Hi,
we are a family traveling in a large RV to west canada this upcomming August.
We are planning on spending 2 days on the icefields parkway as part of a 3 week trip
we will start the parkway from Jasper and end in Lake Louise.
My questions are(i appologize in advance if my questions seem silly but its our first time in the area):
1. Are there any places we wont be able to stop at on the way, do to travelling in a large motorhome?
2. Is it possible to turn around on the road? for instance we plan to visit the glacier, no matter how early we get there, it might be a bit of a waite due to many tourists, can we book a tour , than go down/up the road and come back to the point for the glacier tour easilly? or if we go down/up the road is it kilometers until we would find a place to turn back?
3. I know the campsites on the parkway are first come first served, which of them would be a good place to stay at considering our direction?
4. If we want to get a spot early i come back again to the same question as before, if we stop early to enter a camp can we continue to travel and come back?
thank you in advabce for any info on the matter
sharon
In this year of heavy visitation in the Parks ... You will be lucky (stopping early in the day)to find space in even designated "overflow" sites. As the drive can be done in one long day ... Have a acceptable site reserved for the days before & after the attempt ... As parkong at attraction sites will be limited for a large coach. Plan on "wheels turning" for the day ... good luck ! carracar
Hi carcar.
Thnx for the reply. I'm not a native English speaker so I didn't quite understand some of the things that Pls.excuse my questions but
That you wrote.
We know it's a buisy year and like all the other tourists we too have our free pass.... So we understand it will be hard to find camping. I have reserved every night in the rockies except for that one night we plan on staying on the icp.
What I didn't catch from your answer is whether it is possible to turn around on the road?
If so we think we will try to get to the parking at the colombia glacier early as we can and try to get a spot while we waite for the trip to the glacier. After that we will like to continue back and forth so that is basically my main question. Is it possible?
- How long is your RV? That is a key factor. RVs over a certain length are not permitted on the road to Edith Cavell Meadows. They are also instituting a pass system for parking at Edith Cavell - not info yet on how or when to get the pass. RVs are permitted on the road to Takkakaw Falls, but generally have to reverse around the two hairpin turns - heavy traffic on the road, so not suggested unless you can do the turns quite quickly (i.e. not hold up traffic).
Parking can also be an issue at the major sites (Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Johnston Cayon, Maligne Canyon, Maligne Lake) and townsites because RVs are restricted to RV spaces and those are very limited. In Banff area, best to stick with public transport or walking when you are in/near the townsite. For Jasper, probably try to go the townsite at off peak times. And hit the major attractions early in the morning or late in the afternoon/early evening.
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Yes - it would not be safe to do a U-turn just anywhere, but as long as you have decent RV driving skills, you can turn around in any of the parking areas/pullovers etc. Again, depending on the size of your RV, if some parking areas or pullovers are busy, you may not be able to fit or find it hard to turn around. But I can imagine you'd go more than 10-15 minutes without some way to safely turn around.
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A shame you are only driving the parkway once, but if you do it over two days, hopefully you will maximize you chances of good weather. As to campgrounds - well, again, it depends on the size of your RV. Most of the first-come, first-serve campgrounds are suggested for smaller (i.e. under 25-27ft) RVs. Larger RVs have been fit into the campsites, but only with very good parking skills. If you are over 30ft, it won't work and you will need to choose one of the few places that can accommodate vehicles of that size. Note that even if a campground can accommodate larger RVs, not all sites can fit larger RVs. If your RV is over 30ft, I'd strongly suggest booking that night as well. Otherwise you could be out of luck.
I would also book that night if it's a weekend or it's anywhere between August 3 and 7. The latter is a holiday and even overflow lots will likely be filled to capacity -- you'd need to arrive by Wednesday probably to secure a site in a first come, first serve campground.
Along the parkway, I suspect Rampart Creek is your best bet as it can accommodate larger RVs
- Yes. Generally you cannot secure a campsite before checkout time (11am), so you'd have to arrive after that time. When you pay for your spot (generally with cash or credit card info and dropped into a box - first come, first serve campgrounds are generally not staffed full time), you fill out a card. That card is clipped to the number post at the campsite and marks the site as being taken. You can come and go as you please. Most people leave chairs etc. to mark the spot, but ensure that you do NOT leave anything edible/scented, including coolers or bags with food/drinks/scented items inside.
Yes - you will be able to explore around while waiting for the glacier tour. But probably not necessary - they are very efficient at getting you into a tour, so it's usually not much of a wait. And you can spend some of that time looking at the excellent displays in the building, walking to the toe of the glacier (neat trail with display boards) etc.
In respect of visiting the Athabasca Glacier (Columbia Icefields), I'm not sure what the issue is ... there is a large carpark for RVs (and cars) very close to the Visitor Centre, tours, and everything else. Is there a need to do a U-turn?
Here is the Google Earth view showing the layout.
Ksneds, thank you for your informative respond.
Our Rv will be a large one between 30-32 ft.(it's a rental and there are a few models for the one we booked, they don't promise certainty of the model).
You say it would be best to book a Campground for that night as well, are there campgrounds that accept reservations on the parkway? I only found first come first serve. If you know of any I will be more than happy to book that night as well and not worry.
I can't see a huge advantage in driving the Icefields Parkway over two days rather than one ... it is a superb drive, but it only takes one day to enjoy it.
I would use that extra night at Lake Louise, where there is a wide range of great things to explore, and every extra day is richly rewarded.
Thank you sunbird, planning the 2 days was in order to be able to enjoy all the sites and hike a little. We are with kids and the Colombia glacier and the lookout us a must attraction. I think only these two sites might take a long time... That is why we are looking to staying on the parkway. I think our best chance is the rv lot at the Colombia glacier for yo the size of our rv and it seems they have plenty of space. Also it is the end of August and not a week end. Hopefully this will work for us.
What are overflow lots? Are there on the parkway?
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