National Parks
 

We are arriving from England in a couple of weeks and touring Alberta and B.C. for three weeks,do we have to pay to enter the National Parks? If so can anyone give us some more info about it, costs etc?

Check out this website for more info on Canadian National Parks: www.parkscanada.pch.gc.ca
You will have to pay if you are going to be stopping in the parks, but it is well worth it.

This page deals with fees:

http://www.pc.gc.ca/agen/tarifs-fees/ex1_e.asp

Here is yet another website that does a fairly good job, I think, of showing the prices of single day passes versus annual passes.

http://www.canadianrockies.net/banff...l#GreatWestern

For example, a single adult pays C$7 a day, and a group of two adults or more pays C$14 per day.

A single adult can get an annual pass that admits him/her to all 27 of Canada's national parks for the next 12 months for C$45, and a group can get an annual pass for C$89.

I have figured out that the annual pass is worth it if one spends 7 or more days in the national parks in a 12 month period.

The passes are not tied to identification. For example, my husband and I buy an annual pass every year, and my son and his friends use it when they go skiing in Banff National Park. Also, when relatives or friends visit from out of town, we take them to the mountains on our pass.

Something that I don't think these websites explain very well (if at all) is the fact that, once one has bought a pass for one national park, one does not have to buy a pass for another national park. For example, one can pay on the way into Banff National Park. In that case, one does not have to pay again when one crosses the border from Banff Nat'l Park to Yoho Nat'l Park or Banff Nat'l Park to Jasper Nat'l Park.

The Canadian National Parks system is under-funded and feeling the pressure of trying to protect these amazing treasures with minimal resources.

First, to our friends from England - the very minimal fees you will pay will one of the best 'investments' of your trip. Our western National Parks are magnificent.

Judy, I just got off the phone with the chief naturalist of one of our eastern National Parks, who happens to be a friend of mine. You would not have enjoyed his comments.......

The season pass is not intended to be 'transferable', but , of course, with it not tied to an indivual ID the purchaser is on the honour system.

Jerry

depending how many parks you are entering, an annual pass may be less expensive. but, as mentioned above, they keep our parks beautiful so it's a good investment. enjoy

>>>>>>The season pass is not intended to be 'transferable', but , of course, with it not tied to an indivual ID the purchaser is on the honour system.<<<<<<

Thanks for the information, Jerry. I didn't know that.

As an American, let me throw in a highly biased opinion here. The sights in Banff, Jasper, Yoho, and Kootenay National Parks are glorious, superb, magnificant. They are also pretty.

I go there often and don't mind a penny of the cost. Something about those hills keeps luring me back, time after time. We started in 1987, soon after my son graduated from college, and we wished we had gone there sooner.

If you have a chance, also drive down to Waterton Park, and west to the Canadian Glacier National Park.

Waterton Park is combined with the US Glacier National Park to form an International Peace Park. People often confuse the two parks because the names are the same. Canada has one west of Golden on the Trans Canada Highway; the US has one in northern Montana on the Alberta border.

The US Glacier Park has some great scenery as well. The Going to the Sun Road is well known for its scenery, but if you have to make a forced choice between the Icefields Parkway that stretches from Lake Louise to Jasper, go Canadian every time.

To me that is the most spectacular long mountain drive I have seen.

But when it comes to mountain scenery, comparisons are sometimes meaningless.

But I think many people will tell you that the Icefields Parkway is well worth the trip, both north and south.
I hope to drive it again in July for the umpteenth time, and can't wait to get there.

Thanks to everyone for your replies and help, I only wish I had discovered this site when we first started planning our holiday. We are really looking forward to our visit as we are from the Lake District in England so we love the outdoors and are hoping to do a bit of hiking in some 'real' mountains.

I looked at the webiste listed above regarding the daily National Park fees and still have a question (or two). My extended family are entering Banff National Park on July 16th, driving into the Jasper National Park on Jul 21st and then leaving the same way (down through Banff) on Jul 24th. Quesitons: Do I need to pay for each day that I am within a National Park? Do I pay separately for Banff and Jasper? Jemmag says that you have to pay if you are stopping in the parks - how is stopping defined? Do they take VISA or do we need to pay cash?

Hello Ariel,

I just phoned Parks Canada in Banff at (403) 762-1550.

The man who answered the phone said they accepted Visa, MasterCard and all major credit cards. I didn't ask him what he meant by major credit cards, but I assume that includes American Express, for example.

He said a day is defined from the time that you purchase the entry pass until 4 pm the following day. So suppose you enter a national park some time on Thursday and buy a one day pass. That pass will be valid until 4 pm on Friday.

As to the definition of stopping, he said that, in order to fit the criterion of "through traffic" that did not have to pay for a pass, all four of the vehicle's wheels had to be on the TransCanada Highway at all times during one's transit through the national parks. If one pulled over to the side of the road to look at the view or take a photo, if one pulled into a gas station to fill up with gas, if one went into a supermarket to buy groceries, if one drove on any road in the parks that was not the TransCanada Highway, then one was deemed to have stopped, and one had to pay the entry fee.

Oh yes, one thing I didn't ask him, because I know the answer from experience, is that you do not have to pay separately when you cross the boundary from one national park to another, e.g., when you cross from Yoho National Park into Banff National Park or from Banff National Park into Jasper National Park. If you have paid for one national park, that gives you the right to be in other national parks as well.

Hope this helps.