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Old 09-19-2016, 08:46 AM   #1
Lesherp
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Question Western Canada

I am just starting to plan next year’s big trip. We are thinking we will start out exploring Vancouver Island. Take the Inland Passage ferry from Fort Hardy up to Prince Rupert (yikes $1,500 with the TM), travel the Trans Canadian hwy over to Prince George. From there we could continue on to the Canadian Rockies. We went there 2 years ago and would love to go back but am thinking of taking hwy 97 back south if the scenery and camping warrant traveling there. If anyone has familiarity with this area I would love suggestions of places to camp, things to see, and places to hike.
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Old 09-21-2016, 12:32 AM   #2
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On the island have a look at Bella Pacifica in Tofino, Miracle Beach, Salmon Point in Campbell River, and my personal favourite, Telegraph Cove near Port McNeill (shout out to Stubbs Island Whale Watching).

Some beautiful country once you hit the mainland and drive east on 16. We liked Francois Lake Provincial Park.

That's quite the circuit if you decide to come down 97 and then back over to Jasper and Banff. If you do decide to come down 97 stop in at Barkerville (http://www.barkerville.ca/). Are you planning on going through the Okanagan wine country to get back to the Rockies? Alternative may be to stay on 16 through to Jasper, and then down the Glacier Parkway to Banff (Hwy 93...absolutely SPECTACULAR drive).

One tip, if you intend on staying in the BC Provincial Parks and National Parks watch for the opening dates for reservations and pounce on the reservations systems. We did 10 nights in Banff and Jasper in August but I had to book way back in March to get back to back bookings and consecutive nights. We live in Vancouver, BC--anything within a day's drive will book up fast.
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Old 09-21-2016, 06:57 AM   #3
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Check this web site for free CG's in BC http://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/default.aspx
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Old 09-21-2016, 10:27 AM   #4
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I should have been clearer. We have been to Jasper and Banff and would love to visit again. We are trying to determine if there is scenery and destinations along hwy 97 that would make it worthwhile traveling or if we would prefer continue on 16 to the Rockies. I don’t think we would do both.

4Rajas thanks for your input and suggestions. You said you liked Francois Lake Provincial Park on hwy 16. Do you know if there are other places along 16 that would make the distance we would be traveling worthwhile? We are thinking maybe a 6 week trip if there are other nice places to spend time. We particularly like to hike in scenic areas and camp in places with views. Have you taken the Inland Passage? We are thinking sightseeing from the ferry would be amazing.
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Old 09-21-2016, 10:50 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4Rajas View Post
One tip, if you intend on staying in the BC Provincial Parks and National Parks watch for the opening dates for reservations and pounce on the reservations systems. We did 10 nights in Banff and Jasper in August but I had to book way back in March to get back to back bookings and consecutive nights. We live in Vancouver, BC--anything within a day's drive will book up fast.
I'm following this thread, as I'm thinking of doing a similar trip next spring or summer.

4Rajas - Is the need to book that far in advance limited to the summer, or would that also be an issue in April/May as well? I'm sure the need is a gradual transition, but would it be dicey to travel in April/May without advance reservations?

Many thanks,
Dave
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Old 09-21-2016, 11:20 PM   #6
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The Inside Passage is a stunner, part of the same route that the cruise ships take to/from Alaska.

16 (the Yellowhead) is scenic, period. Have a look at Seven Sisters (http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/exp...pgs/seven_sis/). Also...http://tranbc.ca/2012/09/26/the-tran...ed-highway-16/

Off 97...Barkerville, which I mentioned earlier, and Bowron Lakes and Wells Gray:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/exp...pgs/bowron_lk/
http://wellsgray.ca/

You'll always be able to find spots in privately owned campgrounds, but generally they are not as scenic as the provincial parks.

The Provincial Parks reservation system has received much attention here over the past couple of years for being overly restrictive. The locals feel that they're getting shut out by tour companies like those motorhome rental outfits working the system to book up blocks. They've tried to make it "fairer" by imposing limits--i.e. you can only book a few months in advance (I think it's a 3-month window), so if you want a popular destination you do need to plan ahead. For some of the back country hiking they even limit the number of people allowed to hike in and camp for environmental reasons.

April/May might not be as busy but it's bound to be colder and wetter, or even still covered in snow if you up high (elevation and latitude). You probably won't get summery weather until later in June in the more northerly locales.

BC is BIG so 6 weeks is a great time frame. Prince George is only halfway up the province. In size, the area of BC is equivalent to about the same area as California, Nevada, a third of Oregon, and a bit of Idaho all put together. There's a cool site called Overlap Maps--plug in Canada-BC over US-California (http://overlapmaps.com/).

Sorry, sidetracked there. My point is, don't underestimate driving times.
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Old 09-22-2016, 10:10 AM   #7
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We did a 9 day tent camping trip on Vancouver Island in 2011. We scheduled Butchart Gardens in Victoria on a Saturday because they have this amazing fireworks show Saturday nights in the summer. I think they call it French style, but it’s not just big booms up in the sky, they have things on the ground and just above the water as well. Coordinated with music and sometimes telling a story, trees on fire (or so it seems) rockets that go from one side to the other… So we did the gardens during the day, then enjoyed a concert in the afternoon, late dinner in their cafeteria. Earlier we had spread out a little tarp and put our sleeping bags out on the lawn to reserve our spot for the fireworks. When the sun goes down they start the fireworks, and then after the fireworks we go through the gardens again because they have everything lit up with cool lighting.

Other things in Victoria – the BC museum is pretty good. Then they have the usual touristy things – street performers and artist/craft displays on the waterfront, wax museum (which we didn’t do), aquarium, (we didn’t do that either), miniatures museum I thought was pretty cool. Barb’s Fish and Chips a little farther on the waterfront is very good. I enjoyed Fort Rodd Hill. I also enjoyed Craigdarroch Castle (It’s a mansion, not a castle). We’ve also gone up to the Victoria observatory, to get an overview of the city.
Our hikes are usually small ones. We have hiked around Thetis lake outside Victoria. Lupin Falls and Auger Point trail when we were staying a Miracle Beach Provincial Park (which is nice). Elk falls out of Campbell River. We didn’t get to do the suspension bridge there because someone had been foolish and died there the day we went. We went to do the Paradise meadows trail on mount Washington, but there was still snow on the trail and we only had tennis shoes. (this was mid July) So we did the chair lift up to the top instead.
I like the Bastion at Nanaimo. We also walked around and did some hiking at Piper’s lagoon, and hiked at Englishman River Falls Park.
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Old 10-15-2016, 01:46 PM   #8
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Something to keep in mind for those planning a trip to Canada in 2017...

For 2017 Parks Canada is offering free admission to all Canadian national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation areas in celebration of Canada's 150th year of confederation.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/voyage-travel/admission.aspx
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Old 10-16-2016, 06:22 PM   #9
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Seaspan offers more reasonable ferry rates, serving mainly the freight truck market. About $270/ride for your trailer and TV.
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Old 10-20-2016, 09:47 AM   #10
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I've found three places on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island that I really like:

Oceanside - Saanichton - a few miles north of Victoria
Living Forest - Nanaimo -
Salmon Point - a few miles south of Campbell River
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