21 replies to this topic

[Doff]

HI all

We are getting our FWC installed in the middle of July.  We are taking a month off work for an inaugural road trip.  Our plan is to start near the Great Lakes and drive north into Canada and then west towards Vancouver.  Once at the coast well head south back home to California.  I love the planning process of a trip, so starting now.  We have never been to Canada...its HUGE so its a bit daunting to narrow down where to go.  Does anyone have suggestions for places to visit? sites to see?  Hikes?  Routes to take?  Good disbursement camping spots? Well be in out F250 with a hawk FWC.  Well have our dogs with us, so we like private campsites where the dogs can enjoy themselves.  Any tips, ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!

 

THANKS!

Dan

[kmcintyre]

We did about 2 months  up from Idaho to the Maritimes.  Used iOverlander a lot and found some amazing camp spots.  I'm sure you'll find so many you may not come home :-).  

 

BTW, in case you didn't know, radar detectors are illegal in most (if not all) of Canada and they'll take them away and fine you.  I found out the hard way.  RCMP was having a bad day that day I guess and said he had a detector-detector.  It was ok as my radar detector was 20+ years old and I should have known better.  It was the fine that was the kicker.  Needless to say, I probably can't go back to New Brunswick :-)

[dennis 221]

Good luck with getting in...

[Old Crow]

Our favorite TV series right now is about small Canadian towns and I'd like to recommend it as part of your trip planning / familiarization process while you wait for your camper to be ready.  It's called "Still Standing" and is hosted by a very talented comedian, Johnny Harris.  There are four 13-episode seasons of it on Amazon Prime, each episode a different small town.

 

Incredibly, Johnny and his crew go into a small town for five days and then put on a 45-minute show at the local theater or community center.

 

Here's a sample episode from YouTube... (this one is about a town in Nova Scotia but there are episodes from all over Canada)

 

Still Standing in Mabou!

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Edited by Old Crow, 26 December 2020 - 03:49 PM.

[Vic Harder]

How much time do you have?  You could spend months in the Rockies alone..... 

[Doff]

We will have about 3 weeks from the time we leave the Great Lakes area until the time we need to be back in Central Sierra Nevada of California.  We don't mind driving 14-16hour days a few times as needed.  But would also like to take a few days to set up a "basecamp" somewhere and explore around.  We try to 100% avoid developed campgrounds...mostly so out dogs can have fun and we dont have to worry about them bothering other campers.  We enjoy areas with pretty scenery and I like a nice river or lake to cast a line into and take a dip.

 

We know there is a risk the border will still be closed...but we're keeping fingers crossed.  My wife and I already received the first dose of the vaccine last week.  If it ends up we can't get into Canada, then we'll just make our way through the northern US.

[Vic Harder]

What kinds of activities?  Hiking?  Canoeing/Kayaking/Fishing?  Museums?  Having lived in Winnipeg for 16 years, I would suggest getting to the mountains as fast a possible     That's not entirely fair to the prairies, but I love vertical/mountains/lakes.

[Doff]

What kinds of activities?  Hiking?  Canoeing/Kayaking/Fishing?  Museums?  Having lived in Winnipeg for 16 years, I would suggest getting to the mountains as fast a possible     That's not entirely fair to the prairies, but I love vertical/mountains/lakes.

 

We are definitely mountain folk....so that was our plan.  probably a silly question...but (looking at a map) where are the boundaries of the mountain areas vs the praises?  Activities would be mostly hiking and fishing.  We enjoy exploring small rural towns, but that may not be the best if the pandemic is still in full force come July.  Since our FWC is going to be brand-new, I think a lot of our time is going to be spent enjoying the camper...so finding awesome campsites (solitude and near water and trails) are our top priorities.  I know its a long drive all the way across Canada, but hoping to avoid main highways as much as possible and enjoy some of the side country roads

[Vic Harder]

"hoping to avoid main highways as much as possible and enjoy some of the side country roads"  I'm laughing, because even our #1 highway is a "side road" compared to many US interstates.  

 

If you look at a map that has geological features, it is easier to spot where the Prairies end... between Calgary and Banff if you are in the south, and around Hinton if you are up north near Edmonton.  

 

You will not find a lot of "dispersed" aka "free" camping in Canada.  BC seems to have more of that though, so check out the book "Camp Free in BC".  Also the BackRoads Guidebook series is good too.

 

If you want slightly better scenery across the Prairies, consider taking hwy 16 out of Winnipeg to get to Edmonton and from there on to Jasper.  The #1 is shorter/faster and deadly boring, in my opinion.  We used to drive that Winnipeg to Vancouver annually to visit family.  The 'Peg to Calgary run is 13 hours of driving at speed limit, and the Mounties are active on that road.

 

Once in Calgary you are just 90 minutes away from the Rockies.  Highly recommend checking out Kananaskis Country - Where Locals Hike. There are Provincial Parks in K-Country and campsites that take reservations, and also some first come first served sites that we tend to favour.  West Spray Lakes is a nice camping area... but be warned that Calgarians FILL these campsites by Thursday noon, so arrive before that if you are around on a weekend.  

 

DO drive the Icefields Parkway, with this book - Don't Waste you time in the Canadian Rockies - in hand.  We've had good luck getting into the Wilcox Campground some weekends... it is cold (altitude and closeness to the Icefields) and has short/sharp corners so no trailers are getting in there.

 

I'm hoping a few others will hop onto this thread to add more info... 

[ski3pin]

Our favorite TV series right now is about small Canadian towns and I'd like to recommend it as part of your trip planning / familiarization process while you wait for your camper to be ready.  It's called "Still Standing" and is hosted by a very talented comedian, Johnny Harris.  There are four 13-episode seasons of it on Amazon Prime, each episode a different small town.

 

Incredibly, Johnny and his crew go into a small town for five days and then put on a 45-minute show at the local theater or community center.

 

Here's a sample episode from YouTube... (this one is about a town in Nova Scotia but there are episodes from all over Canada)

 

Still Standing in Mabou!

.

A quick hijack - thanks to Old Crow for mentioning Still Standing. We are greatly enjoying the series.