Wanted: Advice for riding the Canadian Rockies

[Antaeas]

Between September 5 and 19, I'm planning to ride from Wisconsin to the Canadian Rockies and back via Glacier National Park. Icefields Parkway and Going to the Sun Road, here I come! Advice would be welcome.

[martinph]

Be prepared for cold nights.
Ice fields parkway is a beautiful ride. Check out Jasper at one end, Lake Louise and Banff the other.
On the way try and ride Hwy 40 Longview to Kananaskis.
I’m sure the Calgary crowd will chime in.
Have fun.

[dancogan]

One of the most beautiful roads I've ever traveled is the Beartooth Highway - from Red Lodge, MT to Cooke City, WY. If you can work that into your travels you won't be disappointed.

[Pauls1150]

There is sometimes no gas along the Icefields - gas up at either end. It is an absolutely beautiful road; watch for flatlanders not paying attention to the road. If you have time to take the "bus" up Athabasca Glacier, that's fun; it'll be cold & windy up top. Routes 6, 3A, and 23 (all south of Revelstoke and east of Kelowna) are all lots of fun too. The ferries that cross the lakes are part of the road system, so they're free and run reasonably frequently.

The KOA on the west side of Glacier Nat'l Park was steep and rocky; further west will get you flatter or reasonable motels. The KOA on the east side (north of the junction) can be windy but is otherwise excellent. I've gotten sick twice thanks to the tourist restaurant in Saint Mary.

[RINTY]

Antaeas:

That's right in our back yard. Suggest you come up from Glacier Park on Highway 89, then up the Cowboy Trail (Alberta 22) to Longview, then west to Highway 40 and north to Trans Canada Highway. Go west to the Icefields Parkway junction, and north to Jasper.

Returning south, backtrack from Jasper to Saskatchewan River Crossing and head east to 22, and then work your way south.

For more information, do an advanced search in Ride Reports under the following words: Kiowa, Longview, Icefields Parkway, Jasper, Browning. Here are a couple of other threads:

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthre...au+lake+louise

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthre...au+lake+louise

Don't stop in Browning MT, just ride through it. As mentioned above, gas up before you hit the Icefields Parkway. Lake Louise is convenient, and have a drink in the Lakeview Lounge at Chateau Lake Louise, enjoying the dazzling view of Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier, before you head north.

If you need BMW work while near Calgary, Dave Anderson of Anderwerks BMW, is our local genius. But pre-book, if you can.

Have a great trip!

[Antaeas]

Thanks everyone for your tips. I plan on riding the Icefields Parkway from north to South, so I'll invert some of those directions.

I also plan to detour to Hillcrest, Alberta, where my grandfather worked in 1905 (see attached).

I may not ride south of Helena. If I do, I'd be tempted to try that Beartooth Highway. Does it get snow in mid- September?