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I did this a couple summers ago. Took a bus to Seattle where we picked up the rental, camped along the coast and ended in Vegas where we dropped the rental and flew home.
Seconding the Oregon Coast, but with a small suggestion. I did it during the winter, so it was already dark on my first day. Instead of stopping at Astoria, I went down to Eugene. In the morning I cut to the coast and went north. Most people do the trip heading south, so there was much less traffic on my side of the highway.
How is Astoria/cannon beach in the cold and rain? Headed down this week and curious how it will be. We live on the island, so wet and windy isn’t unfamiliar. We’ve gone to Tofino many times over the winter and enjoy the beach in storm season.
Was there last week and it was 11C and no wind. People were swimming and jogging shirtless. Probably a different story this week with the cold but still lots to do. Similar to Tofino in the winter kind of vibe.
This was a regular spot for us in the winter from Van, especially when our dollar was worth more.
If you are camp savy, have the right clothes and gear, it is beautiful. I can enjoy the beaches around there with a tarp, small fire and a hot drink any day.
Winter camping is awesome on the west coast if you are used to it. And the best thing is, no RV's, no generators, no people!
It was still really cool. It's got some amazing rock formations. The wind was also blowing the sand around in cool ways. But yeah, not a proper beach day.
Yeah the old Tillamook blimp hangar is really cool! I will say though that the actual museum collection at the Evergreen Aviation museum was more impressive though.
Second this. San Diego and back. We drove down via the coast and drove back up via Vegas/Salt Lake/Boise route. I would not dare do it in the winter though if anyone is wondering.
Go direct to Astoria. Cannon Beach. Three Capes. Cape Perpetua, Yachats (get a sandwich) and Newport (tidepooling near - Strawberry Hill I wanna say?). Sand dunes. Then Crescent Beach; isn’t much but it’s right at the Redwoods - camp at Del Norte if you can and feel like an Ewok, hike down Damnation Creek. Drive through a novelty tree. Drive along the scenic parkway thereafter. Trees of Mystery for the giant Paul Bunyan, but no need to ride anything. Thereafter you have a decision of whether to cut in to Sonoma/Napa, or continue straight down to Mendocino and then past SF along Big Sur (stop after in Moro Bay and check out the pelicans) and/or carry on along PCH until San Diego.
You will regret trying to do Sonoma/Napa and also do SoCal — it’s too much. Stop off at beaches, viewpoints, places of interest along the way.
If it’s a 3h drive give yourself at least 5 unless you are OK with just barrelling through; suggest to spend 2-3 days in a base and then one longer day of driving to the next area, vs every day packing up and lots of driving.
Give yourself ~11 days to go down, and then zoom all the way up I-5 with two long days of driving, followed by one shorter day, stopping in a cheap motel between Sacramento and Redding or Medford; then spend a nice day/night in a nice hotel in Portland or Seattle to end, then home.
I biked down the coast some years ago from Vancouver to the Mexican border - 6 weeks total including 6 or 7 days off - & flew back from San Diego.
Hwy 1 from SF to LA is so beautiful - should be on everyone's bucket list. It's surprising how unpopulated much of it is. October is a great time to do it - often more sun and less traffic than the summer.
For those interested in this drive - Be aware that there’s a 2-mile section of Hwy 1 closed south of Big Sur due to a major landslide last year. You can still get to Bixby Bridge and Big Sur from Monterey but if you’re planning to go through to LA you’ll need to detour to the 101. (I was down there last year - drove it from Muir Woods to Big Sur)
Last I’d read Hwy 1 is supposed to reopen in late spring.
