Favorite Canadian Park

[ChrisDunbar]

Our Trillium in progress is going to be our honeymoon suite come summer. We will be living in Halifax and getting married in Canmore.

What are your favorite sites in between? We've done the drive a handful of times (tent camping) and have a preliminary itinerary for the way back but we're still open for suggestions. Logistical reasons mean it will be just me and the dog heading west.

[grimjed]

I highly recommend the following Ontario Provincial Parks around Lake Superior - from east to west:

1. Pancake Bay Provincial Park (great beach in late July and August)
2. Neys Provincial Park, another good beach with an interesting history
3. Sleeping Giant Provincial Park (can't miss the Giant!)
4. Quetico Provincial Park - Dawson Trail campground if you like to "get away from it all" but still have electrical.

[ChrisDunbar]

Originally Posted by grimjed

I highly recommend the following Ontario Provincial Parks around Lake Superior - from east to west:

1. Pancake Bay Provincial Park (great beach in late July and August)
2. Neys Provincial Park, another good beach with an interesting history
3. Sleeping Giant Provincial Park (can't miss the Giant!)
4. Quetico Provincial Park - Dawson Trail campground if you like to "get away from it all" but still have electrical.

We always stay at Sleeping Giant. It's one of our favorites for sure. Maybe on the way out I'll skip it and stay at Pancake Bay and then Quetico. I've never camped at either. I've only stopped for lunch at Pancake Bay.

[volk]

My wife and two dogs traveled with a Scamp (5th wheel) and have always enjoyed Sleeping Giant as well as the other parks mentioned around Lake Superior. One other place we thoroughly enjoyed is Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park (southeast of Medicine Hat). We have only stayed on the Alberta side. That area is a "refugium" i.e., glaciers did not cover the plateau, and has the highest point between the Canadian Rockies and the Labrador peninsula. It has several scenic views that offer a terrific vista of the plains surrounding it. We stayed at Firerock campground near Elkwater Lake and there are several short trips one can make from this CG including to the highest point.

Enjoy your trip!

[bullfrogeh]

Having lived (and camped) on the beautiful north shore of Lake Superior for over 35 years prior to retirement: between the 'Soo' and Thundar Bay, we'd recommend camping at 'Batchewanaa', 'Pancake Bay, 'Agawa Bay', 'Rabbit Blanket', 'Obatanga, 'White Lake', 'Neys', or 'Rainbow Falls' (all are Provincial Parks), as well as 'Pukaskwa' National Park. Most have spectacular 'Superior' views of this largest fresh water lake in Canada.

[emers382]

Originally Posted by ChrisDunbar

We always stay at Sleeping Giant. It's one of our favorites for sure. Maybe on the way out I'll skip it and stay at Pancake Bay and then Quetico. I've never camped at either. I've only stopped for lunch at Pancake Bay.

Stopping at Quetico means taking Hwy 11 which heads directly west from Thunder Bay and if you wish to stay in Canada for your whole trip means a lot longer drive to Winnipeg. But if you bring your passports follow 11 right to the end at Rainy River, drive 45 minutes through MN, then into MB near Warroad, and nice angled NW route from there into Winnipeg. We take that route from home to our son's in Thunder Bay regularly (we live an hour south of Wpg so much shorter for us). The nice thing about Hwy 11 is that there are very few transports unlike the TCH (Hwy 17). If you take that route though eat all your vegetables and fruit before you leave ON

The Dawson trail campground at Quetico is very nice, we often stayed there with our kids when we lived in Tbay.

Adrian

[ChrisDunbar]

Thanks for the tip. We have our Nexus cards too so cutting through the US is pretty hassle free.

[stude]

Originally Posted by ChrisDunbar

Our Trillium in progress is going to be our honeymoon suite come summer. We will be living in Halifax and getting married in Canmore.

What are your favorite sites in between? We've done the drive a handful of times (tent camping) and have a preliminary itinerary for the way back but we're still open for suggestions. Logistical reasons mean it will be just me and the dog heading west.

