Aussies driving from Nevada to Canada. Must sees tips etc.
 

Hi, this will be our third trip to the US from Melbourne, Australia. Have previously vistied Buffalo and Niagara Falls in Canada. <BR>This time we are interested in driving from Nevada to Canada. We will have approximately 4 weeks for the trip and want to visit Jasper, Banff, Lake Louise, Rocky Mountains etc. Does anyone have any tips regarding driving, best time to visit, must sees etc. <BR>Thanks.

For starters, don't plan your trip any earlier than late May, or any later than late September... unless you had skiing on your mind. The parks hand out a guide as you enter them that highlights the places to see. My personal recommendation is to make sure you take the hike up to the teahouse and the plains of the 6 glaciers at Lake Louise, and a second recommendation would be to take a gondola ride... They are available at Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. Lake Louise's is my favourite, but they all have their charms.

Unfortunately your choice of locations has a conflict with the weather. The ideal time to visit Canada is in the summer which is just the opposite for Nevada, assuming that you are thinking of Las Vegas which is a must see. Las Vegas and the lower desert areas of Nevada will be very hot 100+ degrees. However June should be bearable. <BR> <BR>Probably the best compromise would be June or September. I would travel north from Las Vegas and Nevada through into Utah, Idaho, and crossing into Canada just north of Bonner's ferry, Idaho. Continue north up to the Windermere/Columbia Valley. You are now in a valley with the BC Rockies on the east and the Purcell mountains on the west.The scenery is awesome through this area. Continue past Radium Hot Springs and through the Kooteney and Banff National parks. Visit Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, etc. At this point I would swing west and travel across BC through Golden, Revelstoke, Kamloops and then south through the Frazer canyon to Vancouver. Make sure and visit Victoria and the rest of Vancouver island. If you have any time left over then just relax and enjoy.

If you are driving to Canada from anywhere in Nevada, you should also visit Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons National Parks. They are not really out of your way if Lake Louise and Jasper are your targets. I rate these two parks as "must sees". <BR> <BR>In the summer of '97 we visited the part of Canada you mentioned. The other messages are what I would tell you. <BR> <BR>If you want a real adventure and don't mind sleeping in a sleeping bag on a foam mattress (comfortable), make reservations at Twin Falls Chalet in Yoho National Park. The chalet is a rustic hut. It is a little pricey, but the food is really good and, if you take the Iceline Trail in, the views are stupendous, rivaling what I have seen around the Jungfrau, Moench, and Eiger massif in Switzerland. (Well almost!!) <BR> <BR>Also, you must drive the Icefields Parkway from Lake Louise to Jasper. <BR>I would suggest late June for that drive because snow will still be on the peaks. <BR>(There is snow year round, but in early September the snow line is well up the slope.) <BR> <BR>If you want to ask me more, email me directly. <BR> <BR>PS I don't think you will have any trouble with the language. ;) <BR>

I guess I forgot to mention that driving time from Las Vegas to Calgary is approximately 24 hours... Banff is another hour from Calgary... the trip up the icefields from Banff to Jasper... 2 hours... Jasper to Edmonton (Home of the West Edmonton Mall!) 4 hours and Edmonton back down to Calgary... 3 hours. <BR> <BR>I would also recommend a small detour to Yellowstone National Park in the N.W. corner of Wyoming. I don't think it makes much of a difference to your overall driving time... maybe an hour or two... but the museum at West Yellowstone and Old Faithful are well worth the side trip.

<BR>To all those who have posted replies, thanks very much. Any other info would be welcome.

Do plan on coming to Calgary, Alberta. If you are camping, just east on the number 1 highway from Banff is the turn-off for Kananaskis country and Peter Lougheed Provincial parks. If hotelling, Kananaskis hotel has world class facilities including golf, hiking, white water, mountain biking, rock wall climbing and on and on. <BR>Calgary is center for Stampede and rodeo in early July. Book NOW! <BR>Nevada outside is too hot in June-sept. so unless you're planning to stay inside and gamble, skip it! Go instead to the wonderful satate and Federal parks like Arches, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone (book early) and keep coming north to Calgary, then turn west for Kananaskis, Banff, and Pacific Rim Park, among others. <BR>

Las Vegas should never be skipped just because of weather. Las Vegas offers a lot more than gambling. It is not the same as it was even 3 years ago. To me Las Vegas is the must see and the other things are nice if you can manage them.

There is no doubt all the above information is correct. The best time of year to vist B.C. is August-September. The nights may end a bit earlier, but the sun shines brighter. <BR>One of the things that we enjoy is Barkersville in Wells-Grey National Park. It is an old gold mining town, that has been done up for tourist, plan on spending a day there. The best thing you can do is send away for some tourist info guides because they will also have the events guides, in B.C. in the 1st week of August is B.C. Day most areas have special events pertaining to that. In I think the 2nd week of August in Edmonton they have Klondike Days and their Heritage Festival, both are must see's if you are around there. <BR>Some sites that may be helpful are: <BR>http://travel.bc.ca/activity/bc/event/shows.html B.C. Exhibitions and shows <BR>http://webcrawler.city.net/countries...tish_columbia/ Travel B.C.