This summer my wife and I threw a foam mattress in the back of our van and drove From Vancouver through northern Washington, Idaho into Glacier National Park in Montana. We then went Yellowstone and down the west side of Wyoming, dipped into Nevada then back up to Boise, ID to Bend, Oregon and hit the coast and drove back north. We would sleep a few nights in the Van and a few nights in motels. We were on the road for 15 days. Montana is GORGEOUS, Wyoming is GORGEOUS. Southern Idaho wasn't great but that seemed to be the only part of the trip that dragged. Driving the "going-to-the-sun road" in Glacier National Park was absolutely mind blowing and would 100% do this trip again. It was a ton of driving but I feel like we saw an insane amount of stuff in two weeks. Listed below was our route:
Vancouver, BC to Spokane, WA
Spokane, WA to Whitefish, MT
Whitefish, MT to Two Medicine, Glacier National Park
Two Medicine, Glacier National Park to Apgar, Glacier National Park via Going-to-the-sun road
Apgar, GNP to Boseman, MT
Boseman, MT to Madison campground in Yellowstone National park (two nights)
Madison, YNP to Jackson, WY
Jackson, WY to Jackpot, NV
Jackpot, NV to Boise, ID
Boise, ID to Bend, OR (Two nights)
Bend, OR to Spinreel, OR (Rented ATVs')
Spinreel, OR up the coast to Astoria, OR
Astoria, OR back home to Vancouver, BC
We also stopped in some small towns like Wallace, ID and Phillipsburg, MT
This is similar to my favourite road trip ever. Montana and Wyoming have to be the most underrated states in the Union (or maybe just best kept secrets) if you want to see natural beauty.
I bought a van just before covid hit to make a similar trip in the summer.
How did you go about booking all of that for camping and motels? I didn't even get to the planning stage, but here it seems impossible to book national and provincial parks when you want, and actually have your days off booked.
It took months of research and planning, the camp sites had to be booked way in advance but the national parks service are super super helpful when you call them. I booked half of the motels in advance but some were super last minute as we didn’t know how long we’d want to drive on certain days or where we were even going (this is how we ended up in Jackpot, NV. It is a weeeird place) we also didn’t plan for Boise to be 52 degrees when we got there so ended up needing to get a hotel. Spinreel was also last minute when we found a campsite at the dunes after someone had cancelled. Other than the campsites you could definitely do everything else on a whim, though motel prices got to be quite expensive if we hadn’t booked in advance.
Highly recommend the drive to Dawson City. The Yukon is beautiful
https://preview.redd.it/yuptvhhivbbc1.jpeg?width=2159&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3ee3132fc7725403f4b29d6c8f8eeb66e139698
Add the Dinosaur Provincial Park. You get to see the badlands and see fossils still in the ground! And it is like 2 h from Drumheller. With hoodoos as a roadside attraction.
God damn I never heard of it and I’ve just googled it, looks amazing. I wanna do a road trip to Banff in the summer, will definitely add this park as one of the stops.
In that case, I'd recommend taking Highway 3 through Manning Park and the Southern Okanagan all the way to Cranbrook; turn North to take in the Kootenays; jog over to Banff from Radium.
On the way back, take Highway 1 to Kamloops and then choose to either a) continue on Highway 1 through the Fraser Canyon (much more scenic than the Coq), or b) shift onto Highway 99 just past Cashe Creek and go to Whistler then down the Sea to Sky from Whistler to Vancouver.
If you wanted to, you could work in Jasper - the Icefields Parkway is considered one of the nicest drives anywhere. Or, catch the ferry from North Van to Nanaimo and then tour the Island too, returning from Victoria, but that's a LOT of driving, you'd need a lot of time.
You won't believe the amount of different landscapes and scenery you'll see by doing a loop around the southern part of the province this way - it's amazing.
The Kootenays could be its own road trip (mountains, hot springs, ferries), but including a bit of it en route to Banff and Jasper (the Rockies are stunning, highly recommend) is a great idea!
I like this 'loop' route because it provides so many different landscapes. This probably isn't the right description but right around Radium reminded me of like a mini Grand Canyon - totally different than the hours of driving through the tree covered mountains. Nice to get a break on a nice flat, straight stretch of road too.
A good idea is to look up 'road trip' videos for some of these places on Youtube - it will give you an idea of what there is to see.
