Dirtbagging the Canadian Rockies: Cheap Trips, Expensive Places Part 3

I haven't seen all the mountains, but of the ones I have, the Canadian Rockies are solidly in the top 3 ranges for spectacular-ness (with New Zealand's Southern Alps and Patagonia, if you're wondering). They are so freaking pretty - a seemingly endless sea of hanging glaciers and turquoise lakes and snow capped peaks.  To me, the Canadian Rockies look like what I imagined mountains would look like as a kid growing up among the corn fields of Ohio. 

They also are no secret. Visit during the relatively short summer and at the most popular spots you'll be joined by tens of thousands of others, to the point that parking and road infrastructure in Banff and Jasper is swamped beyond its ability to cope. An average hotel room in the Banff/Jasper corridor can easily cost $300 per night, and national park camp sites get booked up months in advance. It's an easy place to have your experience destroyed by the crowds and cost of travel.

Thankfully though, those types of crowds and costs are for less savvy travelers than yourselves, and you can absolutely figure out how to hang out in the Rockies during the high season without breaking the bank, and even find some solitude. I know, because we just did.

Our route, more or less. We traveled it in a clockwise fashion.

Finding ourselves without a place to stay for the month of August, this year Angel and I decided to fulfill a long-time ambition by spending a big hunk of summer in the Rockies. ​Being the people we are, we did almost zero pre-planning, threw our kayaks and tent in the Element, and figured things out as we went. In the end our experience took the form of an extended road trip loop punctuated by multiple kayaking and hiking excursions, with a few town days, some wine tasting, and a few too many brewery stops. We spent a week in Canmore to do some work online, but mostly we slept outside in either provincial or national parks. 

For some rough logistics, we started our trip in Tacoma, WA, drove north through Vancouver (to meet up with a friend), then up through Whistler and Pemberton. We drove to Bowron Lakes Provincial Park on the western edge of the Rockies, then drove east to Mt Robson Provincial Park, south through Jasper and Banff, crashed in Canmore, went south to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, west to Yoho, Glacier, and Mt Revelstoke National Parks, then south through Kelowna and Penticton before heading back through Eastern Washington to home. 

I haven't done exact calculations, but I just scrolled back through our accounts and we spent less than $3000 for the month. That's not nothing, but to me it's pretty darn good for two people to have seen all that we saw. It was definitely worth it for a month-long bucket list trip.

​Here's what we learned that you should know. This might be a little bit "what I did on my summer vacation"-ish, but I'm writing with the intention of helping you do the same.

First, 9 general rules...

1. The Canadian Rockies are HUGE. They stretch roughly from the US border 1000 miles north to Northern BC/Alberta, and from east to west something like 400 miles. The plains are to their east, but to their west, north and south the Canadian Rockies are surrounded by more mountain ranges. Some of the southern portion of the Rockies is over-touristed, but if you want wilderness, you can surely find it. Our trip was almost entirely in the most heavily visited parts of the range, during one of the busiest months, and while it felt overwhelmingly busy in the tourist centers at times, even then it wasn't a huge task to get away from the crowds.
2. In related business, there are lots of national and provincial parks in the Canadian Rockies, and generally speaking the provincial parks are a bit less busy than the national parks, with the exception of Mt Robson Provincial Park, which felt just as busy as Jasper, and Mt Revelstoke National Park, which felt generally less busy than any other park we visited.  
3. If you're flying in, I'd recommend Calgary over Edmonton. It's closer to the Rockies, and a generally more likable city, in my opinion.
4. If your primary experience of the Canadian Rockies is the drive between Banff and Jasper on the Icefields Parkway, it will all feel gross and overrun and exorbitantly expensive. It's genuinely stunning here, and it's worth the trip, but try not to make this your primary experience of the Canadian Rockies, if you have a choice.
5. No matter where you go, an hour or two of effort (hiking, biking, paddling, climbing) will reliably get you away from the worst of the crowds, as will an hour or two of rain.
6. Free car camping on public land is widespread outside of the parks. Paid car camping can be competitive to find inside the parks but isn't ridiculously expensive. There are no real budget options to sleep in a hotel anywhere in the parks, but plenty on the periphery of the parks. Before you go, download the iOverlander App. It's the best resource for finding camping, boondocking and other types of cheap road trip accommodation and services.
7. Even for hike- or paddle-in sites, received wisdom is that everything in the southern Rockies books up months in advance and you won't be able to do what you want in the summer if you haven't planned ahead. But what we found is that if you're a little bit flexible you can find stuff to do and places to camp on the day of pretty much anywhere, even in Banff and Jasper. My theory - the further in advance people feel they have to book, the more likely they are to cancel their reservations when the time comes. Which means lots of things open up last minute.
8. ...so don't be afraid to just show up and ask at the park office if you want to do something. You might not get exactly what you want (but then again you might - we did, in every case), but because literally everything is awesome there, you'll get something cool.  
9. The provincial parks are just as spectacular as the national parks. My three favorite trips from the month were all in provincial parks - Bowron Lakes, Mt Robson, and Peter Lougheed. The national parks are incredible, but so is everything else.

