10 Days in Western Canada Itinerary
- Lucy and the lens
- Sep 7, 2018
- 4 min read
This is an alternative western Canada road trip - of all the famous lakes in the Rockies, Banff is the only one on this itinerary! Instead, it includes a few more off-the-beaten track spots to visit for once you're tired of the crowds! This is based on a road trip I took a few years ago, which was planned by a local!
Day 1
Arrive in Calgary. Visit downtown, of course, but also, if you have a car, check out the views of the city from Nosehill Park. It reminded me of the New York skyline.
Day 2
Head towards Banff National Park. Stop at the impressive Takkakaw Falls. If you fancy cooling off, hike up to the top of the falls along the trail that runs alongside them - this is such a mighty torrent that you'll be drenched in spray by the time you reach the top!
Arrive at beautiful Lake Louise. If visiting during the summer crowds, get a bit of respite from them by hiking up to the Lake Agnes Teahouse. Lake Agnes is a very pretty little lake, and so much quieter than Lake Louise: the perfect place to sit out and sip a hot or cold drink on the Teahouse's terrace. I noticed a 'Staff Wanted' sign pinned to the wall, and asked a server what working at Lake Agnes would involve. Apparently, the cafe is only accessible by foot, so staff sleep in a lodge up there between shifts, and supplies have to be hiked up the mountain once a week! Um, maybe I'll pass on applying for that one.
Stay the night in Banff town - when I first visited Banff, I thought it was so schlocky - but returning in the winter with my husband (who used to work there) made me fall for it - I'll be writing another post about how to make the most of Banff in either summer or winter!
Day 3
Go white water rafting on the Kicking Horse River near Golden, BC. In a moment of madness, I agreed to a white-water rafting adventure, not quite understanding the implications of Class IV rapids and a river full of glacial run-off. It was intense. But in a good way. Two good choices that offer trips of varying lengths and difficulties are Alpine Rafting and Wildwater
Afterwards, head to the campsite at Canyon Hotsprings and recover from your icy adventure with a dip in the hot pools! Note, it's only open May to September.
Day 4
Go walking around the base of Mount Revelstoke. To recover from whitewater rafting the day before, stick to easier but beautiful hikes, such as the Giant Cedars Boardwalk, the Loop Brook Trail, and the Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk. My favourite, though, is an elusive place called the Meadows in the Sky Parkway. You can drive partway up a mountain and then hike the rest, until you find a mountaintop wildflower meadow with breathtaking views over the Rockies. This was probably my favourite accidental find on the trip.
Stay put at Canyon Hotsprings for the night.
Day 5
Take a longer hike! The Asulkan Valley Trail in Glacier National Park is a full-day hike, 8.5km up a mountain and back down again the same way. The first half takes you through shady forest, but the second half is steep and exposed. The views from the top are worth every step, though - it's so high, we were hiking on snow for the last stretch, even in August. I had one of the most scenic lunches of my life at the top.
Stay at Canyon Hotsprings again and make use of them to recover from the hike!
Day 6
Go horseriding western style in Lumby, BC. The Silver Spurs Wilderness Ranch offers a range of riding tours of different lengths. We chose a full-day ride that included riding up a mountain - luckily the horses knew what to do and hopped nimbly up the steep slope while I just hung on for dear life. After the ride, we were treated to home-made iced tea, which was exactly what we needed - we probably should have opted for the half-day hike instead!
Day 7
Go wine tasting in the Okanagan Valley. I won't start listing vineyards to try, because there are so many! My favourite, though, was the Little Straw Winery, which offered gorgeous views over the valley and a tasty tapas lunch.
Be sure to try ice wine, a super sweet dessert wine made from grapes that have frozen while still on the vine. It's especially good to drink in little chocolate shot cups - you don't need much of it!
Day 8
Explore Ellison Provincial Park. Another beautiful camping spot on the tranquil shores of a lake, you can go for a wander in the woods or relax by the water.
Day 9
Head to Ainsworth Hotsprings. These awesome hotsprings feature both an outdoor hotspring and a labyrinthine one carved into a cave.
Day 10
Visit the charming clapboard town of New Denver and the Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre. This heritage site memorialises the Japanese Canadians who were relocated here during WW2 - you can go inside real houses and see the conditions they were forced to live in.
Stay at the beautiful West Winds B&B in Kimberley before heading back to Calgary the next day.
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