Canada is vast. There are so many areas of interest and types of terrain that one could easily spend years exploring it all. In this return visit, we drove in roughly a large triangle that started in Vancouver, BC, went north to Prince George, crossed into Alberta, and circled back to end up in the Okanagan Valley.

We stayed in Provincial Parks, National Parks, and a few private campgrounds. We prefer to make reservations ahead of time. Having a campsite waiting for us at day’s end works for us. For this trip, I made most of our reservations 4 weeks in advance, on-line.

We consider ourselves to be travelers who camp. Camping affords us the opportunity to travel fulltime, with a reasonable amount of amenities and comfort at a reasonable cost. We want to enjoy nature and explore new places. So, our expectations for camping are tailored to our motivation.

Considering a trip like this? British Columbia has over 700 parks, but only 175 provincial parks have camping, and only 40 of those have showers. If a shower house is important to you, there’s a full list on Outland Vancouver. (It’s a rental company, but they have good free info.)

Amenities vary throughout the Canadian park system. Some parks are primitive; some are new with lots of features. If there are showers, they’re usually coin operated. Very few places offer electric hook-up. Cell service is hit or miss. (Mostly miss; download any needed documents or maps before arrival.) Again, these amenities are easy to research.

I use a site called Campendium to do research; it lists lots of campground details and posts reviews. For example, if you want to hike, bike, or walk to a nearby town for dinner, research will help. Often, CampsitePhotos.com will have photos of individual campsites.

Green Lake Provincial Park was our first park in British Columbia. We had a clean, spacious lakeside campsite with only a picnic table. The evening sky and the flaming sunset over the lake made this campsite a winner for our one night stay.

Further north, at 10 Mile Lake Provincial Park, amenities improved. A bath house with hot showers was welcome indeed.

Most provincial parks are wooded, with a fair amount of space between sites. Camper’s row often looks like this, with sites tucked in off the road.

The image above was from Purden Lake Provincial Park. This was also a quiet one-night stop. The next day we were off to Mt. Robson Meadows.

At nearly 13,000 feet, Mt. Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. It’s impressive and quite a tourist destination. Busloads of tourists stop throughout the day to picnic, hike, and take photos.

The campground was full and busy. Trains rumbled nearby and touring helicopters circled overhead. Although the scenery was grand, it was all a bit much. So, we decided to try our luck at Jasper in Alberta. The Yellowstone Highway, Highway 16, is a beautifully scenic route, and Jasper is only an hour’s drive.

We knew about last year’s fires but were still unprepared for what we saw in Jasper. We had stayed in this same campground several years ago. Campsites were tucked into private niches in the evergreens. Elk casually grazed everywhere – even in campsites. It looks starkly different now.

To encourage visitation, the park service was offering free park admission and reduced camping rates. We were able to get a campsite and stayed a few nights in Jasper’s Wapiti campground. This previously forested campground is now a meadow filled with stumps and the skeletons of scorched trees.

Despite having been through one of Canada’s most devastating fires, the distant scenery is still gorgeous. The town of Jasper is working to rebuild the half of town that was destroyed. Local businesses are grateful to see tourists return and we felt good about making our small contribution to their economy.

Wildflowers are returning, marking the resilience of nature. However, it will take ages for the forest to recover.

We took a drive along the Athabasca River to Miette, which was north of the fires. Miette is a sweet resort area with a lovely outdoor hot springs pool. We spent that afternoon relaxing in steamy waters. Such a treat.

From Jasper, we drove down the Columbia Icefields Parkway toward Banff. This is one of Canada’s most scenic drives. Even in the rain, the mountain tops play peek-a-boo with the clouds and make for stunning views. We were told that it rains every third day here. That proved to be true; bring a good rain jacket.

There are numerous places to stop and follow trails to waterfalls. We hiked in to see Sunwapta Falls. Forest trails require careful footing.

The Icefields Parkway goes through glacier territory. What happened millions of years ago still makes for stunning views today. The history of this highway’s construction is also worth reading: Icefields Parkway

On the surface, the glaciers take on the look of shopworn winter snow – a bit grey and crusty. But underneath, the ice is pure aqua blue, like the lakes, from glacial silt.

We worked our way down the Parkway and stopped in Banff.

Banff is a major destination with lots of dining options, high end shopping, and lodging. It’s a very pretty town nestled in the mountains. We strolled, did some window shopping, and then continued on our way.

We retraced part of our path and returned to British Columbia via Highway 1, to drive through Yoho National Park, Canada’s Glacier National Park, and Revelstoke National Park.

Near Revelstoke, we stayed at Martha Creek Provincial Park, which turned out to be one of our favorites. An elevated experience in a brand-new loop!

When you leave Canada’s mountains, you head into prairies. The temperature goes up by 25 degrees, the topography and plants change, and shade becomes a rare commodity.

For our stay at Fintry Provincial Park, we were glad to be in the electric section to run our air conditioner. Here’s John, trying to create some shade for our picnic table.

Fintry Provincial Park has a beach, a waterfall trail, and the manor house of its colorful founder James Dun-Waters. We hiked the trail and toured the house, complete with an indoor grotto – a man cave filled with hunting trip trophies. Quite the unexpected on the shores of Okanagan Lake.

The town of Penticton is in the Okanagan Valley, situated between Okanagan and Skaha Lakes. We stayed at a family-owned campground on Skaha Lake.

We were tucked in like friendly sardines, but we loved this campground. Everyone was neighborly and helpful. Plus, it was an easy walk to the Skaha Lake beach, which reminded us of Italy.

And on Saturday morning, we rode our bikes into Penticton for the Farmer’s Market. The market went on for blocks; it was one of the largest we’ve seen. Wineries, crafts, produce – overwhelming.

Even street musicians! Concentrating or tired?

We continued our bike ride around to the Penticton beach, which was busy with folks enjoying the lake.

And we came upon the city’s rose garden in full bloom!

We followed the river trail back to our campground, and enjoyed watching folks floating downstream on the river – apparently “the thing” to do on a weekend in Penticton.

Such fun. This was one of those places where we said, “Could’ve stayed here longer.”

Our next stop was in Castlegar at the Kootenay River RV Park. The floral surprises continued. This place had more interesting flowers and trees than any campground we’ve visited. They obviously love gardening! These lilies were right next to our van.

Our final stop in Canada was Kikomun Provincial Park. This was a good place to unwind and get ready to cross back into the states.

We crossed into Montana at Roosville, and headed straight for Whitefish and the home of our dear friends, Martha and Joe. I’ve known these folks since high school. Many moons ago! It was so wonderful to see them (and their daughter Erin!)

After several busy days catching up, eating great meals, and enjoying Whitefish, we were on our way again (with a big bag of goodies from Martha’s garden…) Lucky us!

Here are the campgrounds that John and I visited in Canada. If you have questions, let us know. Happy travels!

British Columbia:
Emory Barr RV Park
Green Lake Provincial Park
10 Mile Lake Provincial Park
Lake Purden Provincial Park
Robson Meadows Provincial Park
Golden Municipal RV Park
Martha Creek Provincial Park
Fintry Provincial Park
Oxbow RV Resort
Kootenay River RV Park
Moyie Lake Provincial Park
Kikomun Provincial Park

Alberta
Jasper National Park: Wapiti Campground
Thompson Creek Recreation Area
Bow Valley Provincial Park