Oregon to Banff

[Porternr92]

Hi, new here and new to overlanding. I have been camping all my life but want to get into overlanding with my wife and 2 and a half year old daughter. I have been looking around and wanted to get some input on a trip from Oregon to some of the mountains near Banff. We have a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee that is stock other than a roof rack to hold gear but plan on upgrading more. Mostly I'm just wanting to get some information on some trails and camping areas (non campground preferably) that would be accessible for our vehicle and easy to do without needing a bunch of gear for the Jeep.

ps- Being new to overlanding I know that the trip is long, but it looks like an awesome place to go to regardless of overlanding or not and would love to travel further away and share that with my family. Thanks.

 

[Crapitecture]

I’m considering a similar trip hitting glacier national park and then heading north to Banff. I have friends who did a highway focused trip that they shared with us. I’m digging in to find out more off the beaten path info. I’ll share what I find with you.

It would be great if our Canadian brothers and sisters would share some knowledge too.

 

[Kelso]

Funny, I live under an hour from Banff and keep dreeming of going back to Oregon and exploring the coast!

I won't claim to know everything, but I'll share what I do.

Glacier and Waterton (north side of the boarder) are beautiful. Unfortunately a large wildfire burned up a lot of Waterton park last year :(
There is such a contrast between east and west Glacier and the road across is spectacular! Named "the road to the sun" I believe and it opens around mid June. There is no camping outside of campgrounds (we call it random camping) within national parks such as Banff, Waterton or Jasper although there are primative campgrounds. Check out Frank slide in Crowsnest Pass on your way North out of Waterton. Kananaskis spans between Waterton and Banff which you can drive through on highway 40 from Crowsnest Pass all the way to Banff. The northern bit is paved and quite popular however the southern portion is gravel and MUCH less traveled/busy and offers an abundance of random camping along with some primitive campgrounds. Drive highway 93 (the icefield parkway) from Lake Louise to Jasper. Very beautiful drive and a glacier if you've never seen one.
(Side note, if you go up to the glacier on a hike or a tour DO NOT GO AND WALK ON IT!!! Just read of another person falling in a crevasse there.)

Banff is very beautifull but by far the most busy. Full of tourists and very expensive. Go see it, but be warned. Canmore is similar. Jasper tends to be quieter I've found and Waterton much more so.

I am blessed to live in such an amazing and beautiful place and I'm sure you will have an amazing trip! Someday you will have to fill me in on your home turf!

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk

 

[Road]

Hi, new here and new to overlanding. I have been camping all my life but want to get into overlanding with my wife and 2 and a half year old daughter. I have been looking around and wanted to get some input on a trip from Oregon to some of the mountains near Banff. We have a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee that is stock other than a roof rack to hold gear but plan on upgrading more. Mostly I'm just wanting to get some information on some trails and camping areas (non campground preferably) that would be accessible for our vehicle and easy to do without needing a bunch of gear for the Jeep.

ps- Being new to overlanding I know that the trip is long, but it looks like an awesome place to go to regardless of overlanding or not and would love to travel further away and share that with my family. Thanks.

I’m considering a similar trip hitting glacier national park and then heading north to Banff. I have friends who did a highway focused trip that they shared with us. I’m digging in to find out more off the beaten path info. I’ll share what I find with you.

It would be great if our Canadian brothers and sisters would share some knowledge too.

Backroad Mapbooks - great and detailed industry-leading maps of Canada just sent me an email announcing that their BRMB Maps for all of Canada are now available for the GAIA GPS App, which a lot of people run on iPads for in-vehicle navigation. Pretty cool news and I can't wait to try them out. I have several of their hard copy mapbooks, but for the eastern Canadian provinces. They provide an astounding amount of details, really. Some folks prefer to buy them through Amazon, as they are often less-expensive. When looking at the mapbooks on their site, remember that the pricing is in Canadian dollars. A quick check on the exchange rate will show what the price is in USD.

I'm hoping to get out to British Columbia this year and maybe on up into the Yukon and into Alaska, but have a number of things in the works.

Hope you get some people to chip in here with ideas and tips!


Road

.

 

[Crapitecture]

Funny, I live under an hour from Banff and keep dreeming of going back to Oregon and exploring the coast!

I won't claim to know everything, but I'll share what I do.

Glacier and Waterton (north side of the boarder) are beautiful. Unfortunately a large wildfire burned up a lot of Waterton park last year :(
There is such a contrast between east and west Glacier and the road across is spectacular! Named "the road to the sun" I believe and it opens around mid June. There is no camping outside of campgrounds (we call it random camping) within national parks such as Banff, Waterton or Jasper although there are primative campgrounds. Check out Frank slide in Crowsnest Pass on your way North out of Waterton. Kananaskis spans between Waterton and Banff which you can drive through on highway 40 from Crowsnest Pass all the way to Banff. The northern bit is paved and quite popular however the southern portion is gravel and MUCH less traveled/busy and offers an abundance of random camping along with some primitive campgrounds. Drive highway 93 (the icefield parkway) from Lake Louise to Jasper. Very beautiful drive and a glacier if you've never seen one.
(Side note, if you go up to the glacier on a hike or a tour DO NOT GO AND WALK ON IT!!! Just read of another person falling in a crevasse there.)

Banff is very beautifull but by far the most busy. Full of tourists and very expensive. Go see it, but be warned. Canmore is similar. Jasper tends to be quieter I've found and Waterton much more so.

I am blessed to live in such an amazing and beautiful place and I'm sure you will have an amazing trip! Someday you will have to fill me in on your home turf!

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk

Thanks Kelso! Whenever I can help with places near me, let me know!

 

[Crapitecture]

Backroad Mapbooks - great and detailed industry-leading maps of Canada just sent me an email announcing that their BRMB Maps for all of Canada are now available for the GAIA GPS App, which a lot of people run on iPads for in-vehicle navigation. Pretty cool news and I can't wait to try them out. I have several of their hard copy mapbooks, but for the eastern Canadian provinces. They provide an astounding amount of details, really. Some folks prefer to buy them through Amazon, as they are often less-expensive. When looking at the mapbooks on their site, remember that the pricing is in Canadian dollars. A quick check on the exchange rate will show what the price is in USD.

I'm hoping to get out to British Columbia this year and maybe on up into the Yukon and into Alaska, but have a number of things in the works.

Hope you get some people to chip in here with ideas and tips!


Road

.

Great info! Thanks Road!

 

[Krusty]

I’m considering a similar trip hitting glacier national park and then heading north to Banff. I have friends who did a highway focused trip that they shared with us. I’m digging in to find out more off the beaten path info. I’ll share what I find with you.

It would be great if our Canadian brothers and sisters would share some knowledge too.

Did you ever make that trip?