Sheila

Hi! I hope someone can help me... <BR> <BR>I am in the very early preliminary planning stages of a trip to the Northwest and Canadian National Parks. This is my early, relatively uneducated plan: <BR> <BR>Fly into Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Rent SUV. <BR>Visit Grand Teton-two days. <BR>Drive through Yellowstone (spending full day there) on way to Glacier International Peace Park. Spend 1 1/2 days in Glacier. Travel onward to Banff, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks in Canada (maybe 3 days?). Then on to Mt. Ranier for one full day. Moving on to Olympic National Park for three full days. Then concluding trip in Seattle for 2-3, maybe 4 days. Return SUV and fly out of Seattle. <BR> <BR>The trip, not including driving time spans a maximum of 15 days. We have three full weeks. Do you think we are being too ambitious trying to take all of that in? Will driving time eat up more than 6 days? Are we nuts??!! <BR> <BR>We'd like to depart on June 1st. Our traveling party will consist of my husband, myself, and two very well behaved children- ages 13 and 10. We are all fascinated by both natural wildlife and photography, harboring a deep respect for our country's natural wonders. We'd like to take in some great one-day hikes, perhaps go rafting and view some awe-inspiring natural landscapes. <BR> <BR>I realize that it may make the trip a bit pricey to depart/ arrive at two different airports and rent an SUV that won't be returned to it's original rental site. However, we live in St. Louis and don't want to waste precious time driving all the way to Wyoming and back from Seattle. <BR> <BR>Thank you very much for any and all input. I'd love any advice about lodging, places to eat, and don't-miss stops along the way. <BR> <BR>Does this seem like a halfway decent plan? <BR>

Brian Kilgore

You can do this in a regular car, be more comfortable, save gas, pay less for the rental, and still see everything you want. <BR>BAK

Kay

Hi Sheila, <BR>My husband and I did a similar trip in June/July this year. We flew in and out of Vancouver, drove to Jasper, Banff, Waterton Glacier NP, Yellowstone, Jackson and Grand Tetons, across to Port Angeles, Victoria on Vancouver Island, Seattle, Vancouver. <BR>We did this in about 3 weeks, there was certainly a lot of driving but we were expecting that. <BR>The Grand Tetons are beautiful and we liked Jackson as well, but you could make do with one day there. There's a road that follows the base of the mountains you can drive easily in a day, including stopping here and there. <BR>Yellowstone was much bigger than we expected. We spent 2 full days there and felt that was rushed. Yellowstone wasn't beautiful but there were heaps of animals to see which more than made up for it. <BR>Stayed in Waterton which was lovely, quite small, and drove the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Beautiful scenery, felt like we were on top of the world. It's only open for a few months of the year. <BR>If you have the time, I'd recommend visiting Jasper and driving the Icefield Parkway b/w Jasper and Banff. Truly stunning mountain scenery. We like Jasper better than Banff, it was more 'real' with fewer tourists. <BR>2 -3 days in Seattle sounds about right. We loved the Underground Tour there, also did the Boeing Factory Tour. <BR>We were lucky to see 3 bears in 3 different NP. Also saw heaps of other wildlife but the bears were the most exciting! <BR>If you look at expedia.com you can check out the mileage and driving times b/w different places. Happy planning, Kay

mark

We (family with 2 children 9 and 11)spent 14 days in Alberta this past summer including 7 days in Banff/LL/Jasper. There is tons to do and could have spent more time. We found hikes can take up a better part of the day - I prefer more hiking and other activities to lots of driving. Also consider the Calgary Stampede (1 day - rodeo and/or chuck wagon races)and Drumheller area for dinosaurs (1- 3 days). You'll find lots of good advice from readers on this site.

lisa

Two days in Jackson Hole seems fine to me. Yellowstone deserves far more than one day though -- there is so much to see there, wonderful wildlife, etc. I'm not sure you can even get a sense of the vastness of the place in less than 3 days. If you have to shortchange either Jackson Hole or Yellowstone then drop a night at Jackson Hole. In fact, Jackson Hole is nice but given all the other fantastic destinations on your plate for this trip, I actually think I'd drop it altogether. Then you're driving all the way up to Glacier and only spending 1.5 days there? I hope you and your family have a high tolerance for long drives in the car followed by very little time actually enjoying your destination! Ditto Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay. Distances are vast and there is so much to see. My mom, aunt, a friend and I spent 9 days just exploring Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper and wished we'd had MORE time. I can't imagine only spending three days in this area, especially after driving for so long -- I really think that Banff alone deserves at least 3 days! Then you're driving all the way to Mt. Ranier for only one day? I just can't imagine. Whenever I've tried to do things like that, my travelling companions have rebelled upon arrival. It really is just crazy to spend so long in the car only to stop for one night. I do think that 3 days in Olympic & 3 in Seattle is fine. However, to me this trip is spread out over too large a distance, with too many destinations and too many miles/kilometers to cover in too little time. I hope you're not overestimating your family's tolerance for looking out car windows. Just my opinion. If I were rewriting this itinerary, I think I'd plan fewer stops with more time (at least 3 days in each, so you really get to KNOW each place a bit and see some of it up-close): Three days Yellowstone, three nights Glacier, at least three days Banff (although I would add as much time there as you can, and do daytrips e.g. to Lake Louise, Emerald Lake, the icefields, etc. -- the hiking to enjoy in this area is endless and incredible!), three days Olympic National Park, three days Seattle. <BR>Or alternatively, narrow down the geographic scope so you're just concentrating more on a smaller area, such as Glacier and the Canadian Rockies. <BR>Just a suggestion, but you know your family better than me.

