Tunnel Mountain, Trailer Court, Banff NP
Good Morning from a frosty Banff!
It’s in the 30’s this morning in the Tunnel Mountain campground. One of the largest campgrounds in Banff National Park, Tunnel Mountain includes Village I with over 600 sites, Village II with nearly 200 sites and our home for the last 3 nights, Trailer Court with about 300 spaces. Nearby are nearly 400 sites at Two Jack. And, just down the road in Lake Louise are an additional 180 hard-side sites and 200 soft-side/tent sites that are enclosed in an electric fence.
The sites here are organized on either side of 8 long rows. All sites are gravel pull-through with water, sewer and 15/30 amp electric on a small grass island along the road. There’s also a picnic table at each site. In between every other row is a shower/bathroom building. Most of the sites are shaded by the tall pine forest and don’t provide access to southern skies for satellite viewing. There’s no highway noise in these campsites, but you will hear a train whistle from tracks that run to the north of downtown Banff. Internally all traffic enters at the low number sites in the “A” section. Booking sites on the far end, in the “C” section will provide least traffic. There are trash bins and lights at each of the shower house buildings which might prove bothersome. Overall this was a good experience – rather “RV Park-like” but still with a back-woods feel (even though you are here with nearly 1100 other campers).
Arriving mid-day on Wednesday, we’d had tow vehicle problems ever since leaving Kinbrook Island. A stop at a local Ford dealership in Strathmore yielded nothing – they were over-booked and had a technician that didn’t show up for work. Continuing through Calgary, we contacted Bow Valley Ford in Canmore. Not only are they able to take a look at the truck, they are able to get diagnostics run before our scheduled appointment on Wednesday. And, repairs had been made by late on Wednesday, allowing us to continue on our scheduled route. Thanks to Kevin and everyone in the Service Department at Bow Valley – you guys were great!
While waiting on vehicle repairs, we spent Wednesday exploring Banff Village. On Thursday we drove about 2 hours north toward Jasper as far as the Columbia Icefields. The first part of the drive was rainy and cloudy, but as we moved north the sun broke through and gave us great views of the rugged Rockies and the Glaciers along Icefield Parkway. This is truly a drive not to be missed.
Today we’ll hitch up and continue west on Canada Highway #1, the Trans-Canada route to make the 220 mile trek over to Sicamous, BC. More from there…
Small Home - Big Yard 