What's cool up in Canada?

Hello my Canadian TW Brothers and Sisters,

My wife and I are both school teachers and roam for 3 months every summer. One of our adventures this summer will be breaking in the new tacoma with a 3 week road trip. Heading up from Colorado and probably crossing into Canada in ND or MT. I have spent time along the BC coast up into Alaska, but have never been in the interior. We love backcountry trips, hot springs, nice resorts (cheap...remember we are teachers) and staying away from the crowds. We will also have our dog with us.

Let's hear some suggestions for some special spots we should be sure to hit.

 

The weather

 

Yup, hear it can be a bit chilly up there north of the border.

 

My wife and I have a trip planned for this summer up through Banff/Jasper. From the pictures, it looks really cool. If you are wanting to avoid crowds, this may not be the best place to go...

 

I've got no suggestions for you in the area you are going .

Where were you in BC ?

 

Seems to be all Americans know about Canada...that's it's cold. Ya, winters are cold like anywhere else, but spring summer is great. I'm in Toronto, and the weather is just starting to get nice. Anyway, If you're out on the west coast, BC is the obvious choice. Hornby island I hear is beautiful. But if you're ever more east, northern Ontario has trails and scenery out the wazoo.

 

Head up to Glacier park in Montana and then into Waterton National Park in Alberta. Beautiful country and not as crazy as Banff. Peter Laugheed park is a little ways down the road but some of the best camping I have done besides the back country stuff.

 

^^X2 on driving through Glacier. Very Cool.

 

You better check both Canadian and US rules for traveling with a pet over the border. In some cases, opened dog food will be confiscated at the border. And you should have all immunization records .. especially rabies records.

In Colorado, dogs are required to have a rabies vaccine every 3 years, but other states / provinces may require a 1-year vaccine. Ask your vet about this if you have any doubts. You might not get asked for any paperwork, but you should definitely have it ready for inspection if asked. Getting your pooch quarantined for 30 days is no fun.

 

I'd recommend Cypress Hills Provincial Park. I've been to the resort there a few times for family reunions, and my family isn't even from that area it's just really nice in the summer. The resort is nice with lots of stuff to do, and there is camp grounds aswell (alot cheaper than staying at the resort). If I remember correctly the highest point in Saskatchewan is in Cypress Hills (Bald Butte I think). Not sure how far North you plan on going, as most of the lakes I frequent are in Northern Saskatchewan not too far from the Alberta border. If you plan on camping or renting a cabin at a lake in Saskatchewan book it asap, it can be difficult to get a campsite on short notice.

 

A: go through the small border crossings there far more lax than others.

B: depending on the region in which you wish to see of the B.C. interior I'd suggest either The Top Of The World Prov. Park or the Wells Gray Prov. park
both are quite nice. T.O.T.W. park has natural hot springs near by and some interesting scenery where as the W.G. park has numerous trails to waterfalls and extinct volcano's and hotels are relatively cheap with in surrounding areas.

other than that there are far too many places i could recommend but those are my two favorite places.

 

what he said.

 

What's cool up in Canada?
​

 

if you cross from mt or nd you will cross into manitoba, saskatchewan or alberta. many of the sask border crossings are small and not all are open 24hrs.

 

Come on down here to Florida's Gulf Coast. Beautiful sugar white sand beaches. We also have some of the best sport fishing right here on our shores. Hey Canada not knocking ya just trying to get some Americans to spend some money here in the States. Btw hate Celine but thank you so much for Shania.

 

Banff/Jasper area is great. There are crowds during the summer months in the towns and at the larger camp sites, but there are a tonne of great smaller sites and areas to explore. Go online and you can find some cool ideas for that area. If your really interested find a travel guide for the area (If you can't find one let me know and Im sure i can find one to mail you).

I did a trip there 2 summers ago with my other half and can't wait to go back. One activity we did was caving around canmore. Was just us and a guide into a cave. Crawling through some tunnels and a 60ft rapel.

If you head up that area, one way to avoid crowds near banf is to camp off the old highway. I can't remember the number off hand, but its much less travelled and had some good campsites. A good campsite inmy mind is one with a tent only section, or that at least has the 30 foot rigs separate from us smaller guys!

Anywhere you go up here you will enjoy... just be ready for lots of wildlife and higher gas prices!

 

If you find yourself in Alberta Drumheller is pretty cool. It's in the area they call the badlands and it's been a real dinosaur fossil hot spot. Big dinosaur museum in town and the whole town is pretty much dinosaur themed, kids really enjoy it.

Canmore and Golden have some great scenery too. Nice towns both.

As far as BC there's a lot of nice spots, around Cranbrook, Fernie & Radium is a nice area. The Icefields Parkway highway from Banff to Jasper has some awesome scenery. Banff and Jasper are nice too if a little touristy.

There's the Arrow Lakes region too north of Castlegar, a lot of great scenery up there. Nakusp is a nice little town. Some cool hydroelectric dams and that kind of thing to see too.

As mentioned the Wells Grey park near Clearbrook is pretty cool too. Lots of waterfalls.

If you get into the Kelowna area there's some nice spots, it's pretty busy though. Some of the other areas aren't so bustling as Kelowna has become but a lot of them are pretty busy during tourist time. This is the region a lot of the fresh fruit is grown.

If you do a big loop you'll see everything from jagged rocky mountains and glaciers to endless evergreen forests to scrub brush and desert.

 

Nova Scotia ftw

 

the country side itself. beautiful country!