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The Western Part of the Western World - Part 1: Western CanadaFeb 21 '04 (Updated Apr 05 '04) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line I seem to have this odd affliction with disliking places that are east of me; I wonder why that is... The idea of driving all around the western United States & Canada all in one trip isn’t a very common one. Every summer I see flocks of oversized Florida RV’s migrating to Alaska, but that’s about the only common road trip I see. This itinerary is a big loop that takes you through Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana. A small section of Idaho is included, and since I don’t like Nevada, it’s not included. It is designed to take about 8-9 weeks altogether, but can be shortened, lengthened, or even broken into different segments - it just depends on what you want. This itinerary, I must make clear, I have never done in one swoop due to lack of time. I have, however, visited most of these places amidst shorter trips. For the parts that I have not been to, I’ve come up with some general information about it through other Epinions and other sources. Given the vast area that this is looking at, a lot of things and places are left out, but I’ve done my best to include the major attractions along the way. Prices are in Canadian dollars for the parts in Canada, and they are in US dollars for the US unless otherwise mentioned. I have broken this trip into 4 parts/reviews, this being the first installment. My main reason for doing so is to highlight certain regions (Western Canada, Western Coast, Southern US, Inner Western US) and I also didn't want to end up with one review that has ten thousand words. Part 2 will go from Seattle down to San Diego, with most of the time being spent in California. Part 3 will go from San Diego to Denver, and then Part 4 will twist up from Denver to Calgary. It is all intended to be done during the summer, but parts 2 & 3 can be done any time of the year if you choose to break things up. Part 1: Western Canada - 15 days Since my hometown of Calgary is a part of the loop, it will be where I begin from, but you can start anywhere. The area between Calgary and the US/Can border will be covered in part 4. Part 1 ends in the Seattle area. Calgary, Alberta - 3 nights, 2 days Calgary is a great place to live, but it lacks excitement. I can’t think of any campgrounds within 30 minutes (although in a city of nearly one million, there ought to be one), so a nice hotel like a Holiday Inn Express can be had for about $50 - $65 a night. It doesn’t matter where you stay in Calgary, it will take forever to get anywhere, as the transportation system is a joke. The main tourist attractions are the Calgary Tower, Eau Claire Market, Chinook Center and Southcenter (shopping), Heritage Park, Calgary Zoo (quite good), Callaway Park (amusement park), and COP (Canada Olympic Park) - from the 1988 Olympics. In early July (dates vary) the Stampede runs for two weeks every year, which is rodeo-based, but has a midway with all sorts of games and thrill rides (ie. the Tower of Terror). If you like the outdoors, Fish Creek Park in the south end of the city is wonderful for families and has a great number of bike trails (even though one of the worlds worst child molesters was found hiding in Fish Creek after fleeing from the US). My suggestions for great restaurants are Brewsters Brew Pub, Boston Pizza, and The Keg - they aren’t cheap or expensive. In general, Calgary is a cheap place, but lacks things to do so it only requires one or two days. If bored by what Calgary has to offer, a day trip to the Royal Tyrrell Museum (http://www.tyrrellmuseum.com) in Drumheller is good. Another day trip you can take is to Bragg Creek and Kananaskis Country, which has some hiking and biking trails. Going to Drumheller is the better of the two ideas. Calgary to Banff ½ day From the western edge of Calgary it takes about 90 minutes to get to Banff via the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway #1). If camping, you should take the Minnewanka Loop at the first Banff turnoff and see if there is a spot in one of the two campgrounds. If not, you can go Tunnel Mountain campground. If all of those are full, you can drive back east to Canmore, or you can continue west to Johnstons Canyon, Protection Mountain, or Lake Louise. I’ve never seen all the hotels completely full in Banff, but if for some odd reason they are, Canmore will certainly have rooms and at a slightly lower rate. Lake Louise has a few hotels, but they are more expensive and there are few services at Lake Louise. You need a parks pass if making any stops in any of the national parks or if taking the Icefield