Canadian Rockie Mountains Camping Trip: Jasper and Banff in 6 nights

My wife (May) and I recently went camping for the first time in the Canadian Rockie Mountains with a group of friends from our hiking group. We went in 11 in total and stayed for 6 nights. In this post I will share a bit of the highlights and what we did in these 8 days in the Canadian Rockies.

We divided our 6 nights stay into two, staying 3 nights in the Wapiti Campground in Jasper National Park and the other 3 nights at Lake Louise Soft-Sided Campground in Banff National Park.

Jasper National Park

This was the first stop, 3 nights.

Getting to Jasper National Park

We drove from Vancouver to Jasper National. The road is really good and also very scenic. I liked to listen to the Guide Along app guides, which have very nice (nerdy) information about the road, history, and everything.

We stopped at Kamloops for restaurants and groceries as it is one of the biggest cities on the way.

Wapiti Campground

Wapiti Campground is really nice. It has a few trees which can be bad on a hot day, but it has a nice view of the mountains around.

It is also not fenced, so we had the privilege of seeing some elks walking in the middle of the campground while we were there. They were not bothered at all by the humans there.

Best in Jasper National Park

What I liked more about Jasper National Park was the wildlife. We saw many elks, many marmots (calling Steve), a mamma black bear with a cub, and even a Moose which was very far away.

What we visited in Jasper National Park

We visited the Maligne Lake and there we did two hikes, the Opal Hills Short Loop and Maligne Lake Viewpoint which was easy because we did most of the way on the other hike. It was during these hikes that we saw a lot of marmots and also Moose from far away. On the way back we saw a lot of elks as well.

We also visited Pyramid Lake and I tried to paddle board there. Unfortunately, I fell into the water losing my new sunglass, and also my Fitbit Charge 5 stopped working, even though it was supposed to be waterproof.

We also went close to the Mount Edith Cavell. We didn’t do the hike, as it was pouring rain but we got close to the pond and were able to enjoy the glacier view.

Banff National Park

Here we stayed for 3 nights either.

Getting to Banff National Park

We went from Jasper to Banff via the very scenic Icefield Parkway. Despite this being a relatively quick drive, we took our time and explored a few attractions that there’s in this road.

We stopped at Athabasca Falls, Sunwapta Falls, Columbia Icefield, Peyto Lake & Bow Summit, and a few other random stops. You can see the main stops along the way here.

Lake Louise Soft-Sided Campground

The Lake Louise Soft-Sided Campground is very different from the Wapiti Campground. This one is fenced and it has a lot of trees. You basically feel that you are in a forest. This one also has a river very nearby which is in itself very nice.

Best in Banff National Park

The thing that I liked the most in Banff National Park was the lakes (mainly Louise and Moraine), which one has their own beauty and the high mountain views. Moraine Lake has a kind of blueish color.

While Lake Louise has a tortoise-like color.

What we visited in Banff National Park

As it was our first time camping (in the last 10 years), we were a bit tired, so we took a day to just chill on the camping ground and nearby things.

But the other day was busy, we went to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise via the Shuttle as it is the easiest way possible. In Lake Louise, we did a very small hike (Fairview Lookout) just to have a high view of the lake.

We also visited the charming Banff Town, which has an incredible view of Cascade Mountain.

The best about the trip

One of the best things about the whole camping experience was being around the campfire with friends. We set a campfire every night and stay talking, laughing, and drinking around the fire. The cold weather was bad for other things, but it was nice as everyone wanted to stay around the fire to get warm.

Another very nice thing was cooking outdoors. May and I like to cook and it was very nice to be cooking outside with a mountain view and also in the middle of the forest at the other camping site. In Wapiti we had an opportunity to see a elk passing by when we were cooking. We also took the challenge to make dinner for everybody in one day. It was hard but it was really nice to share a meal with everybody at the same time (other times each carpool did its own dinner).

The nature is amazing. The wildlife, the mountains, and the lakes are unique! We definitely want to go back more times.

The challenge in the trip

I think the biggest challenge was the rain. It was rainy for like 4 out of the 6 days so it was hard to cook at the camping site and also it was hard to visit places.

Another small challenge was the cold. It got pretty cold on some days, like 4°C during the night. We were a bit prepared for it, but it was challenging anyway.

Also, organizing 11 people is not an easy task. Even though we were divided into 3 groups (3 cars), people have different waking up time preferences and also eating preferences. 11 people is a lot for being our first time.

Learnings and tips

Some learnings during this trip: Be prepared for all types of weather 6 nights is a lot for the first camping trip Traveling with 11 people is very nice, but it is also challenging. I loved the audio tours of the Guide Along app, but my carpool didn’t (have a headphone) Have a shared playlist. We had 4 people with different musical tastes and we combined all in one playlist

Nerdy details about the camping trip

I mentioned before that we went in 11 people. We were dived in 3 cars (SUVs). Two cars had 4 people and the other had 3. Every carpool was responsible for its own food and they shared the travel cost (gas, groceries, etc).

We used the app Splitwise for sharing the trip costs and we created a group there with 11 people.

For Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, the best way is to get a Shuttle from Parks Canada. It costs $8 per person and you can book it starting at 8 AM two days prior. They also have a last minute that opens at 8 AM on the current day. We kept searching while we were there and we were able to get the tickets for all the people.

The whole trip from Vancouver to Jasper, Banff, and back to Vancouver we drove 2,325 KM.