Any Canadian border issues?

One trip to Canada me and a few others crossed into Canada through the thousand islands. We were told they were doing random searches that day and if we could please pull to the side. They made us wait inside while they searched. 45 minutes later we were told we could go back outside where I find my truck with all 4 doors open and everything I had packed for a 5-6 day super remote trip scattered all around my truck. The other two trucks were untouched. Funny part is in the couple hours it took to repack everything so it fit right again not one single vehicle was brought over and “randomly” searched.

Also something to keep in mind is before you return to the US it’s a good idea to swing by a car wash and clean off any mud that may have built up on your truck. They wouldn’t let us back in until our trucks were clean because of transfer of livestock based diseases.

 

I used go to Canada a lot never had an issue when I returned different story Every time and I mean every time I have been hustled by US customs rifed my truck,camper I carry a passport been around the world and never have I been treated as poorly as my return to the states. I was detained for hours when returning from Canada with a friend and her two children she is a Canadian First Nations "read the Jay Treaty" made no difference to them the children were terrified they emptied my vehicle left everything on the pavement. A year later I returned to Canada it was fairly late and one one was around I stopped a talked to the Canadian customs guy for probably half and hour and said "you need to walk across the bridge and explain to them how to treat people his response " I have heard that before"

 

I've never crossed, but I've heard they can be intense. My Dad was up near Glacier national and he and his wife decided since they were so far north, they wanted to see Canada. When asked why they were crossing, they said they were close and just wanted to see Canada. The response didn't go over well and they almost ended up having to turn back. My Dad was a cashier for years and had accumulated a lot of Canadian coins from the till, so he was excited to have something to use them on. Apparently you have to have a better reason to go, haha. I guess when teens get cars up there aimlessly driving around isn't something they do to pass the time.

 

@cwhet10 There's the answer to your mud debacle you were telling me about a long while ago.

 

Oh, the border patrol agent gave me SUCH a hard time for mud on my truck. We had waited in line to cross back into the US for two hours, and he says very condescendingly, "I'll let you through because of the long line, but otherwise I would make you turn around and wash it off." He was a real prick about it.

 

I’d imagine the number of people crossing the border under the provisions of the Jay Treaty (and subsequent codified US law) are few and far between and wouldn’t fault the customs agent for not being familiar with it.

 

I'm glad to learn that that there are legal options for people that need them, but based on my childhood experience, I wouldn't even consider approaching the border with any of these restricted items in my possession. I'm still terrified they'll reopen my childhood kidnapping investigation and somehow reveal that my mom isn't really my mom. And that then I'd get locked up for providing false statements as a kid!

However, if bear spray is available in Canada, I might consider buying some depending on where our itinerary takes us. I haven't really camped in Grizzly country since I was a young adult, but what I do remember from those trips is that you have to store all your food in nuclear fuel casks, suspended between mature redwood trees, at least twelve miles away from camp... and that if so much as a crumb of stale granola bar remained on your clothing, you would be mauled to death the instant you shut your eyes to sleep. Which led to many sleepless nights spent drifting between the paralyzing terror of consciousnesses and the relentless nightmares of sleep, praying in vain for a sunrise that somehow grew more distant each time I checked my watch...

So by that standard, my current approach to truck camping seems pretty lax. I sleep in a gigantic toaster strudel of half-eaten junkfood and ranch dressing overspray. My sleeping bag derives over half of its warmth from bacon grease, and the other 70% comes from whiskey I don't always remember drinking. Does this put me at greater risk of bear attack? I hope not, but if it does, I'll rest better sleeping next to a gigantic canister of pressurized capsaicin with which I have no experience or training.

Thanks, will do! The plan is for mid- to late-June... we'll see if my job cooperates. I will probably avoid that Glacier crossing at all costs though!

For general trip planning purposes, what are your top recommendations for 4x4 destinations in the southern Canadian Rockies? I know I have to visit Lake Louise, just like the illiterate masses that flock to the Maroon Bells in my home state every year, fighting tooth and nail to take the same mediocre selfie as every other tourist ass-hole since the dawn of instaface. So in that context, what cherished destinations in Canada can I help ruin for future generations?

This is a great tip, thank you. And now that I think about it, rinsing off from time to time is a good idea in general, even if you aren't driving across international borders. Ecological concerns aside, caked mud is probably bad for our trucks' paint, and I'd hate to have a chunk fall off and chip someone's windshield on the highway. I'm going to add a thorough rinse-down to my refueling/air-up ritual on future trips!

Yeah, I remember my younger sister sobbing throughout the whole ordeal, but sadly her tears seemed to draw even more suspicion and interrogation from the border agents.

Whether it's a vacationing family simply caught off guard with inadequate paperwork like in my childhood experience, or any of the more complex cases cluttering the news headlines today, I will always feel a certain level of compassion for the children affected by border crossing politics. And without opening this thread to the debate of such policies, I hope we can all agree that it would be nice if someday our biggest concern at the borders was mud caked on the side of pickup trucks.

