How we plan to camp across Canada to the Rockies

We’ll be on the road for close to two months, covering some 8,000 km

Rockies: Pyramid Lake in Jasper National Park. Photo Scott Kranz @scott_kranz on Instagram.

We are SO looking forward to this!

Our first road trip across Canada, from our home near Toronto to the Canadian Rockies and home again. We’ll be on the road for almost two months, covering close to 8,000 km.

We started planning in January for a departure in late August. We like to travel when kids are back in school.

We like to know where we’ll be camping just about every night; thus, a spreadsheet is an indispensable planning tool, where we track the following key items:

• Date and day of week

• Destination for the day

• Distance according to Google Maps

• Driving time according to Google Maps

• Notes, where to camp where to eat, what to explore, inexpensive fuel stops, and so on, with hyperlinks.

Westbound, we’ll cover 3,964 km over 10 days until we reach Jasper to begin two weeks in the Rockies. Eastbound, we’ll cover 3,906 km and maybe take two weeks to get home just east of Toronto.

On a long haul like this trip, we like to keep our daily driving time to four or five hours, six hours at the max.

Once we’re driving, we rely on our onboard Garmin Drive 61 GPS Navigator for navigation. We have paper maps available, too.

We derive as much fun from planning a road trip as we do during the trip. Planning a route over 4,000 km of Canada takes research and a fair bit of time, to select the best stops for sightseeing, eating and overnight stays.

Here's our westbound itinerary:

• DAY 1 to Chelmsford near Sudbury, Ontario

• Distance 438 km

• Driving time 5 hours

The best deep-fried cheese curds anywhere are to be had at Nickel City Cheese near Sudbury, Ontario.

Our destination is Nickel City Cheese to pick up a chunk of aged cheddar and a bag or two of fresh curds. There is a Poutinerie on the property which serves fabulous deep-fried cheese curds and excellent poutine. We’ll be taking out food to eat at nearby Valley Inn Motel. Prosecco will flow as we celebrate our 44th anniversary.

• Day 2 to Agawa Bay Campground on Lake Superior

• Distance 446 km

• Driving time 5 hours

A beautiful campground right on the beach of the largest of the Great Lakes. It will be our first stay here although we did check out the campground on an earlier trip to Lake Superior.

Just before getting to camp, we’ll likely pick up delicious fish and chips at Agawa Fish & Chips.

• Day 3 to Rossport Campground on Lake Superior

• Distance 370 km

• Driving time 4 hours

We’re convinced Rossport Campground on the north shore of Lake Superior has some of the very best campsites in the entire province. We spent a lovely week here a few years ago. Click to read more about the campground which is part of Rainbow Falls Provincial Park.

Just before getting to camp, we’ll likely pick up something delicious to make for dinner at Costa’s Foods in Terrace Bay.

• Day 4 to Kakabeka Falls northwest of Thunder Bay

• Distance 185 km

• Driving time 2 hours

Smoked Trout: Liisa Karkkainen at The Fish Shop just east of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Before we get to camp, three not-to-be-missed food stops:

—The Fish Shop for the best smoked fish anywhere,

—Thunder Oak Cheese for award-winning gouda,

—Stanley Hill Bison for something tasty for the BBQ.

• Day 5 to Rushing River Provincial Park near Kenora

• Distance 446 km

• Driving time 5 hours

We’ll be spending three days at Rushing River. After every three or four days on the road, we like to plan a longer stay in an appealing campground to rest up, recharge, explore and prepare an update for On the Road, Across the Sea.

While at Rushing River, we’ll go fishing for walleye with a guide on Dogtooth Lake, famed for its fishing. Wish us luck!

• Day 8 to Lions Riverbend Campground west of Winnipeg

• Distance 426 km

• Driving time 4 hours 33 minutes

On the drive out west, we plan to bypass Winnipeg, visiting there on the way home.

• Day 9 to Riding Mountain National Park

• Distance 81 km

• Driving time 1 hour

A short day because there is so much to see and do at Riding Mountain, including getting up close and personal with bison at Lake Audy Bison Enclosure. We’ll be staying two nights.

• Day 11 to Wynyard Regional Park

• Distance 344 km

• Driving time 4 hours

First thing we’ll do when we get to this small community in Saskatchewan is ask how Wynyard is pronounced.

Then we’ll set up camp and marvel how it can cost only $26.25 including tax and online reservation fee. All our other campsites are costing $15 to $20 more.

• Day 12 to Vermillion Provincial Park

• Distance 521 km

• Driving time 5+ hours

Our first overnight in Alberta.

• Day 13 to Métis Crossing in Smoky Lake

• Distance 175 km

• Driving time 2 hours

We’re looking forward to learning about the distinct Indigenous story of the Métis people, and to enjoying smoked bison and smoked trout.

• Day 14 to Lakeside Dairy and then Jasper

• Distance 480 km

• Driving time 5 hours

We’re stopping at Lakeside Dairy north of Edmonton to visit with Cheesemaker Ian Treuer, an old friend in cheese, and to provision with cheese and beef for our stay in Jasper.

The view from our campsite at Wapiti Campground should look similar to this photo from The Banff Blog, a terrific resource for planning a Rockies visit.

By afternoon’s end, we’ll be checking in at Wapiti Campground on the banks of the Athabasca just outside the Jasper townsite to begin our two weeks in the Rockies.

If you’re planning to visit the Rockies, be sure to check out Travel Alberta, an excellent resource for all things Alberta.

We’ll cover our eastbound itinerary in a future post. In the meantime, if you have advice and recommendations about driving out west, please share them in Comments below.

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