...and now the specifics.

While I can't give you a full Canadian Rockies guidebook, I can give you a decent introduction by talking about the places we went and the stuff we did. After spending a bit of time before the trip looking at the options of awesome places to spend a month, they're the areas we settled on, as well as a couple of surprise gems that we found along the way. These are the things we learned, a few crucial hot tips, and some photos of pretty places. 

Bowron Lakes

While it wasn't the most spectacular mountain scenery we saw, paddling a portion of the Bowron Lakes Circuit was maybe my personal favorite part of the whole month - it was relaxing, beautiful, and felt like a real wilderness experience. For a short orientation, the Bowron Lakes are a 116 km (or 72 mile) chain of lakes and streams that, unusually, form a square shaped circuit that hundreds of hearty Canadians visit time and time again to canoe or kayak, usually across about a week, during the nice parts of summer. The circuit is frequently compared to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, but with mountains. I can confirm that it's SO nice - remote, beautiful, peaceful, the very picture of idyllic wilderness lake paddling despite the fact that it's a popular destination. 

You can take trips of theoretically any length in the park, from day trips up to the full circuit, but because of the flow of the lakes and the system of permitting, most people either do the full circuit, or an out and back on the Western side of the circuit. We were worried we couldn't fit the whole thing in, and we were in folding kayaks so not the best tool for the job, so we spent four days doing the Western circuit. In retrospect, it probably would have been possible to fit the whole thing in, but we still loved it.

Key things to know if you want to take a stunning multi-day paddling excursion in the Bowron Lakes surrounded by moose and bear and idyllic scenery, which you might not find on the website.

• Conventional wisdom is that you should plan way ahead for this trip, as it books out up to a year in advance for the best portion of the season. Our wisdom: in those sorts of scenarios, same day availability is pretty darn likely because when you plan something a year in advance, things change and people cancel. We showed up and were able to get permitting for the next day, even on the tail end of a holiday weekend in August. No guarantees, but if you're a lazy planner, don't immediately write this off just because received wisdom is that permits are always booked up months in advance - especially if you have your own boats and some flexibility. There's a provincial park campground right at the start of the circuit, and the story's the same - conventional wisdom is that it's frequently full in summer, but we found a site day of, arriving early in the day.
•  There are in fact lots of mosquitos, and that impacts your experience, but hey, you're here to paddle, not hang out in camp. Other wildlife - also abundant. We saw 5 moose and a black bear swimming across a lake. It was magical.
• Buy your supplies way before you get anywhere close to the Provincial Park. This place takes a long time to drive to, and the closer you get the smaller towns are, and the more expensive groceries get. Coming from the West side, we'd recommend stocking up in Quesnel (which is hours away) if you want anything like affordable groceries. Wells is a reasonable distance from the park and has a small grocery, but choice is extremely limited and prices are a little bit silly. There are two outfitter type places at campgrounds in Bowron Lakes with limited hours, few choices, and exorbitant prices, but you can pick up basic supplies there in a pinch.
• The weather for us was perfect - hot even. We skinny dipped and almost never changed out of bathing suits and were on flat water the entire trip. The previous week paddlers were caught in a persistent downpour and people had to fight off hypothermia, hail, wind and waves. Anything in between is possible all season. Gird your loins.
• 5/5 stars. Highly recommended.

