Banff and Jasper for Thanksgiving from Seattle
 

Me and my husband would like to explore Banff and Jasper in Nove (26-27 long weekend) this year. I have couple of questions. Can we drive from Seattle during this time of the year? What would be the best way to enjoy the park? Your feedback is appreciated.
Thank you,
pahat.

Be prepared for some snow. My Ohio friends have a family tradition of going to Banff for skiing over US Thanksgiving. And the Transcanada is much more challenging through BC over the mountains to Alberta than it is from there eastward. Go for it!

The average snowfall in November in Banff is 33 cm, which is more than "some".

How long were you planning your trip to be? It's a 10 hour drive from Vancouver to Banff and that's straight through in good weather. In November, you should factor in more time than that for bad weather/road conditions.

Also, I highly recommend snow tires in the mountains in winter. Some people will tell you that all-seasons are fine, but on the frozen roads, even if there isn't heavy snow, they just don't give you the traction that snow tires do.

We were thinking of leaving Seattle on Wed eve. Take a break after 4-5 hrs. Drive next day to Banff. We will probably reach there on Thursday eve. Fri, Sat roam around Banff and Jasper. Start back on Sun morning back to Seattle. How does that sound? We will have 3-4 people who can drive, so we will take turns. How does that sound? Not sure if it will safe in so much snow...
Thanks for comments! happy posting.

We could also take Monday off if needed and leave Banff/Jasper on Monday morning. Depends on what we could do in park...

Jasper is a 3.5 hour drive from Banff, along the Icefields Parkway, a mountain highway that traverses three high elevation passes. Jasper (town) CAN be reached as a day trip from Banff at some points of the year, but I would not recommend it in November, when the daylight hours are short, and the driving conditions might not be good. The Icefields Parkway is not patrolled or maintained after 4:30 pm, and there is no cell service along most of its length.

For two (or even three) days, I don't think it would be worth the time driving there and back. If you want to do a weekend trip, fly into Calgary and rent a car. But I'm not sure that would be enough time to justify the airfare. Why not go to Whistler which is so much closer?

I agree, it's a long, difficult drive in the winter. Your daylight driving hours are short. Whistler is a great recomendation. The road to Whistler is a piece of cake compared to the road to Jasper/Banff.

Whistler sounds interesting. Thank you for all your suggestions. We haven't gone there before. I know its famous for Skiing. Any other activities/place we must see do/see there?

Worth mentioning that we are both not very good at skiing. I don't see us skiing there more than once at the most...

Well if you're not skiers, then Whistler probably isn't for you. Yes it's lovely but not a lot to do if you don't ski. I have to agree with other posters, that is way too long a drive for the short period of time you have.

If you're not skiiers, I'm not sure what you would do in Banff/Jasper that you can't do in Whistler. Hiking is out of the question that time of year. You could do snow-shoeing or dogsledding in either place. Both have villages/hotels where you can shop/dine etc. You may want to look into taking the new peak to peak gondola at Whistler/Blackcomb. They may take round trip passengers in the winter.

I don't think Whistler has a lot going for it at Thanksgiving. Even skiing is pretty iffy at Whistler at Thanksgiving--often the lower mountain is closed because there's not enough snow, there is rain in the village, days are short and skies are gray. The scenery isn't even close to being as spectacular as Banff/Jasper, especially if you aren't skiing and will only be down below in the village. I think for non-skiers, Banff is a much better destination--there is much more in terms of sightseeing/scenic drives/short walks.

I would check to see if there is usually snow on the ground in the town of Banff at that time of year. That is the beginning of the ski season, but the ski areas are quite a bit higher than the town and the Icefields Parkway. It might still be snow free enough for you to sightsee with no problem (then again, it might not). I'm sure there are websites where you can check average snowfall in the town, at Lake Louise, and along the highway.

If you don't like skiing, or hiking, what is it that draws you to the mountains in the winter? Personally, I go south,, as far as possible! Another great vacation is Victoria, &/or Tofino, but again, it is cool, wet and dark the end of November. Good storm watching!

I came to know about another option of railway from Vancouver. We might not need to drive after all!

That is such a beautiful part of the world. I certainly would go there in the summer when you have daylight to see it! Also pending hours & hours in the car is a poor trade off for hiking and being here to enjoying magnificant scenery. Just mho....

We were there (Banff and Lake Louise) last Thanksgiving. There wasn't much snow in the town of Banff, if any, but there was skiing (races going on, in fact) at Lake Louise and plenty of snow on the ground in Lake Louise. However, know that the day we tried to take the Icefields Parkway from Banff to Jasper, we were turned back at Lake Louise due to weather --- the road was closed.

That's a very long drive for two days, even in summer - which route were you planning to take? There will be snow on the Coquihalla which tends to be snowier than the dry Rockies.

For the short period of time, I would recommend visiting just Banff and Lake Louise (and leave Jasper for another time).

The weather is becoming very unpredictable. There may or may not be snow at the lower elevations in the Rocky Mountain parks in late November, but because it's difficult to predict, it's also difficult to make plans (you won't know what to expect, could be great dry road driving, or could be a blizzard, or anything in-between!!)

So, as Shellidawn suggested, I would recommend flying to Calgary, renting a car, and driving to Banff (2 hours at the most from the Calgary airport).