: Bear River at head of river, Mahone Bay with a few Walmarts in Between for one night stops.
Stude

[Dudley]

If you're travelling in southern Alberta, just north of the Montana boarder is a gem of a campground called Writing on Stone. Its a provincial campground. You drive east from Milk River across bare prairie and wonder where they could put a campground. You turn down into a lush green valley surrounded by hoodoos and the Milk River flows right through it. Across the river is a restored RCMP outpost from the 1890 time frame.

Writing on Stone

[stude]

Originally Posted by Dudley

If you're travelling in southern Alberta, just north of the Montana boarder is a gem of a campground called Writing on Stone. Its a provincial campground. You drive east from Milk River across bare prairie and wonder where they could put a campground. You turn down into a lush green valley surrounded by hoodoos and the Milk River flows right through it. Across the river is a restored RCMP outpost from the 1890 time frame.

Writing on Stone

ther areas in between is Waterton National Park (out of site Park), Kootenay National Park, Drumheller for the Dinosaur's shopping fun for kids and parents, Usually we just pull in some side road or large dirt parking area and spend a day or two unhook Little Kar go for a side trip here and there, look around for a Walmart spend a day sightseeing.
Lillooet, BC drive over the Bridge of the 23 Camels and there is a nice campground right beside it where the Fraser runs under the 23 Camels.
If you can handle some worse roads like part asphalt and light gravel drive up to Gold Bridge, BC or Bralorne, BC lots of places to pull over and park spend a day or two putzing around, What ever u do, don't take the Hurley river road south as it is in real tough shape as no one is servicing it. You have to go back the way you came in also do not take a trailer over the High line to Darcy but you can go back to Lillooett and take the Duffy Lake Rd to Pemberton, not many places to camp along that road but lots of places in Pemberton, BC which is about a 30 minute drive south to Whistler/Blackcomb
BC. If just driving a truck and not pulling anything then one can do the High line, you would cross the Carpenter Lake Dam go up and over Mission Mtn. careful on the way down as it drops real fast with lots of long switches then work your way through Seton and Shalath then up and over the High Line single lane traffic might have to back up occasionally to let someone bigger by, come out at Anderson Lake and Darcy BC only about 40 minutes to Pemberton BC. Once you leave Whistler it is about a 2 hour drive down to Vancouver, nice place to camp along the way is Porteau Cove though is popular place so try and reserve or good luck. Right on the water, take some firewood with you as can have fires there most of the year as right on the water. I have hiked all through that country, been on horseback through other areas up there and 4x4'd all through it to, once took my 1956 VW 21 Window Westy all through there, used portable winches in the worst places but I was young back then and thought I could do anything that God could do.
Stude

[jish]

Sites in Saskatchewan????? Why not Manitou and District Regional Park near Watrous Saskatchewan (just off the Yellow Head Hwy #16). Over 200 sites in a beautiful setting (next to Little Manitou Lake - an inland salt water "treasure" and spa area with healing waters - with 18 hole grass green golf course - one of Sask only 3 remaining drive-in theatres -) -

[Dudley]

Hi Stude, Writing on Stone Park is actually quite a ways away from Cypress Hills and is just northeast of Coutts/Sweetgrass boarder crossing. Its just east of the town of Milk River. Cypress Hills is on the boarder of Alberta/ Saskatchewan. Both are nice sites.

As far as Saskatchewan parks, try Meadow Lake Provincial Park. We usually stay at Kimball Lake site which has a great sand beach and a very clean lake to swim or fish. Far enough away from big cities and no problems to get sites during the week.

[stude]

Originally Posted by Dudley

Hi Stude, Writing on Stone Park is actually quite a ways away from Cypress Hills and is just northeast of Coutts/Sweetgrass boarder crossing. Its just east of the town of Milk River. Cypress Hills is on the boarder of Alberta/ Saskatchewan. Both are nice sites.

As far as Saskatchewan parks, try Meadow Lake Provincial Park. We usually stay at Kimball Lake site which has a great sand beach and a very clean lake to swim or fish. Far enough away from big cities and no problems to get sites during the week.

: last time there saw Grizzly bear, moose, lots of Birds but then again I Looked pretty bad as all that sulphur had my whole body standing upside down.
Stude