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Author Topic: Help with some specifics for a roadtrip from Toronto to the pacific northwest!  (Read 5960 times)

MikeShort

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Later this month I will be heading across the country to spend a few nights in yellowstone, Portland, Olympic, Banff and Glacier.
It should be an amazing trip, but having never been out that way, figuring out the best way to maximize my time has proven to be difficult.
I was hoping to grab some suggestions of spots/trails I should be checking out on the trip!
I wont be doing any backpacking, just car camping, so keep that in mind with suggestions!
Thanks all!
Mike
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Peter McLennan

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A brief routing description would be helpful.  There are a lot of ways to cover those destinations if you're travelling by car.
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MikeShort

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Of course Peter!

Leaving the 28th of May

30th-2nd Yellowstone/Thinking last day in Grand Teton
4th-5th Portland
6th-10th Olympic
13th-17th Banff
18th-21st Glacier
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Vladimir Steblina

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I assume there is a reason besides photography for your choice of destinations.

On your journey from Yellowstone to Portland you are going through Idaho.  Depending on your route I would go to Sawtooth NRA or Highway 12 if you take the northern route to Portland.  If you go through the Sawtooth's Craters of the Moon National Monument is along the way.

From Portland I would stop at Mt. St. Helens National Monument.  It is only a hour plus off I-5.

Once you get to the Canadian Rockies I would stay there.  After the Canadian Rockies Glacier National Park (the US park) will have all the appeal of a small county park.  Go to Jasper and Yoho National Parks.  Even the Provincial Parks up there are more spectacular than Glacier (US).

Not sure if your routing, but you can put together a pretty spectacular and interesting trip holding to state highways and Forest Service roads.

Good luck should be an interesting road trip!!
« Last Edit: May 16, 2015, 12:38:48 pm by Vladimir Steblina »
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Peter McLennan

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Certainly lots of room there for choice.

I'd enter Yellowstone via Red Lodge, MT.  This road takes you over Beartooth Pass, a road that Charles Kuralt called "the most beautiful road in America".  Check first, this pass is 11K feet high and sometimes doesn't open until June.  This year was a very low snow year, so you may be in luck.  If it is closed, enter Yellowstone via Dead Indian Summit and the Chief Joseph highway.

I'd leave the Tetons at Jackson via Teton Pass, (WY 22 and ID 33 and 31) via Victor, ID.  I second Vladimir's recommendation to pass through Craters of the Moon NM on US 20 between Arco and Carey, ID. Then follow US 20 to Mountain Home, ID, joining I-84.  There to Portland will be a bit of a grind along I-84, relieved by the Columbia Gorge, east of Portland.  If you traverse the gorge in the afternoon, be prepared for very strong headwinds.

From Olympic NP, I'd cross to Vancouver Island at Port Angeles, Visit Victoria if you have a few hours (the ferry from the US docks right downtown) then cross Georgia Strait from Swartz Bay to Vancouver.  That gives you two lovely boat rides instead of more dreary Interstate from Seattle to Vancouver.  If you time your second ferry ride to be at or near sunset, you'll have some excellent photo opportunities.

This is important: Exit Vancouver to the north, rather than to the east.  It's a bit nasty through Vancouver, but Stanley Park and the Lions Gate Bridge will make the slow going through town worth it.  A once-around loop through Stanley Park is worth it, too, even if you don't get out of your car. Then take BC 99 exiting the Lower Mainland via Squamish, Whistler, Lillooet and Cache Creek.  That drive is about three and a half stops more scenic and interesting than the horrid, busy Trans Canada east out of Vancouver via Chilliwack and Hope. The highway traverses a dozen or so climate zones and offers spectacular scenery from end to end. allow about half a day for this if you don't stop.  But stop you will.

You link back to the Trans Canada via Cache Creek at Kamloops and then it's a straight run to Jasper and Banff.  Moraine Lake near Lake Louise is a must-see if you're a Canadian, it was on the ten dollar bill for years.  All of the Banff Jasper area is camera heaven.  Just be aware that in the national parks, you can't camp anywhere except the designated campgrounds.  The various towns, however (Banff, Canmore) are fair game.  Stealth is important.


Good shooting!

Peter
« Last Edit: May 17, 2015, 09:58:51 am by Peter McLennan »
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Robert Roaldi

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Mike,

Be prepared for the feeling that you won't want to come back.

Monitor those forest fires in BC, although they may be further to the north than you intend on going. That route advice above about leaving Vancouver going north makes sense. I just did it in the other direction last autumn. The eastern route out of Vancouver is interesting for historical reasons, especially if you're interested in railroads, but it's not that interesting a drive until you're past Hope.

It doesn't sound like you have time for Vancouver Island, which is a shame, but it's a big country and you can't see it all in one go.

I've never driven it but I am told that the hwy 16 route east out of Edmonton through northern Saskatchewan is much more interesting that the southern hwy 1 route.

If you are a map aficionado, I recommend these: http://www.gemtrek.com/.

Robert
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hsteeves

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so, how is the trip going? or how did it go?
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