Guide to the Ultimate Canadian Rockies Roadtrip!

Life has been really, really busy lately for me and Kelly. Both of us are taking on increased responsibility with our jobs. Kelly was spending many hours a week as President of the Issaquah Alps Trails Club, and I was getting the Cascade Backcountry Alliance going for another season. We committed to attending Newport XC cross country twice a week as volunteer coaches. Somewhere in between all of this, we were supposed to be planning our wedding for next summer. As the end of August rolled around, we both felt like we needed a vacation.

What to do in September? I figured that visiting the Canadian Rockies would be a fun, relatively low stress trip for us to do together. My parents graciously offered to lend us their sprinter van, which would make travel very luxurious and fun. Plus, September would be a less crowded time to visit Banff. Cooler temperatures, smoke-free skies, and fall colors would be a bonus!

I barely had time to book campgrounds in Banff, so the rest of the trip was planned very last minute. I found myself frequently clicking on posts like “5 Best Hikes in Glacier National Park” or “Ultimate Guide to Moraine Lake”. So, in the spirit of superlative internet click bait, I will do my best influencer impersonation by creating similar titles for each section.

Welcome to the “Guide to the Ultimate Canadian Rockies Roadtrip!”

Dine on Delicious Mexican Food in This Picturesque Montana Mountain Town

Yes, the dinner in Kalispell, Montana, deserves its own section. After a long day of driving, we stopped at Agave Bar and Grill, practically the only place open after 9 PM in Kalispell. We ordered a “plate for 2” and were shocked when the waiter brought out what appeared to be two plates for two!

One plate had five different times of grilled meat, and the other was filled with rice, beans, cheese, guac, sour cream, and other goodies. Fresh tortillas came on the side. The food was delicious. It actually ended up being enough food for not just that night, but also our following night – all for $40!

Use “climberkyle10” for 10% off at Agave!

This Hike in Glacier National Park Has Streams, Forests, and a Spectacular Alpine Lake

The biggest downside to the sprinter van was that it was too long to drive the famous Going to the Sun Road at Glacier. Additionally, the shuttle service had ended for the season. As a result, we decided to do the popular Avalanche Lake Hike. It was a nice hike, passing through an interpretive forest with giant cedars, then some beautiful streams, and finally to a nice lake. It reminded me a bit of Goat Lake on the Mountain Loop, even though I’ve never been to Goat Lake.

Overall, I thought West Glacier was decent, but not really national park level, at least without being able to access the Going to the Sun Road.

5 Reasons You NEED to Stay at this Rustic National Park Hotel.

After a windy night at Marias Pass, Kelly and I enjoyed a beautiful drive through East Glacier on our way to Many Glaciers. The roads were empty and stunning. I could even just stop in the middle of the road and take pictures.

I would argue that “Glacier National Park” should be renamed to “Glacier Lakes National Park”. There are countless massive terminal moraine lakes emanating from both sides of the range, such as Lake MacDonald and St. Mary Lake. Even if you consider the glaciers that used to exist 100 years ago, this is still the true defining feature of the park.

Many Glaciers has a magnificent hotel on the shore of Swiftcurrent Lake. This has to be one of the most beautiful hotels in the US. Unfortunately, I have no affiliate links or discount codes to offer.

Clouds were racing over the crest and the wind was strong, even at the car. We scratched any idea of going up to the Grinnell Glacier, instead settling for a more forested walk to Grinnell Lake. This hike was truly remarkable in that we actually lost elevation from the parking lot to this lake, despite going “up valley”.

Now it was time to head northward!

We arrived in Calgary by the evening, meeting one of Kelly’s family members for a delicious hot pot dinner. I made sure to not repeat my mistakes in China, sticking to the less spicy food. My gut would thank me the next day.

Escape the Crowds of Banff at this Underrated Canadian National Park

A few days earlier, I noticed on Strava that my friend Nick was running around in Banff. I reached out to him, and he suggested that we run the Rockwall Trail together. I Googled “Rockwall Trail” and found an entire page of results like “Ultimate Guide to the Rockwall Trail” and “Rockwall Trail Guide: Everything You Need to Know”. Contrary to the latter’s article title, I learned everything I needed to know just from the title – this was a classic, popular, and almost certainly well traveled route. I saw one picture that had larches and cool mountains. Sign me up!

The Rockwall Trail is actually in Kootenay National Park, which is in BC not Alberta. Nick and I had an incredible day, running past endless larches, massive rock walls (duh, given the name), and hanging glaciers. It felt so refreshing going in with no expectations and local knowledge. Just a few days before, I had never heard of the Rockwall Trail, or even Kootenay National Park! Banff, Yoho, and Jasper get all the love, but this underrated Canadian National Park is pretty great also.