Sheila

Thanks so much Lisa, Mark, Kay and Brian for your expert advice. <BR> <BR>I think we may dump Mt. Ranier and try to reconfigure the trip to spend a bit less time driving. My family is a group of real troopers, but everyone has their limits. We would really like to see the whales in the San Juan Islands also. I know this trip we won't have a lot of time everywhere- but I'd like to get a taste of everything to determine where we'd like to return in the future. I've never seen the Pacific Northwest.... Thanks again....

Brian Kilgore

To give you an idea of driving time, it is a very long day's drive from Banff / Lake Louise to Vancouver, without taking time to stop and enjoy the scenery. <BR> <BR>While you can drive from Vancouver to Seattle in a couple of hours, (watch for mounties with radar guns between Vancouver and the U.S. border) this trip alone is worth a day of stop and start driving, visit to Bellingham's older section, longish lunch by the ocean, etc. <BR> <BR>If you stick with the SUV idea, go to a dealer and sit in the back seat for a while I used to drive a Jeep Cherokee a lot, and the back seat is both cramped and hard. <BR> <BR>I'd love to take your trip, but I like to drive long and hard. I'm not sure I'd expose my family to this. <BR> <BR>Why not plan two itineraries, and then see which one all the family likes best. <BR> <BR>Fly to Seattle, and concentrate on the coastal mountains and the ocean. See Mt. Ranier, drive south a bit to the Oregon coast, and drive north to Canada, in a bit of a circle. Go to Vancouver Island by car ferry, and go to the Canadian national park along the west coast of Vancouver Island. Then take another ferry to the mainland, and drive north to Whistler, to get more mountain scenery. Then back to Vancouver for a taste of a semi-foreign big city. Then drive south again to Seattle, and give back the car without having to pay extra drop off charges. <BR> <BR>If I was doing it, that's the trip I'd give to my family, but I'm not a mountain climber. (I live in Toronto, used to live in Calgary, used to wrok in Vancouver for weeks at a time, used to work in Seattle for days at a time) <BR> <BR>The non-ocean option has more big mountains, more strange colored water, more of what I think of a US historical impact. As a Canadian, I think Yellowstone is some sort of deep US cultural icon, and perhaps more important to your kids than Mt. Ranier, say. <BR> <BR>Fly to Jackson Hole, (or even Denver)and then plan your trip more or less north-south. But maybe heading EAst to Billings and Little Bighorn, and genuine cowboy country would be worth a couple of days. <BR>Then north towards Glacier, Waterton, Banff, etc. Once you are in Alberta, Calgary is worth a day or two, tand the badlands near Drumheller, and the Dinosaur museum there, are worth a visit. It's only about an hour from Calgary to the mountains, incidentally. <BR>Skip Edmonton; it's too far and too boring for the kids, nice as the city is (I used to live there, quite happily) <BR> <BR> <BR>This is my second choice, because it lacks the ocean activities of the first trip, although the mountains may be slightly more intereting. (But not enough to make up for the lack of ocen, in my opinion) <BR> <BR>BAK <BR>BAK

Sheila

Thanks, Brian for the great detailed info... <BR> <BR>Boy! I sure do have a lot of homework to do in planning this....

Island Girl

Just a few hiking tips for the Canadian Rockies...Lake Louise has some great day hikes, especially to the 2 tea houses. I would highly recommend the Plain of Six Glaciers, great few of the lake from up there, and although the elevation is significant, the trail is well-defined and not that long. In Yoho, Takawkaw Falls is a must, with Laughing Falls (5 km) and Twin Falls (8-9 km) being very worthwhile as well. <BR>The suggestions to go to Drumheller, Alta are great; it's about 1.5 hours east of Calgary. If you decide to be in Calgary for the Stampede, book your accommodations now, I've heard horror stories. <BR> <BR>Let me know if you'd like more advice. I'm not the Rockies expert, having only lived here for 2 years, but I know a little and love it here!