Mt Robson Provincial Park

Mt Robson Provincial Park is just west of Jasper National Park, and for my money was just as beautiful. We hiked the Berg Lake Trail, and I would rate it as one of the most spectacular short backpacking trips I've ever been on. It's all glaciated peaks shooting out of turquoise lakes - exactly what I picture when I picture the Canadian Rockies. There are a variety of camping options, so there are a lot of possibilities here - you can do some amazing day hikes, or stretch it out into 2 - 4 days. We spent 3 days and 2 nights, and that allowed us to have a good experience of the area - enough to get out on some side trips and away from crowds, and to not feel too stressed that one of the days was interrupted by a bit of rain. Our hot tips for this trip:

• Good lord it's beautiful - even if you can only get out for a day hike there, prioritize it. We saw a fair number of trail runners making an intrepid day of it - I think the full route was a 28 mile out and back that would make for one of the prettiest big days imaginable. There is some climbing, but the terrain is relatively friendly if you're a fit hiker/runner.
• Also, there will be other people there. It's really busy, with helicopters flying in kayakers and hikers to some of the further up shelters and campsites even. That can be obnoxious, it's true, but it's also true that we took a 10km side jaunt from the busiest point on the trail to get the view in the photo above, and we didn't see anyone else on that portion of trail. As if normally the case, if you walk a mile from the most popular spots, you'll find solitude.
• With the popularity, received wisdom again is to book way ahead. Again, we managed to show up at the ranger station and get permits on the same day for two nights during a decent weather window. Maybe it was luck, but the odds are in your favor, I think, for cancellations if you have some degree of flexibility and the ability to hike 10 - 15 miles to the further out camp sites. If you have time and want to do this one, don't write it off just because you haven't planned ahead.

Jasper/Banff

Jasper and Banff are two large National Parks that interconnect and protect some of the most spectacular parts of the Canadian Rockies. They're also the belly of the beast when it comes to over-tourism in the area. You should absolutely go there, but also be prepared for what you'll find.

First things first, the core infrastructure of Banff/Jasper looks like two small namesake cities within the National Park with a 232 km busy tourist highway connecting them (the Icefields Parkway) and providing access to other areas of the park. These are all beautiful places, but they are also to some degree places that, if you go during the summer high season, will need to be endured as much as enjoyed. The towns of Banff and Jasper are both pleasant enough, and beautifully situated, but also good luck finding a hotel for less than $200/night or a reasonably priced meal. The Icefields Parkway is punctuated by places that you should totally visit - Bow Lake, the Columbia Icefield, Athabasca Falls, Lake Louise - but when you do be prepared to be surrounded by hoards of tourists pouring out of buses and stopping in inopportune places to take photos. Rest assured that if you hike out more than 5 km you will find relative solitude, but prepare for this crush of humanity and embrace it for what it is rather than allowing bitterness to creep in. 

These NPs are highly developed and highly regulated, even more so than in most US NPs, if I can make that anecdotal assessment. Boondocking and free camping aren't really a thing, and hike in or paddle in camp sites will all be in designated spots that require getting permits. This is the only place on the entire trip where we got a little stressed about finding somewhere affordable to sleep without pre-planning, but to calm your worries we did still manage. 

We've been to this area at least a half dozen times, usually in the shoulder season, and here are a few thoughts.

