Jasper.. I have a special place in my heart for this beautiful mountain town. Lorraine not so much but she lived here for several years in her youth and has come to see Jasper as just another tourist town. Me on the other hand, I find Jasper very quaint and magical. Everytime I have been here I have had a fantastic experience. now I probably rose colour my view a bit, but still Jasper is a fantastic vacation or road trip destination.
The views around Jasper are just spectacular and the outdoor enthusiast can find all sorts of areas for incredible photo ops, or magical memories. The picture here is of a Jasper 6 years ago, and though beautiful it is a time capsule of a time before this forest will be come devastated by and terrible plague. as you will see further on.
There are two major campgrounds in Jasper, the Whistlers and Wapiti. Both of these campgrounds are National park campgrounds and reservations are recommended as they are always busy, but i do know that space opens up and the nomad traveler can often get lucky and score a night or two. Reservations can be made here:
Parks Canada Reservations - English
Parks Canada Reservations - French
Now both of these campgrounds are old, big campgrounds, and are certainly showing there age. We find the Whistlers campground to be big and open with little areas for privacy. It is a good campground for families as there is a playground in the campground. The road system is also better then Wapiti and handles big rigs better; but it is unfortunately close to the hwy, so hwy noIse is a factor on some sites. Whistlers campground will be closed for a major renovation in 2019, where they will be improving the campground by leveling and widening sites, building a better road system, a new visitor and check-in center, upgraded dump facilities, and i believe upgraded electrical systems and possibly water. This will put a huge strain on the already challenged Wapiti campground. But..
Back to Wapiti. Wapiti is a big old campground with 27 loops. Now some of these loops are small and designed for the tent camper or pop-up RV. The larger loops will take an RV up to 35 - 40ft. and a few sites up to 50ft. there are a couple of loops with electrical and an over flow area with electrical that is also used as a winter camping area.
The entrance way into Wapiti can really use a face lift and upgrade. If the campground is busy, it can take considerable time to check in. Hopefully after they renovate the Whistlers Wapiti will be next.
The road system in Wapiti leaves little to be desired. The roads are narrow and worn with potholes, (some very large) that dot the campground. Sections of the road have worn down to gravel and all of them are uneven. When two big rigs meet up on the same road, it makes for good watching, seeing how they maneuver past one another. Of course if you are in the driver seat at this point its not so amusing.
This time around we were in Loop W. With Jem our old 26' motorhome we could fit in sites down by the Athabasca river in loop RR, and not that we could not of done that with Jambo at 32' ( I think), we had booked late this year and all of the good sites were taken. W loop is a big loop It is also by the hwy so road noise is an issue on some sites. Whereas sites further down the loop have no issues with road noise and may even experience the sound of the creek that rushes through on the southern side of this loop. at the back end of the loop those sites get to hear the rush of the Athabasca river as it races by the bottom side of this campground.
The road into the W loop is narrow and further down the road deteriorates significantly with serious pot holes at the bottom end of the loop.
So we found our site and planted our Flag. Let the setup and unpacking begin. I think I need a beer first!
This site W2 was very narrow and a tight fit for our 32' motorhome, and just had enough space at the front to park our toad vehicle.
As you can see we just fit this site, and good thing too because the park staff are very particular about the number of vehicles on you site and that they all fit on the gravel. Even though the sites themselves are rather worn and have seen visible abuse and neglect.
Once we had unpacked we found our selves spread out off of the gravel. the site was so small there was no way chairs and our glampware would fit on the narrow gravel pad next to the Extra large picnic table.
Now for all of the negativity of the past few pages, I did mention that I found Jasper magical, and this is the reason why. Every Time I have been to Jasper and stayed in the Wapiti campground I have been blessed to have had a wildlife encounter. That is why I find this place magical. The photo you see here is a mother Elk and her three calves. We came across them around 6pm as we went for showers. the four of them were milling around the shower house chowing down on the vegetation that grew in the area. It was magical to be so close to them and watch them as they had dinner almost oblivious to our presence.
Did I say almost oblivious? I had moved in for a closer shot and mother took notice and stood up and gave me this wonderful profile shot. Now I don't advocate getting close to wildlife. Wild animals are just that Wild animals and therefore unpredictable. So the utmost caution is required when taking wildlife shots. In this case I had a car between me and moma.
Leaving Wapiti Campground there is a short 5km drive into the township of Jasper. Here Lorraine is trying to look enthused for me as I drag her once again into the town of Jasper.
I think her enthusiasm picked up a bit for this selfie of us.
The picturesque views from the township really show why the residents live here. But look close at the forest and you can see a sinister red hue in the forest.
If you remember the picture earlier of the beautiful green forest that Jasper had to offer 6 years ago; that is not the case anymore in Jasper or the surrounding area. A terrible plague has befallen Jasper as well as much of BC and even Northern Alberta. The pine beetle marches!
