Camping in the Rockies

March 11, 2018 11:43 AM

Looking for a great spot for a one-night camping trip a reasonable day's drive from Edmonton.

My partner and I will be visiting family in Edmonton in August and want to incorporate a camping trip somewhere that's a reasonable day's drive from there. We're both capable hikers/campers and would prefer somewhere pretty quiet and private and more on the backcountry side of things.

posted by ITheCosmos to Travel & Transportation around Edmonton, AB (2 answers total)

I've never been, and it's perhaps too far a trek, but Dinosaur Provincial Park could be a fun trip. The campground might be a little too improved for your liking... but.... DINOSAURS. Also the landscape is stunning.

Little bit closer, and also not precisely hardcore but still pretty: Crescent Falls is just about a four-hour drive from Edmonton and quite scenic; I believe there are more than a few campsites around there.
posted by halation at 2:17 PM on March 11, 2018 [1 favorite]

If you’ve got good gear and have done some measure of mountain hiking and unsupported camping before I can recommend Allstones Mountain. The staging area is a reasonable drive from Edmonton (3 hours and change depending on where you start from) and the climb can be done in half a day. The summit park has a lake with decent camping options.

It is a park but you must climb to get there. There are no services. The views are amazing - but they come at the price of climbing to the top of a mountain above the treeline in the Rockies. If you’ve done this kind of thing before it’s a great overnighter. If you haven’t, well, it’s not the place to start.
posted by mce at 2:31 PM on March 11, 2018 [2 favorites]