• It's amazing here all year. Late Spring and Early Fall can be great options because crowds are somewhat dispersed, but weather can be really cold even then, and snow lingers well into June/July, and can fall any time of the year, so prep for the conditions. Also some of the best skiing you will find anywhere is here, and the season is long - November to May, generally. Most is around Banff, but Jasper also has some ski areas - they're much less crowded I'm told, because Calgarians can't easily pop up for the day or weekend. It's not cheap there, but SO pretty and so many options. Summer feels the busiest - to me, to the point of unpleasantness at times.
• Even in our fancy-free summer visit to Jasper, it wasn't hard to find a place to stay for a few days, because they have an overflow camping site where we were told "there are always sites available". That seemed true, and it was fine, and surprisingly affordable - $10/night. That sight is on the outskirts of the park, but it wouldn't be a terrible option for a first timer who didn't plan ahead in the high season to stay there for a week and just make day trips around if you didn't want to fight for sites closer in or pay for ridiculously priced hotels. 
• We also managed to find a next day camping permit for a paddle in site on Maligne Lake - one of the most popular spots in the park and one of the places we really wanted to go - so even in Jasper our lack of planning didn't prevent us from seeing things we wanted to see.
• We did almost get ourselves into a pinch by leaving late in the day from Jasper and planning to find a spot to camp between there and Banff. Lots of sites along the Icefield Parkway are first come first serve, but tip: most of the car camping sites along the way will fill earlier in the day than 9 pm. The good news is that being willing to walk 1/2 mile saved us once again, and we were able to find a site that had overflow camping in an area that you had to walk to, and there were plenty of spots available.
• There are a series of hostels along the Parkway that are affordable compared to other lodging options if you want to sleep inside. 
• Moraine Lake and Lake Louise are likely the most famous sites in the area, and they're both stunning, but sadly visiting in Summer has turned into an absolute shocker of a traffic experience. (I blame Instagram.) Go for the day, hike up to the Tea Houses, but please, for the love of Pachamama, take a shuttle if you're going in high season. Things have gone too far, and wait times for parking are sometimes measured in hours.
• If you can't stomach that, Lake Minnewanka is a great alternative to those lakes, and a nice place to visit any time of year for a hike because it's flat and low altitude. 
• We chose not to do any big overnight backpacking in Banff/Jasper because permitting can be a bit of a hassle and you really should plan ahead, but as with other places, if you show up and are flexible you will almost definitely be able to find somewhere stunning to go, even on day of. Really literally everywhere in these parks is incredibly beautiful.
  

Canmore

Our standard strategy when visiting the area is to stay in Canmore. Canmore is just outside of Banff NP, East towards Calgary, and compared to the town of Banff is just as beautiful, significantly cheaper, and similarly convenient. If I had to pick one mountain town to live in anywhere in the world, it would probably be there. I freaking love it. There's just as much to do as in Banff, and you don't even have to worry about a National Parks Permit. There are also a good number of places on the outskirts where you can park and free camp without hassle (which isn't going to happen in the NPs), and even though it's heavily touristed as well, the tourists here tend to be Canadian ski bums and dirtbags rather than scenic drivers and bus passengers, so you get good breweries and a few relatively affordable groceries and bars.

• In Canmore, for day hikes or runs, check out Ha Ling and Mt Rundle. Grassi Lakes is cool too if you're looking for something more mellow.
• For free camping, head up Spray Park Road, which has options to pull off.
• If you visit, say hi to our friends Gavin and Joel at Ski Uphill/Run Uphill and ask them for beta on climbing, hiking, running, or skiing, or even join them on one of the group runs they organize. They're world class and run a great little shop. 
• The beer's great at Canmore Brewing, and check out events at artsPlace - they do a ton of great mountain town kind of events - film festivals, music, guest speakers, etc.

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park is Southeast of Banff, and like Mt Robson and Bowron Lakes, is just as amazing, and slightly less busy than the adjacent National Parks. It's day-trippable from Canmore or Calgary, and it is also so freaking pretty with lots of options for hiking, climbing or paddling. On this trip, it's hard for me to decide whether the Berg Lake Trail or a hike we did in this park was more beautiful - the Northover Ridge Loop. Like Berg Lake, this loop could be taken on as one big day for a very strong hiker or trail runner, but the ridge is nothing to be trifled with if you have any doubts about your ability to complete 25 miles in a day with a significant amount of climbing, some exposure, and changeable weather. We enjoyed it as a one night overnight.