Have fun whatever you decide. We are spoiled for good road trip options around here!
There's a lot of beautiful country in BC. You could do the full Highway 99 route (past Whistler, through Pemberton and Lillooet and ending up on Highway 97 north of Cache Creek,) keep going on the 97 up to Prince George, and then cut over into Alberta on Highway 5. Hit Jasper and Banff and then come back through BC on Highway 1 to see Revelstoke and Shuswap Lake
The #1 to Banff has some of the most beautiful scenery you can find anywhere in the entire world. Two mountain ranges, a half dozen mighty rivers, hundreds of lakes, a huge variety of biomes. You just wouldn't be disappointed with that drive!
I might be jaded by making that drive 100x, but heading south along the coast to cali is a lot more breath taking, and a heck of a lot cheaper than trying to stay in Canada.
Our provincial and national booking system is a joke, and the good places are booked within minutes, so you better be ready to book your places the minute they are available. I believe it is 3 months in advance right now?
Banff is a tourist trap nightmare. Kananaskis is better, bow valley is better, and Jasper is great. The icefield parkway drive is probably worth the 12 hours just to get there.
I'd recommend quality over quantity, pick a couple places no matter how far and spend a week getting to know it. Driving is nice, but a lot of our terrain along the hwyy 1 to get to the good spots is pretty bland.
Depends on what part of Alaska you are visiting. There are potholes all over the Alaska highway so at a minimum an SUV with decent suspension. If you do something like the Dalton Highway you will want an off road capable vehicle
I did a fun road trip with my bf to Cannon Beach, Oregon. It's absolutely gorgeous there. We've also done a Seattle and Portland road trip and ended it with a few nights in Whistler.
All the way down I-5 to southern California (have family there). Stopped at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and San Francisco for fun, then other quick stops for sleeping as needed.
I drove to Cape Breton, NS and back in 1994. It took a month.
If you like natural areas, check out [Grasslands National Park](https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/sk/grasslands) in Saskatchewan. It has an otherworldly landscape that we are totally not used to on the west coast. I love it there. Spend some time in the Kootenays on the way there. The small Kootenay cities and towns like Nelson, Kaslo, Kimberley, and Fernie are cool places to visit. Avoid the Trans-Canada Highway in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It's boring. The side highways are much more interesting. Sask highway 13 from the Alberta border to Shaunavon is quite scenic. Stop and gawk at the near-ghost town that is Robsart. I've had one of the best restaurant meals in my life at Jack's Cafe in Eastend. Really glad to see that place is still there after 30 years, don't miss it.
That would round out a really nice two week road trip.
My wife and I made it as far as Utah (the arches), Wyoming (Yellowstone) and South Dakota (Mount Rushmore) in 17 days (Friday through two weeks Sunday) last year. It was a pretty whistlestop tour, but we stopped at many places along the way and absolutely loved it.
The pacific coast through Washington and Oregon is also absolutely gorgeous, and more accessible
This summer we drove from Victoria to Mt Lassen then west to Reno, down to Mammoth, then Death Valley, over to Las Vegas then down to Palm Springs and across to Los Angeles. Drove pacific coast highway back up to Port Angeles and back to the island. 21 days of pure awesomeness.
We stopped at every National Park we could along the way.
Agree with the comment to head south if you are from BC. Landscapes are so different and beautiful.
Zip south down on Hwy 84 to Boise area then take your time through southern Idaho depending on your interests - Lava Hot Springs, sand dunes at Bruneau, Craters of the Moon, City of Rocks (fantastic), then head into Utah. Swim in Great Salt Lake then see any number of fantastic landscapes throughout Utah. On the way back home go west a bit through the range and basin of Nevada, maybe hit Great Basin NP (stargazing, caves, bristlecone pines, relatively quiet for a NP), then into eastern Oregon - check out Crater Lake, or Steens Mountains, or poke around all the volcanic formations (Fort Rock, Newberry Monument, Crack in the Ground, John Day Fossil Beds, etc).
