Hello,

I've read many of the posts on the board already about the trip between Seattle and Banff/ Jasper, but have a few specific questions for our situation on which I would like some expert advice!

We will be flying into Seattle on Friday, Sep 10, arriving at 9:20 PM. We are staying at an airport hotel that night (already booked via priceline) figuring we will be tired since we are flying in from the east coast. Picking up the rental car early Sat AM to travel out of the city. We have to be back in the city on Friday, Sept 17th where we'll be spending the night in town (already booked).

The question relates to our route. We are young, so we can handle a long day of driving - especially if it falls at the beginning of the trip - so is it feasible to get to Jasper or Banff in 1 day? We plan to take a more leisurely route on the return, heading down the Okanogan valley and overnighting there. But on the way out, we're considering the option to get there asap, preferably with a quick but scenic route. Mapquest tells us to go up I-5 to Bellingham, cross-over to BC there, then up CAN-5 to Kamloops, where we can continue on CAN-5 toward Jasper (approx 10.5 hours per mapquest) or CAN-1 toward Banff (approx 11 hours per mapquest). Would we be crazy to drive this straight, both with respect to the length of the journey and the fact that we may be bypassing more scenic routes in our pursuit of speed?

Also, we'd like to travel different routes on the way there vs. on the return trip. We already plan to arrive at either Jasper or Banff and depart from the one we don't arrive at, so that will give us the opportunity to travel both the Yellowhead Highway and Can-1, but what about FROM the Kamloops/Kelowna area? With the Okanogan valley as a definite part of our return, would you recommend taking 97 south to pick up the North Cascades highway in WA (20)? Or heading out CAN-3? We were also considering going north of Vancouver and driving CAN-99 through Whistler, and making that a night stop-over on the way up, if we decided to make it a more leisurely drive up.

Complicating factor: my boyfriend is a huge NFL fan, and has insisted that we be somewhere on Sunday at 1 PM where we can catch the Eagles-Giants game (hey, I'm lucky he even agreed on a vacation during this time!) So preferably, we'd be at our destination (Banff or Jasper) by then. And ideally, our destination would have a sports bar nearby.

As you can see, we're at an indecisive point on the route. Any advice????

Yes, it's doable in a long day.

I would not go up I-5. In addition to the delay potential at the border, especially on a Saturday morning, if you look at a map you'll see that you're actually heading NW from Seattle to the border, as opposed to NE which is the direction you want.

Go east on I-90 to Coeur d'Alene (around 6 hours from Seattle, 5 and change if you push) then turn north on US/BC 95 all the way to BC 93 at Radium Hot Springs, maybe another 6 hours or so from Spokane.

As you're on east coast time, you ought to be bright eyed and bushy-tailed for a pre-dawn start; remember there's a 1-hour time change en route, so 11-12 driving hours equals 12-13 clock hours, and in September that will mean leaving and/or arriving after dark, a pity given the scenery that you'll be passing through.

If you want to break the journey and still be situated in Banff/Jasper before the kickoff, you might consider staying in Nelson BC, a very cute town in the gorgeous Kootenay country (used in several films including "Roxanne" with Steve Martin); from Nelson on to Banff is a fairly easy half-day drive.

Coming back, give a thought to BC Hwy 3; it's a gorgeous road, and in September you ought to see more apple orchards and fruit stands in full glory than you thought was possible. Cross the border at Sumas to avoid the elephants on parade at Blaine. Alternatively, come back via BC/US 97 through Osoyoos and Omak, then over SR 20 or US 2. Frankly, after the Canadian Rockies the Cascades will look less impressive (but still pretty cool.)

We have done this drive several times, last summer being the most recent. We went HWY 2 over to Wenatchee then north through the Okanagan. We stayed in Penticton to break up the drive and really enjoyed that area. On the way back we went through Radium Hot Springs, down through ID and over I-90 back home. We did this in one day. It was a long day, but doable.

In Penticton we stayed at the Ramada Inn. We noramlly wouldn't even consider staying at one, but this one is really nice! There is a pool with a restaurant/bar next to it so you can order drinks and a meal and be poolside. There is also a fitness yurt next to the pool. The room was quite nice also. We have never seen a Ramada like this!

Hi happymz, you have gotten some good advice so far. If you want other opinions on the area and driveability, I would post your question on the Canadian board as tons of us canucks have done this trip.
Have a great time!

I would second Gardy's route to US 95 because of the one day objective. Speed limits become an important factor when traveling so many miles in one day. I-90 is 70 mph all the way to Cd'a. I-5 is not the way to go from Seattle to

Most of US 97 to Pentictin is 55 or 60 and much slower through each and every town. Across just the WA portion of the trip 60 versus 70 is a 45 minute travel time penalty and that does not count the many segments of 35 or even 25mph through towns.

In addition, there is construction on US 2 and US 97 this summer (may or may not be over by Sept. 10). I drove Seattle to Pentictin last week and it took at least an hour longer than normal.

I didn't read the other postings, but in our experience the fastest route from Seattle to Banff is via Sandpoint, Idaho. Travel in Canada is much slower than in the USA. If more than one person is driving the trip can be made in one LONG day of driving.

The drive between Lake Louise and Jasper takes much longer than you would expect because it is so darn beautiful.

Suggestion: You won't regret it if you concentrate on a few highlights.

Thanks everyone for your replies & advice! We are definitely planning to follow what you've recommended, and head east into Idaho (Coeur D'Alene?) and north from there on the trip out in order to get us to Banff by Saturday night. Also following your advice, I just posted on the BC board to get advice on the return...we will be taking it a bit more leisurely on the way back and adding an overnight somewhere...for which we are strongly considering the okanogan valley, so I'll check out the Ramada in Pentincton, mms. Thanks all!

My dh and I still comment on that Ramada...can't believe it is part of that group! We used Expedia a few days before and were very pleased. There were lots of other travelers there...many cars had bike racks and lots of luggage...but it looked like everyone was staying as long as possible there to enjoy the pool. Not the typical road traveler of wake up, eat and hit the road.

Since you have already received such good answers, can I add that you really should have added which team (EAGLES or giants) your S.O. will be rooting for?I don't think that an EAGLES fan would be traveling at that time but you can never be sure.The answer could have greatly impacted your results but maybe you already knew that.Enjoy

Well, as you guessed, he's obviously a Giants fan, so he may end up quite glad that he's far far away in the Canadian Rockies on this day!