• Permitting for this park happens online, and there is no ranger station to pop in for permits (unless I'm missing something - I might be? Canadians, correct me please!) so does take a day or two of forethought.
  
• We glommed on to a friend's permit, but there were permits available even on the weekend during the Summer, so it makes another excellent option for a backpacking trip for the (mostly) poor planner or dirtbag passing through.
  
• A thing to bear in mind is that the Northover Ridge Loop is relatively high country, so the season is short - the trail isn't really snow free until mid-July most years and snow starts falling again in September. We got snowed on in mid-August. Totally worth it though.

Yoho

Yoho National Park is kind of Banff/Jasper's kid brother. It's contiguous with them, and just as pretty, but a bit smaller and less popular. 

• The highlight (and virtual entirety) of our time in Yoho was a weekend spent volunteering with Fran Drummond at the Twin Falls Chalet, but that's a complicated story of its own. The chalet may or may not be open again in the future, and Fran may or may not be there, but if it is, and if she is, it's a highly recommended experience for the reasons that you'll pick up on if you read the article linked above.
• Another good place for a stop in Yoho are Emerald Lake, which is a beautiful, but very busy, spot - a sort of poor man's Lake Louise where masses of people pay $75/hour to rent canoes and try to capture great shots for Instagram. Bring your own boat and try to create the world's most beautiful photobomb for free. 
• The Burgess Shale is a really interesting and historically important fossil site you can visit from the town of Field. I like that kind of crap so I would put visiting the site as a Yoho must-do, but I understand that most people grow out of their fossil/dinosaur stage by the time they're 8.

Glacier/Revelstoke

When you cross into Glacier and Mount Revelstoke National Parks on the Trans-Canada, the mountains start to feel a bit less like the Rockies, and a bit more like the Cascades. They're both smaller, beautiful parks right along the highway where we stopped for just a day hike, and that's pretty appropriate, I think. They're both great, beautiful places, but relatively small and with fewer options for activities than the other, larger parks. They're also significantly less crowded, and free to cheap camping options exist near both. The town of Revelstoke itself is picking up in popularity as an outdoor town for a lot of really solid reasons, but it's still a relatively affordable place to base yourself. The city campground in town is a great, cheap place to post up for a few nights with wifi and laundry, right in the middle of town, and right on the Columbia River.  

Kelowna/Penticton

When we came through Revelstoke we were feeling a bit sad because the geography was definitely reminding us that we were getting closer to home, which meant that our trip was coming to an end. Kelowna and Penticton made for a nice, surprising transition back to "reality", whatever that is. Even if you're familiar with Canada, you could be forgiven for not knowing that the country has a small but fantastic wine region, centered here along the Columbia. It's a surprising place - high, sunny desert that feels about as Mediterranean as Canada possibly could. There are dozens of excellent wineries between Kelowna and Pemberton, as well as a ton of options for hiking, swimming, paddling, climbing or trail running. It definitely feels contiguous with the orchard and wine country regions stretching up from Oregon through Eastern Washington, which makes sense, because it is, and you could easily make a lovely week hanging out in this area enjoying the sun and water, and sampling local food and wine. 

Once again, there were some free camping options in this area. Both towns are beautifully situated along Okanogan Lake. Kelowna itself is a relatively large city with all of the associated options for things to do, while Penticton had the feel of a family lake vacation spot. I personally preferred Kelowna, but travelers with kids would probably appreciate some of the possibilities beyond wine tasting in Penticton. 

And those were our experiences of the Canadian Rockies! I hope you found this post useful. Also, wait a minute - hey buddy! If you like reading things about how to do more adventures, you'll definitely like our book, "The Dirtbag's Guide to Life: Eternal Truth for Hiker Trash, Ski Bums, and Vagabonds"! You should check that out too.