raphaekg

Hi. We are planning a mid-August trip to Waterton/Glacier and Lake Louise/Jasper/Banff. We'll be traveling by RV, so this may limit us somewhat.
So far, it looks like this:

Day 1: Fly into Calgary, arrive evening
Day 2: Drive to Drumheller, see Royal Tyrell Museum
Day 3: Drive to Waterton
Day 4: Explore Waterton (Crypt Lake trail?)
Day 5: Drive to Glacier National Park (U.S.)
Day 6: Explore Glacier
Day 6: Explore Glacier
Day 7: Drive to/stay Cranbrook
Day 8: Drive to Lake Louise (raft Kicking Horse?)
Day 9: Explore Lake Louise/Yoho
Day 10: Drive Japser/Icefields Parkway
Day 11: Explore Jasper
Day 12: Drive Banff (more Icefields parkway)
Day 13: Exlore Banff
Day 14: Drive to Calgary
Day 15: Fly home in a.m.

We are two adults and two children (ages 12 and 17). We're interested in hiking (not TOO strenuous), whitewater rafting, hot springs, etc.
Have we planned on a reasonable amount of time in each location? Any not-to-miss hikes or other activities? What are water levels for whitewater going to be like in mid-to-late August?

This site has helped me plan a # of wonderful vacations over the past few years. Thanks once again!

brookwood

Hmm. Not too strenuous and yet you want to do the Crypt Lake trail? Slight conflict there between plans and constraints. Crypt Lake is not easy.

Day 5 puzzles me. Driving from Waterton to Glacier is NOT going to take but a couple of hours. Afterall, the two parks are contiguous.

Having been there more than once, I think you are allowing too much for Glacier and not enough for the Canadian Rockies.

Also, Day 7. You will not need the whole day to drive to Cranbrook.
We left Kalispell mid morning and drove all the way to Lake Louise with no trouble with a long stop in Kootenay.

I do not think you will need all day to visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum unless you take one of the excursions. The museum itself is good for perhaps 4 to 5 hours, but the excursions are well worth it.

Driving from Drumheller to Waterton will take about 5 hours. The distance is 250 miles, but if you pick a good route from Drumheller, you need not go through many towns.

Those back routes in Alberta are usually quite good. I never hesitate to take them. You can drive along at a good rate of speed with very little traffic.
Most of that particular route is flat and the roads are straight.

When you say Banff, do you have in mind the town or the huge national park?
There is plenty to see and do in that large area.

Is Moraine Lake not on your list?

raphaekg

Thank you, Brookwood, for your early critique.
The strange Day 5 is due to the fact that we were thinking of staying on the Western side of the park. We can't travel on GTTS Road with an RV, so we need time to go from Waterton all the way around to West Glacier, I think. In any case, I was having the same feeling as you that we have too much time in Glacier and not enough time in the Canadian Rockies.
The idea of driving straight from West Glacier straight to Lake Louise sounds good, as there really was nothing to do in Cranbrook anyway.
Given that these changes will allow us to add some more days to the Canadian Rockies area, where would you recommend we should add days? Banff/Lake Louise or Jasper?

Judy_in_Calgary

Hello raphaekg,

I do not travel in an RV, but people who do tell me it adds about 15% to Map Quest's estimated driving times.

I take brookwood's point about Drumheller. But, since you'll have teenagers with you, I think it's okay to spend all day in Drumheller. The young people in your party may be interested in one of the excursions in addition to the Tyrrell itself. Besides that, they may enjoy just kicking back and having a swim after the museum and an excursion.

When you drive from Cranbrook to Lake Louise, you may be interested in stopping in at Lussier Hot Springs in White Swan Provincial Park (near Canal Flats). They have been left totally natural.

Alternatively, you may want to add a day to your time in Jasper so that you can visit Miette Hot Springs. Like most of the other hot springs, Miette has been developed into a proper pool. However, out of the "developed" hot springs, Miette is one of the nicer ones.

If you're interested in history, Fort Steele Historic Town near Cranbrook is very worthwhile.

On the day that you drive from Banff to Calgary, do consider going through Kananaskis Country, over the Highwood Pass, and through the hamlet of Bragg Creek.

Hope that helps.

raphaekg

Yes, thanks to both Judy and brookwood, for all these tips.