Trip Planning

Where do we start?

Is this going to be a self arranged camping vacation, a hotel, cabin rental, or B&B with local bus tour vacation or a 10Adventures completely managed from start to finish Rocky Mountain Tours Adventure?

Ideally everything will depend upon a budget first. You need to decide upon how much money you want to spend, including flight, car rental or bus transportation, accommodations and food.

The great thing about a camping vacation is that it can be relatively cheap starting at $10.00 a day compared to staying in hotels or renting a cabin.

Once you’ve decided on how much you can spend, you’ll need to book your vacation time at work.

When booking backcountry camping I suggest planning your vacation from July to late September as winter in the Rockies can run late into spring and result in closures because of bad weather, lots of rain and muddy conditions, and swarms of mosquitoes.

Create your Parks Canada and BC Parks online accounts ahead of time. Plan your camping reservations accordingly, and do so the first day the Parks Canada Reservations or BC Parks Reservations system opens that year.

Be aware of the maximum amount of days you can stay at one campsite and the different areas of the Rockies you want to explore. You may want to backpack Banff National Park from more than one campsite over a few days, then drive to Yoho National Park for a few more, etc.

For a more visual representation see Campgrounds in Banff National Park and Campgrounds in Jasper National Park where you can see descriptions of the sites, hookups, and what size RV’s can park there.

Get very familiar with these booking sites. I suggest you do all of your camping, flights, transportation, and accommodations bookings the same day to get everything aligned.

You’re going to need a car to get to the trailhead parking areas from where you’ll begin your backpacking adventures. Call ahead to arrange your car rental at the airport for the day of your arrival.

So once you’ve reserved your vacation slot at work and booked your camping sites, you’re going to want to book your flight to Calgary, preferably a direct flight.

Try to arrange your flight so that you arrive by mid-day, or earlier if you can, this to allow for travel time to the mountains. You may want to hotel in either, Canmore, Banff or Lake Louise area the first night, then drive to the trailhead parking the next morning to begin your backpacking adventure.

If your flight arrives later in the afternoon consider a stay at one of the hotels close to the airport for your first night, then drive to the trailhead the next morning.

Hotels with Calgary Airport Shuttle Service.

Planning on staying in hotels during your Rockies vacation?

If you arrive by plane in Calgary later in the day, you can arrange to stay at a hotel close to the airport that has an airport shuttle bus, spend the night and then catch the Brewster Express bus at the airport in the morning to Canmore, Banff, or Lake Louise.

10Adventures Guided Tours

Trip planning can be very time consuming and a lot of work.

With the information provided, you can book your flight and a one night stay, if necessary, at a hotel by the airport.

Hotels with Calgary Airport Shuttle Service.

Arrange your Brewster Express from the airport to Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise or Jasper where 10Adventures will take care of the rest with a bus that will drive you to your first day of camping under the star filled skies of Alberta or British Columbia.

Weather you’re backpacking through the backcountry or touring the most popular sites in the Rockies, your meals and accommodations and return to the Brewster Express airport bus will be taken care of.

Expedia has some great options in the way you can book your trip, including Flight, Hotel, and Car rental booked at once.

If you’re planning on going for a 10Adventures tour then you can just choose Canmore or Banff for example as your destination, with your return dates, and a one night hotel stay for your initial arrival, this depending on which 10Adventures tour you decide upon.

10Adventures will return you to the initial starting point of your tour where you can catch the Brewster Express back to the airport.

I suggest you do a separate reservation for Hotel only for any additional nights you may decide on staying, if any.

Or arrange your flight times so that you can catch the Brewster Express transporter from the airport to your Rocky Mountain rental accommodation shortly after you touch down in Calgary. That way you can save a day of traveling time. It will make for a long day, but you can get a good sleep and wake up to some crisp mountain air to begin your Rocky Mountain vacation.

And absolutely be prepared on all fronts with your Gear and knowledge on wildlife, staying safe in the mountains, weather conditions, the right clothing and sleeping bags when camping at high elevations, as night temps can fall below freezing in late spring and early fall.

Have a list of emergency contact numbers for Rescue if needed.

Be sure to visit

10Adventures Guided Tours

Weather In The Canadian Rockies

Safety In The Mountains

Altitude Sickness

Trip Planning

Gear

Disclosure

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