Camping in Alberta and Montana

[ldtuttle]

We're thinking about a trip for next summer that would involve a self-contained ride heading south from Jasper, AL, through Montana, etc.  Any comments about the camping would be appreciated.  I'm particularly curious about the bears.  Thanks.

[jeek]

I rode the great parks north route this summer. The campsites through the Parks in Alberta were readily available and pleasant if not primitive. Everywhere I stayed had at least flush toilets and potable water. Bear lockers were provided.  I thought camping fees were quite high, as much as $21 CAN per site, which surprised and annoyed me.  I stayed in hostels in the parks as well for not much more$.  I suppose several parties to a site can split the cost but I was alone.  Bear sighting were rare and posted at the campground bulletin boards, and were not much to be concerned with other than taking the normal precautions and following the food storage rules.

Commercial campgrounds out of the parks from Radium Hot springs to Fernie were less expensive and included showers.  All places seemed to have a rule that no biker would be turned away.  I think I paid around $10.  Glacier National park was heavily visited but sites were reserved for bikers/hikers arriving at any hour so there was no need to compete. Fee was $5 US per head. Bear rules were the same. Commercial camping was cheap and pleasant in Montana as it was in Canada, and the mosquitoes were gone. I paid as little as $5. I had a whole huge (primitive: pit toilets and no water) fishing access campground to myself one night for just a few bucks.

If you plan to go to Yellowstone let me know. I have an earful for you.

[ldtuttle]

Appreciate the info.  What sort of mileage did you average?

[Peaks]

We cycled the Northern Tier last year (2004).  In Montana, the only national park we went through was Glacier.  The NPS campgrounds have a bear box for cyclists.  Outside of the national park, we camped mostly in small towns, and bears were not an issue.

[LobodeSolo]

I worked at Tunnel Mtn Campground in Banff and as a bike tourist I was disappointed with the set up for cyclists. Bikecentennial ( Adventure cycling now) would bring in tours and the rules we had for our campsites would limit the tents and most had there own tent so it got to be a bit$$$$. I suggested to Bikecentennial to call a few days ahead and request the group camping area which is actually nicer and cheaper and closer to town. So if you are a large group I suggest the same

[ldtuttle]

We are small (my son and I), but any thouhgts about how to get the best campsite?  Do they take reservations for specific sites?  Any thoughts about other places to stay, etc?

[alh]

I was on one of ACA's Great Parks North trips this summer, July 23 to August 6. Our group saw 10 or 11 bears, mostly on the road side eating berries. We had no issues in the campgrounds; all the campgrounds had lockers for food. The campgrounds also had very nice cooking shelters.

We stayed in 3 small "primitive" park service campgrounds, which were very nice. In 2 campgrounds the water pumps were posted with signs advising that the water be boiled before drinking. We had a water filter, and I suggest that you bring one along. We had no trouble getting sites in these campgrounds.

We just barely got into the large campground at Lake Louise, as it was nearly filled when we arrived. The Canadian Park system is *working on* an online reservation system, which did not get going smoothly this summer. There are web sites for the Canadian Park system describing this; keep an eye on developments next season.

The trip was great! Al.