wrldtraveller

Hey folks,

I am curious and researching about this trip that I want to take, it starts in Jasper, possibly ending in Banff or Calgary. The route would be called the Columbian icefield parkway, and I was curious if anyone have done this, and what is the average cost of shipping a bike to Jasper, and the daily expenses cost to ride down the route to Banff?

I tried to find more information online but there isn't much. I did find one site but it is for a world tour, and he mentioned that it cost an average of 30 dollars per day to cross Canada. I would assume that this would not be in the national parks as I know campgrounds cost north of 25 dollars per night, and the route only have 4 towns I can stop for supplies.

Any feedback would be appreciated and vital for my research purposes so I can prepare for this route.

Paul

prathmann

Did this ride in 2015 starting in Jasper and riding south to Lake Louise and Banff. We then continued on through Waterton and Glacier Parks to Missoula, Montana. The following sites show our daily routes and some pictures. Our daily costs were pretty minimal since we shared the camping fees over four people - I'd say about $25/day for the campsite plus groceries and lunch stops. There was also a charge for an annual national parks pass for our group (I think about CA$140).
https://triptrack.org/3079
https://triptrack.org/3080
https://triptrack.org/3081
https://triptrack.org/3082

Increment the number in the URL if anyone wants to see the remainder of our trip.

skimaxpower

There are numerous off-grid hostels along the Icefields Parkway.

BobG

Paul, the Icefields Parkway route has been cycled by thousands. At one time it was the most popular guided trip of Adventure Cycling Association. They call the route the "Great Parks North" with their trip beginning or ending in Missoula MT. Their map details lodging options...

https://www.adventurecycling.org/cyc...h---section-1/

https://www.adventurecycling.org/rou...k/great-parks/

You'll find many journals at Crazy Guy...

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/sear...&main_type=all

Dave Mayer

If you live in Cowtown, as your profile states, then this should be obvious. You know that it can snow any month of the year. Some of the most life-threatening blizzards I've survived came in May. Last time I camped in Lake Louise, it reached 25 degrees C during the day, and our water bottles froze solid at night. The previous time I rode westbound through Louise, it rained nonstop for 3 days. So be prepared.

The hostels are fine. Make reservations - mandatory during the 3 non-winter months of the year.

fietsbob

Its Pretty, the CDN Rockies there.

Doug64

You are planning a great ride! How are you getting to Jasper? There are several lodges along the route that have small stores. We started from Jasper with 2 dinners, and enough for a third on in a pinch. We did not have a problem finding food, and ate mostly in cafes.

The price of camping varied from a low of $12.25 (USD) at Icefield to a high of $27.70 at Lake Louise. Bow Valley was $23.00. I'd recommend the Bow Valley Parkway.

We stopped for a lot for pictures, and just to hang out in some really beautiful country so our mileage suffered, about 65 km a day. As you know we experience a bit of climbing too. We also experience quite a bit of rain, and a couple of 0°C nights. We were on our way to Winnipeg and would have lollygaged longer if we had more time.

If you have not seen this, it might help: https://www.hikebiketravel.com/every...ields-parkway/

Columbia Icefield Campground (no showers $12.25)


Just one of the many places that made us stop so much

dh024

Paul, if you are in Calgary, consider an SUV rental from Avis - during the tourist season, they will often book one way car rentals from Calgary to Jasper at really cheap rates. A few summers ago, a friend of mine and I made the trip in an Avis one-way rental for a little over $125 (gas included), then biked back home to Calgary over four days. It was a spectacular trip.