Parkway. Banff & Banff National Park, Alberta 6 nights, 4½ days There is a lot to do around Banff, whether you have a family or are a serious hiker/climber/whatever. If you arrive around noon one day, you should just spend the rest of the day walking & shopping in Banff. The rest of the time depends on what you like to do. The main tourist attractions are Bow Falls, Johnstons Canyon, Lake Minnewanka, and Lake Louise. If into biking, the old highway (Bow Valley Parkway / 1A) is nice and doesn’t have too many vehicles - the Vermillion Lakes is also decent. A few trails offer mountain biking, but it’s always changing. If hiking is your domain, the area around Lake Louise is the nicest. For more details about this area, check out my review right here. Banff to Jasper, Alberta ½ day From Highway 1 at Lake Louise, take Highway 93 north (Icefields Parkway). This section would involve backtracking and coming south on Highway 93, but given the impressive scenery, it looks different heading south. It is possible to take another route to get back to the highway, but it bypasses some very nice scenery. Most people stop at the Columbia Icefield (a glacier) and walk up to the base of it, and you can walk up the icefield on a designated path. Jasper is less-commercial than Banff, so there are fewer places to stay. There are three large campgrounds just outside of the town, a number of guesthouses in Jasper, and a few hotels. The campgrounds usually fill up early, although Whistlers usually has something late in the day, they just aren't as nice. Jasper & Jasper National Park, Alberta 3 nights, 2 ½ days If you have half a day, walk around down the two main streets of Jasper, check out restaurants, and that sort. Jasper is much more unique than Banff when it comes to shopping. One of the better restaurants in town is L&W's. For the other two days, most people go to Maligne Lake & Canyon, Pyramid Lake, Mary Lake, Athabasca Falls, and Cavell Meadows (don't pick the flowers). For backpackers, there is the 45km Skyline Trail that is a good 3-4 day trip. For serious day-hikers, there's not much. There's a variety of bike trails. There's a number of rafting outfitters that take you down the Athabasca River for the day. The most helpful thing you can do is go into the visitor center and just state your case and ask what they'd recommend you do. A great day trip is a drive west towards Prince George, but stopping at Mount Robson. There is a nice and easy walk to Kinney Lake that anybody can do (it can also be biked), and if you are a backpacker you can go further to Berg Lake, which is my favourite backpacking trip. If you don't want to drive back south, you would continue west down that road, and then south and end up in Kamloops. Jasper, Alberta to Revelstoke, British Columbia 1 day Head south down Highway 93 back to Lake Louise. Then head west towards Field and Golden. Shortly before reaching Field, turn off right and go to Takkakaw Falls (large RV's & large trailers must be left behind to drive up the road). Just after Field, you can turn off right and go to Emerald Lake, which offers an easy walk/bike around the lake that takes about an 45 minutes. After that, you continue west on Highway 1 through Golden and go through the Columbia River valley. Eventually you will reach the Selkirk Mountain Range, home to Glacier and Mt. Revelstoke National Parks. If it's not raining, a short stop at Rogers Pass is nice. There are few campgrounds, so if you see one that is not full, you'd be smart to stop there. Eventually you will reach Revelstoke, which has a few places to eat and sleep. Revelstoke, British Columbia 1 night Most of Revelstoke is hidden from the highway, so I don't know what all there is. There is a few private campgrounds, a few hotels, and a couple of restaurants. I've never had to stay in Revelstoke, so I can't be of too much help here. Revelstoke to Hope, British Columbia 1 day Although it is a fair distance to go in one day, there's not much to see. The first little town you’ll come to is Sicamous, the houseboat capital of Canada. I’m no fan of ice cream, but there is the D' Dutchmens Dairy, which has a wide variety of excellent ice cream, & a small petting zoo. The next town is Salmon Arm, which is actually fairly large, and has a number of places to eat or sleep for the night - if just driving through, a short stop at one of the farms on the west end of town isn’t a bad idea, as they have a wide selection of fresh fruits and vegetables and other assorted items. A side trip to Margaret Falls in Herald Provincial Park is nice on hot days, but if you do that you may as well try to camp at Herald P.P. as it is a nice place. West of Salmon Arm the scenery goes downhill until Kamloops/Merritt, at