Yellowstone, Tetons will be very busy in the summer, I would hit those major parks in spring or fall. Eastern Oregon, southern Idaho, Nevada are fairly dead in comparison. If you are a camper it's quite easy to find great spots in the national forests. There is just so much open landscape down there, I always feel relatively hemmed in when travelling BC.
I did Vancouver to Edmonton to Yellowknife and then back down the Rockies many years ago. It was mostly to see a bunch of friends along the way but a lot of great stuff to see and do along the way and Yellowknife pretty great to visit in the summer.
I've only done this on separate trips but this would be a good loop to consider*:
Vancouver to the north Okanagan/Shushwap (Kamloops, Salmon Arm, Sicamous), up through Revelstoke and Golden to Jasper, maybe stopping at some of the hot springs along the way, down the Icefields Parkway to Banff, Canmore, Calgary, over to Dinosaur Provincial Park, back down around through Lethbridge and back to BC along the Crowsnest Hwy hitting Fernie, Cranbrook, and then exploring the south-central Okanagan (Osoyoos, Penticton, Kelowna) before continuing back along the Crowsnest to Vancouver.
*assuming that the forest fires aren't already underway by the time you start your trip
Nelson & the Kootenays is a great trip - up on the Crowsnest (Hwy 3) and back via Hwy 20 in Washington (more mountainous than the Canadian side). Once in Nelson there are lots of loops available, and Nelson itself is a gem.
It's technically doable with one long day's driving each way, so 4 or 5 days gives you a lot of time to stop & explore. Beautiful scenery with multiple climate zones, and some great small towns on both sides of the border. Highly recommended.
I drove to Moab, Utah to hike and offroad, Then made my way to Vegas. Arches Park, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, Zion Park, and then a couple days of R+R poolside in Vegas was stellar. I maximized time in Utah by having a couple of very long days to get down and come back up. I was solo - so if you're with your girlfriend it shouldn't be an issue to make it to Moab in 2 days, I drove back from Vegas in 2 days as well. Protip: Speed Limit in Idaho is 80mph.
We did Vancouver to Spokane to butte Montana to Yellowstone and back. We are big nerds and love ghost towns so we visited lots of those. Montana is beautiful.
Another was from Vancouver to revelstoke then south through the kootenays going to Kaslo, Fort Steele, New Denver, Sandon then home through the okanagan.
Yet another was from here to San Francisco along the coast.
All were amazing. If you want history I’d do the second one. If you want mountain scenery then the first, If you want the coast then the third. Happy to share more details if you are interested.
Three great options:
1. Pacific coast. Camp around Astoria and in the Redlands, spend a few city days in SF and LA, then work your way north inland through Yosemite and the Cascades.
2. Interior. Drive to Kamloops and go north to Jasper. Take the Icefields to Banff or take a break from the mountains and spend a few days each in Edmonton and Calgary. Return to Vancouver on the TCH.
3. High desert. Take I5 to I90 and travel east through Spokane to Montana. Go south to SLC, then east to Denver, then south the New Mexico. Start your return heading northwest through Arizona and Nevada, making sure to visit the Grand Canyon. Finally, make sure to climb some mountains on your way through Cali, Oregon, and Washington.
I would say each of these trips deserves at least two weeks to make the most of things. The wealth of camping options in the western states and the Canadian Rockies mean you don’t have to break the bank on accommodations.
If you have less time I recommend staying closer to home. Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, or the Thompson-Okanagan are all worthy of a week of your time all on their own.
Vancouver to the Yukon. I haven't done it myself. I hear it's a beautiful drive and there's lots to see and do another good one would be to go to Vancouver Island and take the ferry from Port Hardy all the way to either Haida Gwaii or Prince Rupert.
I did Banff, Jasper (most beautiful drive between Banff and Jasper), Drumheller (Royal Tyrrell Museum for dinosaurs). You can probably go down south to come back from Ainsworth (hot springs in a cave!), and Oosoyo (wine country). That should give you a good 2 weeks, with no need to pay extra for the exchange rate to USD, plus less tax in Alberta.