And yes, campsites in the parks aren't cheap, but we never had any trouble finding a tent-only site, particularly at the smaller campgrounds. Expect food along the way to be expensive too. But it is more than worth it.

wrldtraveller

thank you folks for the wonderful sources of information I can read up on. for Dave mayer, well may is too early for me as the weather is too unpredictable, can be either warm, or freezing snow. Plus currently it is still frigid here in calgary so I would assume that it will be a very late spring for us, so may is gone, I was considering possibly a mid to late july, that should be warm enough. I have camped many times in the mountains, and am well aware of snow being in the higher elevations, and cold nights. Dh, Thanks for the idea of renting a suv or something. I might take that into consideration as it might save the hassle of packing up the bike in a box and shipping it along with myself on a greyhound.
again, thanks everyone for those websites, i will check them out.

paul

Hondo Gravel

Visited Banff and Jasper back in 2002 saw many bike tourists. I was awestruck by the Canadian Rockys. On the way to Jasper we got snowed on in early July
I will return someday.

Happy Feet

Did this trip last year.

The prices are the same as in Calgary except along the actual Icefield route where they are more "touristy". You can resupply at grocery stores in Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. Hostels in those spots are about $50-60 with a yearly HI membership $25. Hotels, if available are much more. Chain hostels along the Icefield Parkway are rustic but nice and about $20. Several bike shops in both Banff and Jasper.

Besides great scenery I saw these:

mercator

This is one of my favourite trips. As mentioned above, there are lots of hostels and campgrounds along the way, but food is not that easy to come by and where you find it - it's pricey. Recommend you stock up in Jasper.

As for transport, if you are travelling alone the one-way car rental is probably a good choice. On an organised tour a few years ago, we got a good deal from a private shuttle service.

Happy Feet

Two good stops for a meal along the route are the Interpretive Center at the Columbia Icefield itself and Saskatchewan Crossing. There is also a small store at SC that sells a few staples. Large busy cafeteria type settings at both but food was good and only medium high priced. Don't plan to eat a meal at the smaller places like Sunwapta Lodge unless money is no object (although you can always just get coffee for a couple of bucks).

I went south to north from Calgary and stopped at Banff (camp), L Louise (Hostel), Mosquito Creek (camp), Rampart Creek (camp), Athabasca Falls (Hostel) and Jasper (camp), doing additional hub and spoke rides in both Banff and Jasper.
The chain hostels have a thing where you can't check in until quite late (around dinner time) so you should plan your route a bit if you want to stop earlier. They also usually have space for one or two but the major hostels fill up during the summer so pre booking may be required. I had to stay in one of the last beds at the Lake Louise Hostel (which I did not plan) because the campground was completely booked. The campgrounds along the Icefield route were either busy or empty but even when busy, tenters were allowed to cluster in the commons.

justina

like it

wrldtraveller

most of what you guys said are pretty much what I expected. as for hostels, well. I've noticed the further you are from the townsite of Banff or jasper, the easier it is to find a bunk there. almost the same goes for campgrounds. but for campgrounds tend to be really fully booked. but as a cyclist out for bike camping, Im sure they have a certain area set aside for hikers or bikers.

what about any risk due to bears or wild cats?

P

alias5000

We hiked up to the wilcox pass on our travel around there. Very very beautiful.

Doug64

Use standard precautions for bears.


We were the only tent campers in this campground, so the campground staff brought us a bear box.


The campground at Lake Louise was pretty bear proof, but they still had food lockers.

Hondo Gravel

Believe it or not we got Bear boxes at all campsites in Big Beng NP. We find them useful for storage never minding bears then one night a bear cruised through looking for grub now these are not Grizzly Bears so shouting at them like get the H out of here worked. You would not think you would find bears in SW Texas but they are there and rangers will write you a citation for not using a bear box for food items even in the back country and yes Texas has 8000 foot mountains.

dh024

Unfortunately, there are no hiker/biker campsites in Banff/Jasper National Parks. But the small campgrounds have non-reservable sites that generally don't fill up except on the weekends. Target the ones that have walk-in tenting sites - those are the last ones to fill.

Also, the campgrounds with walk-in tenting sites generally all have bear boxes or bear hangs (bring your own bag and cord).

The last time I cycled the Icefields Parkway was end of July, 2015, right in the middle of the tourist season, and we had no trouble finding tenting sites at the small campgrounds. As someone already mentioned, the big campgrounds near the townsites of Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper get the most full, so especially avoid visiting those locations on the weekends.