Yes the pine beetle. A noxious little bug with no natural predators here in Canada. As you can see the entire pine forest on the side of this mountain is swathed in red dead pine trees. An after effect of a pine beetle invasion. Unfortunately most of the forest in the surrounding Jasper area and in the Jasper valley has been attacked by this pest and have turned red. This is an ecological disaster and one that Parks Canada and the provinces of BC and Alberta have been battling, and I hate to say are losing.
If you look past the red trees you can certainly find the quaintness of Jasper at every corner. Jasper is a Train town and the Via rail Famous train the Canadian stops here on its way to either the BC coast or on wards east to Winnipeg.
The jasper town mascot pictured here aptly named "Jasper" goes back in the towns history and used to adorn the mainstreet before he was moved to a back street by the Parks office. The movement of Jasper caused great debate in the township of Jasper but in the end he was moved from main street to a his new location behind the parks office.
Jasper has a vibrant commercial district spanning the length of main street and several blocks behind main street. All though every trip seems to show the same trinkets and souvenirs that I see every time, I still manage to find that something special that makes the trip worthwhile. Certainly no trip to Jasper would be complete without a visit to the world famous candy store The "Candy Bear's Lair.
Even our grandchild had a perfect time with her visit and enjoyed her trip to the bears lair.
Once again Magical. Around 5pm as i was driving back from the Jasper township; I was out on a grocery run. What did i see as I drove the 5km back to the campground This pair of young bucks grazing on the side of the road.
These two were completely oblivious to the goings on and the stir they were creating. As I puled over to get my pic and observe the two bucks so did a number of other cars. When the cars starting to pull over on the other side of the road i decided it was time to leave and give these two bucks some space.
Back at the campground, Wapiti has some many trails meandering through the campground to entertain any level of hiker. The walk i enjoy the most follows the path of the campground from end to end and onwards toward Jasper following the Athabasca River.
This mighty river gets it start back in the icefields and makes it way onward through the province. as you can see the power of the river churns up a lot of mud and silt and changes it colour to a milky green.
Now I show this site W12 because on this particular trip we were in Jasper twice on the trip. Jasper was our mid-way point as we traveled up the rockies into northern Alberta; but that is another story, W12 was another poor site in the W loop. the site was setup wrong in relation to the RV, and instead of backing in I had to swing the rig around and drive it front first.
As you can see this was the best solution in order to be able to enjoy the site and our RV in a harmonious way.
Again it was a tight site and we just fit all our gear on it. We did not glamp at this site as we were only here for two days, as we made our way towards Banff and Rampart Creek, yet another story. In any case it was our decision to cut our stay short in Jasper and leave early in the morning on the second day, that allowed us to witness this next miracle.
On the morning of the second day We awoke around 6am, and after a coffee or two we started to pack up and go through our departure routine and checklist. As I was packing things into the basement compartments Lorraine in a hushed and urgent tone begged me to come to the rear of the RV. Well i thought she had found a problem, but much to my surprise this is what I saw.
A beautiful 6 point Elk in full rut, escorting his harem of six cows and two young'ens through the campground directly behind my RV. Now I am no fool I kept a very respectful distance and tried to keep my toad vehicle between me and this bad boy, but boy the temptation to take his picture over whelmed me.
As he strut his stuff up and down the campground directly behind my RV, This buck walked directly in front of this tent. I am not sure if the people inside new of what was transpiring outside of there flimsy walls, but they never did come out of the tent even as we drove off to new horizons.
In the end I once again had to say good-bye to this magical place and move on down the road. For all of Jaspers inequalities and dilapidated campsites, Jasper will always be this magical place where nature and man can come together and share a space in good harmony.
Happy Trails
The Glampurs
Nuts & Bolts:
Jasper is a big rig friendly town though Busses as always will have issues with campsites and services and may not get the best or most scenic sites. All other rigs as long as you are under 40' you stand a chance of finding a picture perfect site tucked in with nature. Jasper has most services at both campsites, sani-dumps and Potable water, showers and some electric sites, though i believe all electric is 30 amp. there may be 50 amp at Wapiti in the Winter camping area as I have seen on numerous occasions Bus style RV's parked there. Generators area allowed but only during certain hours. Hours of operations are 8am to 9:30am & 5pm to 7pm. Cell Service is everywhere within the Jasper valley ( Mostly). Certainly there is good coverage in both campgrounds. Site fees will set you back $27.40/night for a non-powered site and $32.30/night for powered. a fire permit will cost you $8.80/night. Of course you will also require a park pass to visit Jasper.
Jasper and the campgrounds are family friendly and offer some attractions to keep the kids entertained and in good spirits. The campgrounds are big and allow for a lot of kid friendly adventures, where Mom and dad can allow their kids to explore and find their wildhood without worrying too much.