Great hiking spots between Calgary and Alberta
 

~ Hi...My friend and I are planning on driving from Calgary to Vancouver. Along the way, we plan on doing lots of hiking. The trip might be 8 or 9 days. Can anybody recommend great hiking spots along the way? Can anybody recommend hostels? We don't have an itinerary yet, so your help would be appreciated. Thanks!

obviously, there are a ton of hikes in banff naitonal park. there are hostels in banff or lake louise. you could spend 3-4 nights there. then drive to nelson, bc for 2-3 nights - bears den hostel gets good reviews. fun little town. a vew nice hotsprings around. then onto penticton area for as many nights as you have and onto vancouver.
another option - stay 3 nights in banff, drive icefield parkway and do some hiking there, getting into jasper in the evening. stay there for 2-3 nights. drive to clearwater, bc for 2 nights an hike wells gray provincial park. maybe one more stop if there is time or straight to vancouver.
sort of depends if you want to focus most of your time in the alberta rockies or explore more of bc.

Are you intending to drive west from Calgary or spending part of that time in the national parks along the AB/BC border (Jasper, Banff, Yoho, Kootenay NPs)?

The best hiking is going to be in the Rockies and the mountain ranges closer to the AB/BC border. Further west, it's more about lakes/swimming/wine/other fun adventures. if hiking is your main focus, my suggestion would be to spend 3-5 nights around Banff/Lake Louise/Yoho and then 2-3 night driving to Vancouver.

For hikes, what is your fitness level? Are you looking for all day hikes, half day hikes?

It would also greatly help to know when you are making this trip? Some trails can be snowbound as late as early July. Also in late June - early September you need to book any accommodation well in advance.

If you've done the area around Banff/Lake Louise, then you might want to do some hikes in the Yoho/Kootenay area and then around Revelstoke before heading further west.

There is a great network of Hi Hostels in the Rockies and BC, but they are very busy in the summer. For weekends and holidays, I would book as soon as possible, especially in the smaller locations. Weekdays tend to have a lot more availability.

The hostels range from full service to wilderness. I've had good experiences at the Hi Hostels in Lake Louise, Canmore, Kananaskis, Takkakaw Falls as well as the private hostel in Field. The hostel near Salmon Arm is rather unique, but it is not for everyone and I would opt for the train cars, NOT the private rooms. I've also heard great things about the Hi Hostel in Banff.

For the British Columbia portion (Vancouver to Alberta border), here is a link to Hello BC's website, the hiking section: http://www.hellobc.com/british-colum...es/hiking.aspx

I appreciate all your help. There's great information here. Thanks for the suggested itineraries, the tip about booking in advance, and about weekdays offering greater availability regarding accommodations. Thanks for the locations mentioned, and for the link to Hello BC. This information should help greatly in the planning phase of the trip. More information is welcome. Thanks again.

I see kgsneds and I are on the same wavelength... what kind of hikes do you enjoy - how strenuous? one hour or eight? and yes, what time of year are you asking about? Knowing that will help all of us respond more helpfully.

We are thinking in July. Also, with regards to our fitness level, 4 hour hikes should be doable. We might even be able to go more. For information purposes, I am going to say about 4 to 6 hour hikes. Thanks again.

http://www.everytrail.com/guide/taka...o-lake-circuit

Takkakaw, and the site itself