We will be travelling along the BC coast and on to Banff/Jasper area and Calgary. We want to stay at private RV parks in AUgust and September 2013, but are worried about not having reservations. Are reservations needed?
QUOTE(RebaW @ May 4 2013, 03:07 PM) [snapback]33302[/snapback] We will be travelling along the BC coast and on to Banff/Jasper area and Calgary. We want to stay at private RV parks in AUgust and September 2013, but are worried about not having reservations. Are reservations needed? We've traveled that area a couple of time without reservations, you may want to check Banff and Jasper, they used not take reservations and put you into dry camping if the hookup were full, and then you go wait inline for someone to leave the next morning and get their spot. Early birds win. ( I actually liked that system even though I'm not an early bird, but I am not sure if they still do it that way. ) August they can be rather busy in that area, and if there are events going on in Calgary, you may need reservations there. Any trip through that area should include a stop a Drumheller, AB, it's a unique place with an awesome dinosaur museum that everyone should see.
Good campgrounds with full services are very limited around Calgary. I use a pretty good CG in Sundre which is about an hour north of Calgary or, alternatively there is a good campground in Cochrane adjacent to the Bow river. That is about a 30 minute drive to down town Calgary and about an hour from Banff. I'd make reservations for private campgrounds for the first weekend in August if you're in Alberta because this is the Heritage Day long weekend. Also the Labor Day weekend in September would be another good bet to ensure you get somewhere you would like to stay.
QUOTE(RebaW @ May 4 2013, 04:07 PM) [snapback]33302[/snapback] We will be travelling along the BC coast and on to Banff/Jasper area and Calgary. We want to stay at private RV parks in AUgust and September 2013, but are worried about not having reservations. Are reservations needed? Hello RebaW. I would definitely make reservations if you can, especially for weekend days in August. After the September long weekend you should not need to worry about reservations though. You do not specify a route other than a general direction. (Just a heads up - there are not many good RV parks in the greater Vancouver area and as Hutch333 states, in Calgary either.) In Vancouver, I would check out Burnaby Cariboo or Peace Arch. In the Calgary area, Bow River's Edge in Cochrane. Since you are planning to travel up the coast, I'm guessing you are taking hiway 99 to Whistler and then over to Kamloops to catch hiway 5 to Jasper. Then down 93 to Banff. From Banff, hiway 1 to Calgary? If you could clarify your route, I might be able to give you more advice. Darrell
If you want a full hookup site in either Jasper or Banff during July or August you will need to make a reservation. Check the Parks Canada websites for either park and it will tell you which campgrounds accept reservations. As for BC many of the private RV parks are in their peak season for those months and it would be prudent to make reservations. However, you may be able to make them only a few days in advance. Phone the RV parks you are interested in and they will let you know.
I made our FHU reservations for Jasper and Banff the mornings they were released to the public. In the few minutes it took to make the reservations the reservable sites were disappearing quickly. I seriously doubt there are any left now, but there are probably ones held for drive-up customers as there are at most US parks.
Hi, Week days during September won't be a problem. August--well that's another kettle of fish all together. BC provincial campgrounds don't have power. There is potable water available and occaisonally a dump site.
QUOTE(pianotuna @ May 17 2013, 04:52 PM) [snapback]33476[/snapback] BC provincial campgrounds don't have power. There is potable water available and usually a dump site. Many of BC's provincial parks do not have dump stations. Where I live in the Okanagan only 1 of the 8 parks has a dump station. If you plan on using provincial parks check their websites to see if there is a dump station.
Hi Glenn, Thanks for the correction. I've only stayed at a very few BC parks and all of them had dump sites. I've amended my post to reflect the "real" situation.
QUOTE(pianotuna @ May 18 2013, 03:50 PM) [snapback]33487[/snapback] Hi Glenn, Thanks for the correction. I've only stayed at a very few BC parks and all of them had dump sites. I've amended my post to reflect the "real" situation. Hi Don: You're welcome. It pains me to know that there was a provincial election here recently and I did not hear one word about our provincial park campgrounds. Guess I will have to take up the fight for more dump stations! :lol:
