Traveling in South Alberta and BC

[CaptainYooh]

I have a couple of weeks unused vacation time, which should be used this year. Flying anywhere now is not practical. I was thinking of taking a long drive through south Alberta/Southeast BC with my photo gear staying overnight in small town hotels/motels.

Mainly looking for scenery and, potentially, wildlife sightings, but nothing too extreme, as photo-gear is heavy and I am not much of a mountain hiker. I would like to hear suggestions for a route from Calgary and back. 5-10 days, max.

Thanks.

[Fuzz]

If you are willing to head out east first, Cyprus Hills is really nice. There is loads of wildlife around, and you can drive to some good spots for different viewing areas. The little town is right on a small lake where there are lots of birds around. I'm sure if you cut back across the southern part of Alberta you could find some places, including Waterton.

[Puppet Guy]

Lundbreck Falls and Highway 22.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

If you are willing to head out east first, Cyprus Hills is really nice. There is loads of wildlife around, and you can drive to some good spots for different viewing areas. The little town is right on a small lake where there are lots of birds around. I'm sure if you cut back across the southern part of Alberta you could find some places, including Waterton.

Actually, I've never been to Cypress Hills. Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely look into this more.

[GoinAllTheWay]

I'd do Trans Canada out of Calgary to Golden, turn south down 93 to highway 3 and back to Calgary via 22.

If you haven't seen Emerald Lake just outside of Field, BC, it's stunning. As is the entire drive down 93. Tons of photo ops along the way and I feel like the trip back up 22 is quintessential ranchland in Alberta.

[keratosis]

Went 2 years ago on a Thursday in June to Emerald Lake. I'm sure it's okay now but we couldn't even get close. Parked down buy where the buses come to pickup passengers for the lodge. We couldn't even get to the bridge nevermind across to the lake. The tour busses were lined up for miles.

[Torture]

Lots of options. Go west to Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise, Golden, Emerald Lake, etc.
Go north to Jasper
Go south to Waterton (pretty dead this time of year though) or Fernie via Hwy 22.
Drumheller would be a good option as well. Writing on Stone Provincial Park is neat (although it might be pretty dead this time of year)

Don't go too far East. Saskatchewan sucks.

[CaptainYooh]

We used to own a cottage in Shuswap for over 10 years. I've driven Hwy-1 towards Kamloops hundreds of times. Same for Radium/Fairmoount, although I always enjoyed the scenery along Hwy-93 South.

I kinda like the idea of Calgary - Cypress Hills - Lundbreck Falls - Calgary loop. About 10-hr driving time all in. How much time should I plan spending near Cypress Hills, would you say, guys?

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by keratosis

Went 2 years ago on a Thursday in June to Emerald Lake. I'm sure it's okay now but we couldn't even get close. Parked down buy where the buses come to pickup passengers for the lodge. We couldn't even get to the bridge nevermind across to the lake. The tour busses were lined up for miles.

Oh wow. Ya, not even remotely close to that for us. The hotel parking was almost empty. The visitor parking for just the lake was actually pretty busy now that I think of it but parking spots where available.

Man, I'm sure glad we didn't have your experience. We went near the end of this September so I'd imagine Covid and being somewhat out of season had something to do with it.

[Weitz]

A day? Drive out to Nakusp or Nelson if you want a 5-10 day trip.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Weitz

A day? Drive out to Nakusp or Nelson if you want a 5-10 day trip.

I would have, except, I am worried about driving conditions there now.

Could be a couple of 2-3 day trips too. Doesn't have to be one trip, necessarily.

[keratosis]

Elkwater in southeast Alberta and the sand dunes across the line in Sask are pretty cool.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

I would have, except, I am worried about driving conditions there now.

Could be a couple of 2-3 day trips too. Doesn't have to be one trip, necessarily.

They calling for 10-40 cm's of snow this weekend down south too.

Were working down there and watching the forecast pretty closely.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

We used to own a cottage in Shuswap for over 10 years. I've driven Hwy-1 towards Kamloops hundreds of times. Same for Radium/Fairmoount, although I always enjoyed the scenery along Hwy-93 South.

I kinda like the idea of Calgary - Cypress Hills - Lundbreck Falls - Calgary loop. About 10-hr driving time all in. How much time should I plan spending near Cypress Hills, would you say, guys?

Depends, I'd check to see what is open, too, as it is a weekend type town(Elkwater). There's really only one place you want to stay, and it has a restaurant. For us it was worth driving to the Saskatchewan side, as we went to Fort Walsh, and did a hike around there. Really easy walking, saw a moose. I'm not sure if it is closed for the season? You can either go back to the highway, or drive the road across the top plateau, which was really nice, though you don't want to do it in a nice car, as it's gravel, and some sections are a bit rough. So it really depends what you decide to do. I'd probably stay 2 nights. If I have some time I'll post some pics, but I think I put some in the photo thread last year.

[CaptainYooh]

my luck...

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca...n-the-prairies

[keratosis]

So it should be mild then.

[Geraldsh]

Couple fun facts:
My campsite at cypress hills was the same elevation as my campsite at Banff .
This year cypress hills had signs warning campers there is a higher than usual population of skunks in the area.