which point it turns around and starts to improve again. Kamloops is a fair-sized city, so it has all services. After Merritt, it is a toll highway that is $10 for most vehicles. Just after the toll booth the scenery is very nice and remains that way until Hope. Another option that's slightly more scenic (but longer), is that from Salmon Arm you head south on Highway 97 towards Kelowna (fruit/wine country - a nice area to stay for a night or two, but it's a busy vacation spot) and continue south to the junction with Highway 3a, which takes you to Highway 3 and then to Hope. Also possible is staying on Highway 1 from Kamloops, but there really aren't any benefits from doing that. Hope, British Columbia 1 night Hope is similar to Revelstoke in the services that it offers. It has a bunch of motels, and a few restaurants. The closest camping I can think of is in Sasquatch Provincial Park, which is a ways away, but it is a nice place. There are some private campgrounds closer, but the Provincial Parks always have better campgrounds. Hope to Squamish, British Columbia 1 day There is so much in this area, so I’ll just keep it basic. The highway gradually picks up more and more traffic but does not widen, but it usually keeps moving. There are a number of towns prior to Vancouver like Chilliwack and Abbotsford, but there’s never really an end to any of them, so it just seems like one giant city. There are waterslides, Minter Gardens, waterfalls, Castle Fun Park, Fort Langley, Greater Vancouver Zoo, and so many other things along the way, so it’s easier if you just drive and look at the signs and billboards to find something that peaks your interest. I always stay with relatives in this area, but there are a number of campgrounds, hotels, restaurants, and anything you could want around. For this itinerary, I suggest you go to Horseshoe Bay and then head north towards Sqaumish and look for a place to stay. Since it is always busy around there, you shouldn’t be too picky about where you stay. Squamish, British Columbia 3 nights, 2 days There are few places I would care to live, and Squamish is one of them. The only problem is that most of it is built on a flood plain, which recently resulted in much of the town being submerged for over a week. It’s a large town at the end of a bay, with mountains all around. To the east of town is an impressive rock wall with Shannon Falls, which is a nice place to walk around. Around Squamish is a nice area to just relax and do nothing, but it also offers a lot for climbers and hikers if you’re inclined. Whistler is an hour north of Squamish, and although it is known best as a ski resort, it is always busy, too busy. It’s worth checking out, and it is clearly an expensive place but has all sorts of people, so how much time you spend there is up to you. Afterwards, you should drive further north and just look at and enjoy the impressive scenery, even though the road has about twenty different power lines on either side of it. How far you drive is up to you, and how well your vehicle can handle going up and down hills. Squamish, British Columbia to Seattle, Washington 1 day Enjoy the scenery prior to heading back south to Vancouver, because after that it is nothing but buildings and roads. There are hundreds of ways to get from Vancouver to Seattle, so it’s up to you to look at a map and figure out your course of action. The easiest thing to do is to get on the I-5 and drive. Where exactly you drive to is up to you, but don’t expect to get away from the conglomerate of cities easily. Seattle, Washington 1 night I do not like Seattle very much, as it often seems dark, dreary, and depressing; so I’m not suggesting you spend any time there. If you feel otherwise, there are places like the Space Needle to check out, but I just prefer to keep on driving on the always-congested I-5. On that note, Part 1 concludes. Much of what I have stated is based purely on my memory, so please forgive me should there be any errors. I have tried to verify most of the information, but there is still likely a few screw-ups. If you find one, please let me know so that I can look into and fix it, as I'd hate to be giving faulty advice. I should thank jo.com for asking about an itinerary for a trip she was planning, which then led me to create this. Although my advice for her trip was different since extra factors were added in, I figured this was a more friendly design for most people. I'm slowly working away at the other sections, and I hope to post one every other Saturday. Click below to go to the other sections of the trip. Part Two: The Western US Coast Part Three: The South-Western States Part Four: The Inner-Western States  |
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