 

I've crossed once on a motorcycle. I applied for Canadian insurance cards from my insurance, took some Canadian currency in my pocket. Went smooth.

 

From the sound of what you’ve written I’d imagine you don’t but from what I’ve heard they’ll hassle you hard if you have a criminal record, including any sort of DUI. I’m sure they get many fully loaded up vehicles crossing the border as one of the main attractions of Canada is the great outdoors, so I doubt they’d hassle you any extra on account of that. Have fun!

 

Yea that’s how this guy was. At first he wouldn’t give a reason either, he just kept repeating I can’t let you into the United States no matter how many times I asked him why. Finally I was like I’m a US citizen with a valid US drivers license with a valid US passport trying to get into the US, What is the reason. And he was like oh you need to wash the dirt off of your truck

 

I hate Banff and Lake Louise during the high tourist seasons. Ugh. There's not so much as a gravel road that you can travel in the park, and you cannot camp anywhere except designated camping sites. Let me know when you're done and I'll meet up and we can head west to some places worth seeing. But the high country isn't accessible until mid July usually. I've been stopped by avalanche remnants as late as July 5th.

 

I wish I could push the trip into July or August, but its impetus is actually a professional event with dates set in stone, and the only uncertainty is whether or not I'll be in attendance this year. I'll find out by next spring, so until then, I'll hope for favorable progress in my career, and then for an early thaw in the Canadian Rockies... and I'll ping you for ideas if and when such opportunity approaches.

Even in the almost-certain case that the high passes are snowed shut during my trip... I would be happy just for a chance to go exploring above treeline. Many of my most cherished high-country driving experiences have ended at impassable snowbanks; the jaw-dropping beauty of the thawing alpine tundra in its early-season bloom easily dwarfing whatever triumph might later come from completing the trail after the snow had melted. But even in Colorado, which is a lot farther south than Alberta, I know better than to hold high expectations for mid-June!

 

I've crossed quite a few times for camping trips. I always get asked about knives, pepper spray (no bueno) and guns. You cannot have a knife that is spring assisted or can be opened with a flick of your wrist. I'm pretty sure that I've also been asked every single time why I'm going camping in Canada and not the US. Going north they seem less concerned about food, though I don't usually carry fresh produce across. I always seem to get the guy who likes to ask me the same questions to see if my story changes, though I've never had to go to secondary. I think my shortest time north of the border was about 20 minutes to pick up a Backroad Mapbook, which is roughly the Canadian version of a DeLorme Gazetteer. I wanted a copy for a trip that I was going on a few days later just to have an idea before hitting the road. I think they were a bit skeptical but I had my Google Maps directions printed out to the visitor center and just handed them the sheets.

Do you know where you might be crossing from? I've had friends with CA plates get hassled at the Blaine, WA crossing since it's on I-5. I usually cross at Sumas WA (Abbotsford BC) since it puts you close to the Trans Canada (which you can pretty much follow all the way to Banff). Abbotsford is big enough to have several grocery options and a visitor information center, but it's far enough east from Vancouver that you don't have to deal with all the big city traffic BS.

Fill your gas tank and cans before you go north over the border if you want to save a few bucks.

If you bank with Chase you can withdraw from your account in Canadian $ at the Chase branches in Bellingham with no fee.

Road rules are pretty similar though they use a green blinky arrow instead of "left turn on green." Probably worth looking up and seeing what other differences in driving rules there might be.

I've never had an issue coming back across. I'm good about clearing out whatever food I've got before crossing and haven't had issues with a muddy truck. It's either raining too hard for the mud to stick around or it's been too dry for there to be mud when I've traveled.

They logging trucks use different radio frequencies. In WA you can usually talk with them on CB. You can't in CA. I think you need a VHF or HAM but I haven't really looked into it. I thought the logging trucks drove much faster up there than in the states, so stay on your toes if you think there might be trucks around.

Other than that, have fun!

 

A friend and I passed through the Edmonton Airport on our way to British Columbia for a moose hunt a couple of months ago.

We had to run our checked bags/guns through the x-ray. I had a nice assisted opening Benchmade knife confiscated, and my buddy had several knives taken. They had us sign paperwork, basically "donating" the knives to the Canadian government.

The guys at the border were very cordial and apologetic(Canadian way) about the whole thing and wanted to know if we were going to be coming back through on our way home. It seemed like they were going to give the knives back to us if we were, but unfortunately, our flight back didn't come through there. It was a crappy deal, but better than getting arrested over it.

The laws just make no sense. You could have a giant fixed blade and it was 100% cool, but assisted knives were illegal. This is the direction that a lot of municipalities and left-leaning states are trying to go now. It's insane.

 

they are dick heads, play it cool don't tell them shit they don't need to know and it should be all gravy. Plan on having your truck ripped apart cause they love that shit.

 

Thanks everyone for all the helpful feedback, this thread is becoming quite informative.

I won't be on freeways for sure, this is too spectacular a region to speed through with cruise control and big rig blinders. The more I research, the more i realize i'll never see enough with just one trip.