Best places to camp with RV between Calgary and Vancouver?

Question

We are travelling in July/August (2008), the busy period and are looking for natural beauty and quiet campsites.... not swathes of tarmac. It would be useful to know how long it might be best to stay in any given place ( we have to weeks to cover the distance and want to squeeze in as much as possible).

Answer 1

Check out the campgrounds in the national parks - a couple really nice ones in Yoho, check out Yoho Valley near Field, and Chancellor Peak a few miles further west. In Glacier (between Golden and Revelstoke), Illicilewat Glacier is a very nice campground with most services, and interpretive programs by the parks staff.  Mount Revelstoke has a campground near the base of the mountain, close to the Flowers in the Sky Parkway (don't miss it, the alpine flowers will be out about that time). If you want a full service campground with showers and laundry facilities, Canyon Hot Springs (35 km east of Revelstoke) has all that and also trail rides and a nice hot spring and swimming pool and restaurant.

If you want to check out Kootenay Park, its a bit of a detour, but well worth the drive. It takes you down through Radium Hot Springs and north on Highway 95 to Golden, where you hook up with the Trans Canada again.

Once you hit Kamloops, you have the choice of the Coquihalla or the Fraser Canyon - I would go the Canyon route (Highway 1) if there is enough time. Lots of great private campgrounds down that route.

Answer 2

You've seen US-style RV campgrounds, haven't you? You aren't going to find many, if any at all, of the so-called campgrounds like the US ones for RVs which are more like glorified parking lots, in BC or in Alberta. Just about any provincial campground will have sites big enough for an RV, but you aren't going to find hookups at most of them, and most won't be pull-throughs so if you have big trouble backing up, keep that in mind. Many of the campers in provincial parks will have the pickup with camper or van sort of rig, or tents. Most campgrounds are pretty quiet as a rule. Quiet time is 11 pm to 7 am, most campers are families and seniors who aren't rowdy, and the park rangers will tell people to hush. Search on BC Provincial Parks, lots of info there.

You might also check the BC Forest Service. They have campgrounds all over. They're very basic, few if any facilities, little or no supervision, some can be hard to access in a large vehicle, but they're free or cheap, and are off the beaten path. There's a very good book called Camp Free in BC which has tremendous detail on lesser-known camping areas.

As for how long to stay any place, just pick one and if you like it or the area, stick around for a while. Weekends, though, can be busy just about anywhere, so if you have time I'd advise settling in somewhere early on Friday, and move on when the weekend is over unless you have a reservation elsewhere. Weekdays will find most campgrounds half empty at least. You can make reservations for BC provincial campgrounds.