by Cameron Scott

Created on: June 30, 2009

Camping in western Canada is one of the great nature retreats. The scenery in this entire region is simply breathtaking, and that's just the beginning. The residents of Jasper and Banff, small cities right in the middle of the national parks named for them, often find bighorn sheep grazing on their lawns. Brown and grizzly bears wander throughout the region, ranging as far west as the British Columbia coast. The Jasper Tramway, longest and highest guided tramway in Canada, offers a unique view of the city and the six separate mountain ranges which constitute the Canadian Rockies. Banff National Park is the oldest national park in Canada and a World Heritage Site.

The camping ideal in this region may be to set up a base for a week at a time, from which day trips can be taken throughout Jasper and Banff National Parks in Alberta, Revelstoke National Park in British Columbia, and along the continental divide. From day hikes to whitewater rafting, from horseback riding to canoeing to a relaxing soak at Miette Hot Springs, you could easily spend a week in Jasper National Park alone.

In fact, you can't go wrong with a provincial or national park campground, and western Canada has some of the best. There are four separate national parks within easy driving distance of Banff and Jasper as well as dozens of provincial parks, all of which offer high quality campgrounds. While most won't have such amenities as electrical hookup and WiFi, they are all clean and safe, always with potable water, usually with hot showers, and sometimes even with a hot spring!

Other national parks in Alberta and British Columbia which have road access for camping are Elk Island National Park, Yoho National Park, Kootenay National Park, and Glacier National Park, which links with Waterton Lakes National Park in the United States to make half of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. Pacific Rim National Park was created where Vancouver Island meets the great waves of the Pacific Ocean. Further to the east (but still in the Canadian west) are Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan and Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba.

For the canoeing and backwoods camping experience of a lifetime, come to Canada's far northwest. Here you can find Kluane National Park and the mighty Nahanni River, one of the world's great rivers. Wood Buffalo National park is shared by Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

Most Canadian campgrounds are provincial, federal, or local conservation areas.

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