sue5250

We are planning to spend a week traveling in August from Calgary up to Jasper - thinking of renting a camper van and traveling that way. Does anyone have any suggestions as to who to rent from and places to stay en route in the camper van?
Thanks

qwovadis

Have done this with www.canadamotorhomes.com/calgary B4

it was nice but not much cheaper than www.carrentals.com

AVERAGE charges over $120/da plus miles petrol

and cheap hotels usually better what I have done lately.

For under $30/day when there last for the roundup got a

nice convertible and stayed in nice hotels in Banff Lake

Louise and Jasper even threw in 1 night at the Fairmont

for under what the camper would have cost.

So might look at econo rental unlimited miles or tenting

or econo hotels to save... Have fun,

tomfuller

Several times I have arrived in Jasper on the Canadian (ViaRail). Last time I brought my wife. I/we always stay at the HI Hostel about 3 mi. SW of town. The place is a bargain.
The car we rented had a limit on the KM's but we managed to see a lot in 3 days.
Tenting in the area would quite likely dangerous with the wildlife I have seen.
Something visitors to Jasper usually miss is Patricia Lake where the top secret Habakkuk Project tried to build ice boats.

krp329

Tenting is not dangerous. Tens of thousands of people tent every summer in the park campgrounds, and thousands more (including me) out on backpacking trail campgrounds in the backcountry. It is important to keep a clean campsite so as not to attract wildlife (specifically bears) and nothing with scent (food, toiletries) should ever be inside a tent, nor should you ever cook or eat inside a tent. Out in the backcountry, one of the biggest wildlife dangers is forgetting to put your hiking boots inside the tent at night (i.e. leaving them in a tent vestibule) ... the sweat-soaked leather is irresistible to porcupines.

One tent campground in the four Rocky Mountain parks has been surrounded by an electric fence (at Lake Louise) - unfortunately, the campground sits on a wildlife corridor in prime grizzly bear habitat.

People are far more dangerous to wildlife than the other way around. Bears that become "habituated" to people (that is, lose their natural fear of humans) and associate people with easy food (because of people's sloppiness or laziness) get killed - either put down by the wardens when they come around town or the campground one too many times, or hit by a car when they are hanging out by the road looking for hand-outs. As the slogan goes: "A fed bear is a dead bear."

Contrary to what most people think, the most dangerous wildlife in the parks are not predators like cougars or bears (which eat an 85% plant-based diet) - aggressive incidents with these are quite rare; the most dangerous are elk, especially during calving season (mid-May to mid-June) and the rut (mid-Sept to mid-Oct). People tend to think they are "tame" and approach too closely. More people are chased, and sometimes injured by elk than any other animal in the parks.

tomfuller

Besides the elk I remember Big Horn Sheep and some Mt. Goats that I would not like to be too close to.
In downtown Jasper I remember seeing elk droppings and fenced areas that could be used as areas of refuge if an elk got too close. I seem to remember that petrol is not too cheap in Jasper either.