Canadian park road trip, camping and general advice

Driving from Colorado to Canada, crossing the border and driving up 95 through Kootenay, Banff, Jasper, and Mt Robson as the final destination. What are the camping rules and regulations in Canada? In the U.S. when in National Parks you must stay in their established campgrounds which you must pay for, but when exploring in National Forrest or BLM land you can disperse camp free of charge and also in some places there are campgrounds which could be either free or pay to use. What's the skinny while in Canada for camping? Or any other general advice or cool stuff to check out along the way? Thanks for any advice or help you can contribute

 

A few places for info. Not a camper myself, so no expert, but these are some links to explore.


https://reservation.pc.gc.ca/Home.aspx

https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/voyage-travel/reserve

https://www.albertaparks.ca/albertaparksca/visit-our-parks/camping/

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/reserve/

 

What are your travel dates like? I can talk to a few of my friend in BC/'Berta to see what they say, but I already have a few amazing places book marked

 

I just went through mount robson and down from jasper to banff last week. It is a very scenic drive and lots of places to pull over for pictures but you do have to camp in the designated campgrounds of a national park. However lake Louise was a tourist gong show.

Some campgrounds are more expensive than others depending on amenities. The campgrounds can be booked online, while others are first come first serve. Try looking for places to camp around 3 or 4pm. You risk not getting one if you leave it later then that.

Outside of the national parks you should be able to head down any forest service road and camp for the night as far as i know.

Check this company out for back road maps via an app or hardcopy. Can also get topographical maps on avenza

http://www.backroadmapbooks.com/

Hope you enjoy your trip

 

Public land outside of parks etc. is referred to as Crown Land up here. Non residents require a permit to camp on crown land - it's about $10 a day. Most Provincial Parks have campsites - and lots of rules. Then there is the KOA's and similar private camping places. Crown camping would be my first choice but it can be time consuming trying to locate a decent spot without intimate knowledge of the area.

 

Aug

 

Dang I'll just miss you by a week, flying out there for a wedding but I'll PM you some things

 

What do you guys like doing on your road trip? Hiking, Mountain biking, fishing ? Driving FSR roads ?

 

We are headed to Mt. Robson park for a 4 day boating conference...we'd like to also work in some hiking, fishing, and more boating

 

There is nice camping at the North end of Trout Lake, a lot of great spots to check out. The Valhalla mountain range is pretty cool.
Not sure if you have seen this site http://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca ,
and like others have said the BC Backroads map book has lots of info. http://www.backroadmapbooks.com/backroad-mapbooks/bc-backroad-maps
Have a great trip!

 

First link is tittays!!! Tons of info, thanks so much for the links!

 

You'll find that most places are pretty quiet, not many people. Its really only Banff and Lake Louise near parking lots that are busy. If you like hiking you can escape the crowds pretty much anywhere. A few years ago we gave some guys hitchhiking with their kayaks a lift, they were paddling the Fraser river by Mt Robson