Nick and I were impressed not just by the stunning scenery, but also by Parks Canada’s efforts to mitigate human impacts. The trails were well maintained and marked. Backcountry campsites had wooden tent sites, food storage, and even signs showing which social trails led to the backcountry toilet. Throughout the trip, Kelly and I remarked how different Canada’s approach to mountain recreation was. Permit systems were, for the most part, sensible. We read signs about how the mountains were “a place for nature and humans”, messaging that you would almost never hear in the States (or at least Western WA). While the Canadian model isn’t perfect, I think that our land managers could learn a lot from our friends up north.

Why Banff is the Best Mountain Town in Canada

For most of the trip, we dispersed camped. The sprinter has a bathroom, shower, and kitchen. It can go off grid for days at a time. But in the Canadian Rockies National Parks, you are only allowed to camp at designated campgrounds. Fortunately, it was pretty easy to get a mid-week campground for two nights in Banff at this time of year.

After the Rockwall Trail, we had a rest day. We spent the evening walking around the town of Banff. While I typically dislike expensive tourist mountain towns, I was surprised to actually enjoy Banff. There were a few things I liked:

• Because Banff is an international destination, there was tons of international food, and it was quite affordable. We had great Korean food in a restaurant where we were the only non-Koreans. The food offerings are much better here than just bratwursts and beer.
• Banff feels like a more authentic mountain town. There’s no fake German decorations, or fake Western fronts. It’s just a scenic mountain town.
• Banff has interesting shops. Instead of an endless line of shops selling cowboy boots, they have diverse shops – even a rocks store!

Banff is one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited with a car. Even just driving down the Trans Canada Highway is stunning, with massive valleys, aqua blue rivers, and towering peaks above. While I love to hate on the Colorado Rockies for being overrated, I think the Canadian Rockies are rated. They deserve the hype.

Everything You Need To Know About Visiting Moraine Lake and Larch Valley

What do you need to know?

1. There are hella larches in this spot called “Larch Valley” above Moraine Lake.
2. Moraine Lake is really popular. You are not allowed to drive there, but there is a shuttle.
3. Reservations are available starting at 7 AM two days before a given date. They can go pretty fast.
4. If your WiFi is sus, recruit someone back home to get the reservations for you (thanks Logan!).

This was the day we had reservations to go to world famous Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. It started rainy and cold, but held the promise of getting nicer.

Lake Louise was a quick stop, and then we headed over to Moraine Lake. We did the short walk up to the rock pile, where many tourists take the classic picture of the lake. It was beautiful with the yellow larches and fresh snow.

At both lakes, we observed that majority of the tourists were Asian, from Asia. It’s probably different in the summer, but the international tourists seemed to outnumber the North American visitors.

We briefly considered canoeing on the lake, but were dissuaded by the cold conditions and the $160 CAD per hour rate.

The hike to Larch Valley was popping. It was a little over one thousand feet of gain to start of the larches. With a dusting of fresh snow on the trees and peaks across the valley, it really was majestic.

I hiked all the way up to windy, cold Sentinel Pass. Up high, the landscape was rather barren and chossy. Like many ranges, I think the magic of the Canadian Rockies lies right around treeline, where the mountains seem to loom larger than life.

This Underrated BC Mountain Town is Nestled Between Six Canadian National Parks

After a lovely dinner in the town of Field in Yoho National Park, we drove into Golden, BC. My friend Doug (aka EZD) now spends his winters here in his “mobile mansion”, enjoying the ice climbing and skiing of the Rockies and Selkirks. We had a nice evening catching up with him. Among many things, we discussed why Golden, which he refers to as the “G-Spot of Canada”, has managed to resist gentrification, despite its convenient proximity to six national parks.

The next morning, he excitedly showed us around town. For some reason, the biggest highlight was this walking bridge over the river.

I shuttled Doug on his mountain bike up to the Mt. Seven paragliding spot. While he started a long downhill ride back home, I admired the massive Upper Columbia River Valley. The river actually flows north here, before going back south through Revelstoke and eventually into Washington.

It rained heavily as we drove over Roger’s Pass and through Glacier National Park of Canada, preventing any adventures here. Fortunately, I’ve skied some up here many years ago. But it was a nice day in Revelstoke, so we visited an art gallery, checked out a logging museum, and went for a short hike in town.

This Overlooked BC Recreation Area is a Granite Wonderland

Our final spot on the grand roadtrip was Coquihalla Summit. I had seen my friend Jenny do a cool scramble traverse there earlier this summer. So I went out for the Markhor Needle Traverse, planning to meet Kelly on the back half of the loop.

The “granite” was actually a bit sandier than I had hoped for, but the views were better than expected. After the traverse, I headed over to a nice alpine lake, where I met up with Kelly. The fall colors were great on this hike. I was surprised I haven’t heard more about this area, but the trails are pretty primitive.

The Ultimate One Week Canadian Rockies Fall Itinerary

While we could have easily spent months exploring the vast mountains of the Canadian Rockies, this was a great vacation. At this time of year, it was really nice to have the van to make the long, cool nights more tolerable. It felt like the van made the trip more about the journey rather than rushing to the destination.

Thank you again to my parents for letting us take the van on this adventure! We are already scheming up more “van life” adventures for the future!