. Nice cabin - duck, although it would be much better to stay down at the lake in a lakeside cabin. Steep steps not ideal for 1 year old. 140 dollars per night. Last night was in suite 1 which was much nicer - bigger, nice view of lake. So so place overall. Quite a few Mosquitos.

3 nights scotch creek, on shushwap lake. Much nicer than above. Much more expensive. Great central lawn area surrounded by 10-15 cabins. Loads of Mosquitos. Very close to the best salmon runs in the world. Cabin 4. Great veranda to sit out on and watch the kids. Nice jetty for boats etc.

2 nights Golden - Goldenwood lodge. Epic. Highlight place. Amazing views and wildlife. We stayed in bear den - fairly spacious place stunning views of Rockies with fire pit etc.

2 nights Jasper - pinewood cabins. Real nice , on river. Big pine cabins. Abit like euro camp.
Couldn't get into Patricia Lake Cabins as they were full, looked nicer - Patricia and pyramid lakes were really nice, quiet and great for kids swimming.

The Icefield Parkway was the high light part of the holiday.

Becker Cabins looked real nice aswell on the way out of the park. Also on the river.

1 night Lake Louise - paradise lodge.
Very nice suite. Over 300 dollars though, drove to lake so might have well have tried to stay 10-15 minutes further out for less. Great breakfast in restaurant above visitors centre - looked crap from outside.

Drive down the parkway from lake Louise to Canmore, instead of highway one. Top tip.

2 nights Canmore - Canadian Rockies chalets.
Very good, cheep. Half the price of LL, one of the nicest suites we stayed in. Hot tub. On wrong side of railway tracks, but can easily walk accross crossing into town. Nicer town than Banff, and cheaper. "Communitea" cafe was recommended, and was really nice. Two jacks lake was great for kids and photography, as was he drive round the next lake beyond
 
Avoiding highway 1 between lake Louise and Canmore and using the paralel back road was a top tip from a local friend - they don't signpost it to try and keep most people on the highway. Much more scenic
 
Dan,
Thanks for the tips - I had heard about Highway 1A. I have 1 night in the Canadian Rockies Chalets on my last night...
 
We spent one night in Valemount on a overnight stopover driving from Whistler to Jasper....There is NOTHING there....seriously we struggled finding a place to eat & we were only there one night....ever is closed down!
 
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