CANADIAN ROCKIES - Road trip

PEYTO LAKE - off Icefields Parkway, Banff National Park

HOW TO GET THERE

This is a road trip, which we tackled in a hired Motorhome. You could do a similar trip with a hire car and Hotel/other accommodation. We started and finished in Vancouver. I suggest you will need an overnight stop on arrival somewhere close to where you’re picking up your vehicle. To conclude the trip you’ll need a few nights in Vancouver to savour some of the delights the City has to offer. We took 2.5 weeks for this trip, with 14 nights motorhome hire.

ROUTE

VANCOUVER

Head out of Vancouver on the Trans-Canada Highway 1, towards Hope. From Hope you're headed up the Fraser River Valley, staying on Highway 1, which now becomes the Fraser Canyon Highway.

BOSTON BAR

The journey from Vancouver to Boston Bar will take 2.5 hours, although you may take a lot longer to enjoy stops at the small towns, and the canyon and river along the way. However long you take to get there it will be well worth your while to make an overnight stop at this point. There is a good RV campsite just north of Boston Bar. Apart from the setting of this area, the major attraction is a short drive to Hell's Gate, where the cable car ride gives a spectacular view of the canyon and the Fraser River on your 900 foot descent. When you get off the cable car and down close to the river you will also be able to see the salmon runs, and there is an interesting exhibition telling you about the life cycle and journeys taken by the sockeye salmon.

Hell's Gate cable car, Fraser River

KELOWNA

A three hour drive will take you from Boston Bar to Kelowna, but you will be rewarded for taking it slower as you will pass some lovely sights along the way. Firstly in the upper reaches of the Fraser Valley before you head away on reaching the town of Vernon. Then you're travelling through the pretty Nicola valley to Merritt, before heading into the Okanagan valley with its unique micro climate where you'll find orchards, vineyards and beautiful lakes. At your overnight stop in Kelowna you'll find plenty of facilities.

Coldstream Valley- North Okanagan nr. Kelowna

NAKUSP

Your journey from Kelowna to Nakusp will take at least 3.5 hours but expect to take longer to enjoy the journey fully. To start with you're continuing in the Okanagan valley, then you're headed into the Kootenay region by crossing the 230 km long but very thin Arrow Lake. This will only take 5 minutes on the Needles Ferry, with sailings every half hour. You're headed slightly higher up on the other side of the lake to Nakusp.

Nakusp is a pretty little town with good facilities for your next stop, with the major draw being the nearby hot springs which has a smart pool in a spectacular setting. This will set you up for your onward journey.

KOKANEE CREEK

The journey to Kokanee Creek will only take a couple of hours but you will be breaking the journey at Kaslo on the Kootenay Lake. A small but smart town, here you will find the SS Moyie, the world's oldest surviving paddle stern wheel steam ship, which houses a nicely turned out museum. The ship sailed the lake for 59 years. The next door visitor information center is very useful.

KASLO - SS Moyie on Kootenay Lake

You then travel down the lake towards your overnight stop at Kokanee Creek.

Before continuing your journey you will want to spend some time looking around nearby Nelson, formerly a mining town exploiting copper-silver. Now a heritage town, with extensively renovated and preserved buildings. The visitor centre offers a leaflet for the Heritage Walking Tour.

FORT STEELE

From Nelson to Fort Steele it is a journey of around three hours.

Continuing on your journey you're heading south briefly to join the Crowsnest Highway 3 at Salmo, close to the US border, then you're in for a dramatic drive heading east down to Creston over the Kootenay Pass reaching nearly 6000 feet. Creston's mild climate allows growing of many fruits and vegetables.

FORT STEELE - heritage town

Fort Steele has over 60 restored buildings from the gold rush era, accompanied by guides in historical dress. An overnight stop nearby would be a good idea before continuing your journey.

GOLDEN

The 2.5 hour journey up towards the Rocky Mountains from Fort Steele to Golden has mile after mile of mountains and meadows. You're likely to stop and take in the air, probably spotting deer or other wildlife and taking time to enjoy the scenery. An overnight stop in the Golden area will set you up for your journey onward on the following day for the main target area of your trip - the Rockies.

Scene from Highways 93/5 between Fort Steele and Golden

BANFF

The journey from Golden to Banff is only 1.5 hours but you will pass Lake Louise on the way and you will enjoy a trek in the vicinity of this iconic location with its beautiful blue glacial waters and mountain backdrop. A lakeshore loop of 2.5 miles will take about an hour.

LAKE LOUISE

Banff itself has the expected shopping and other facilities, with the Whyte Museum of the Rockies offering art and photographs telling the history of the area. The outstanding attraction is the Gondola ride to the Sulphur Mountain summit 7,500 feet above the town, and offering fantastic views of the surrounding mountains.

BANFF - Gondola to Sulphur Mountain

WATERFOWL LAKES

Headed out of Banff past Lake Louise you'll start your trip up the Icefield Parkway. Most people tend to just continue along to Jasper with possibly a couple of brief stops, mainly the 'must see' sights near the road, or emergency stops when a bear and cubs are seen ambling near the road(you're not supposed to do this with plenty of signs forbidding it but folks do it anyway, at some peril to other motorists and the annoyance of the bears - Beware!). This really is a stretch of road that you shouldn't hurry, so planning an overnight stop and enjoying the trip over two days is the preferred way to travel here. You'll want to join the crowds to see the well known lakes and glaciers like Lake Peyto, Bow Lake and Bow Glacier but its nice to stop at some of the quieter viewpoints and take a short walk.

BOW LAKE - Icefield Parkway

There are spectacular views as you travel over the high point of the road at Bow Pass. Waterfowl Lakes has essential facilities for camping with trails, a good overnight stop to give you the following full day for the journey onto Jasper. You're likely to see deer, moose and bears at a distance on your walks and stops along the way.

JASPER

You've a hundred miles of Icefield Parkway left to enjoy on the way to Jasper from Waterfowl Lakes. The Athabasca Glacier is a major draw, part of the Columbia Icefield which is the largest snow cap south of the Artic Circle. Here you can touch and walk on the glacier. If you fancy getting further than a few slippery steps, a giant Snocoach will take you a fair distance onto the glacier.

Moose at Jasper campsite

Athabasca Glacier

Athabasca Falls

Snocoach on Columbia Icefield

Jasper is more of a proper town compared to the heavy tourism feel of Banff, and although it is smaller it has all the facilities you would expect. The train station on the main street welcomes and waves off the 'Rocky Mountaineer' tourism trains.

CLEARWATER

Your return journey to Vancouver will take a total of 8 hours, without allowing for stops, so you will need to break your journey to make it more manageable and enjoyable. An overnight stop at Clearwater(3.5 hours travel time), which is a pleasant spot, would allow you a reasonable final day's run into Vancouver(5 hours travel time).

VANCOUVER

There are some campsites close into Vancouver if you need a final night stop before returning your vehicle.

Vancouver itself is worth at least a few days exploration before your flight home. If you're staying downtown the City is easy to get around on foot. Although the walking is enjoyable you may want to supplement this with use of the Hop-On, Hop-Off trolley bus covering the City's main attractions including Granville Island, Gastown, Stanley Park and Chinatown. A visit to Dr Sun Yat Sen's Classical Chinese Garden is highly recommended. Also well worth while seeking out are the First Nation's art and artefacts at Hill's Indian Crafts and also the Inuit Gallery of Vancouver

Vancouver

Dr Sun Yat Sen Garden

First Nation totems- Stanley Park

Vancouver Harbour - Seaplane

Have a Safe journey home!

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