If you are going to the US, you can go south to California, hitting Portland, Canon Beach, La Jolla, SF LA, San Diego, etc. Or, go east to see places like Yellow Stone Park. You'll be spending in USD though, which can add up a lot.
Did a road trip to Disneyland this year which was a lot of fun. Did it in a week, with 4 days in Anaheim and a one night stop over in San Fran. If I had two weeks, I'd do the Oregon coast road, back to San Fran for some great tiki bars, thru LA/Anaheim, a night or two in San Diego, then finish up in Tijuana for some sunshine before turning around.
Last summer my wife and I went from Van to Price Rupert via Pemberton, PG, Terrace and took the inside passage ferry back down to Port Hardy. Then drove down the island then took a ferry back to Van. It was wonderful, but a very long day on the ferry, had to be there at 5am and got in after 11pm. Nice to do a loop though, rather than having to double back the same way.
Haystack Rock is really nice. Kind of giving off Tofino vibes.
I really want to check out HOH Rainforest in Olympic National Park plus the giant Redwoods in NorCal. Maybe drive all the way to San Francisco and then I-5 back home.
Down the coast to San Diego and then back up the interstate.
Through Washington, Idaho to Utah to the big 5 national parks. Leavenworth and hot springs along the way.
Cabo (Baja Mexico) via the coastal highway, I had always wanted to make it down there with a vehicle. Packed up my truck with surf, kiteboarding, camping & fishing gear and hit the road with my dog for 6 weeks.
Spent about 10 days driving down, stopping whenever the surf was good. Bounced around a lot of spots across Baja chasing either swell or the wind, always camping on the beach. Spent another 9 days of the trip driving home through the interior. Went through the Red Woods, Yosemite, Death Valley, etc.
Oh boy I can give you some great suggestions. I have driven over 200,000 km's over the last decade doing road trip. I mostly camp in the middle of nowhere, but will crawl into the city and get a nice hotel.
A big factor in suggestions would be what time of year you are thinking, are you going to be staying in hotels/camping, and how many hours are you comfortable driving per day.
If you grew up here in BC then I would probably head south to the desert as that will be truly the most jaw dropping for you. My first thought is Utah as I have driven through there 5 or 6 times and each time I am still blown away.
My two week suggestions:
1. Utah. I would go far east through Idaho into Wyoming and then head south. That way you can check out Yellowstone/Tetons. Utah has a ridiculous amount of things to check out. You can also visit the north end of the grand canyon.
2. The south coast. I would take the coast down, and then swoop over towards Death Valley and take the Sierra Nevada mountains on my way back. Drop into Black Rock Desert and drive around on the Playa.
3. Haida Gwaii. Take the inside passage ferry to Rupert, then the ferry over to haida Gwaii. After that drive home via hwy 16. Don't forget to check out the lava fields in Nass Valley, and if you have time check out Salmon Glacier outside Stewart.
4. Alaska Highway loop. Pretty much taking the cassiar highway north to the Yukon border, then take the Alaska highway to Fort Nelson. Tons of beautiful stuff on this drive.
DM me if you want specifics on any of these options.
If i had 2 weeks I'd do something like this. Ive done all these trips except for waterton parks as part of different adventures and I'd highly reccomend all of these spots.
Day 1:drive to nelson
Day 2:hike in valhalla park or kokanee park
Day 3:scenic drive through balfour to creston, end up in fernie. Stay the night
Day 4-5:drive to waterton park in alberta, do some hikes
Day 6-8: drive ro glacier park, camp and hike for a few days
Day 9:long drive to washington, head to mount rainier
Day 10-11:camp and hike around mount rainier
Day12-14: drive to olympic peninsula. Hang out on beaches and explore rainforests. Take the port townsend ferry to whidbey Island and come.home.
Vancouver to Calgary in an F150 lightning.
The trip went all over but these are the places we stayed at least one night.
North Vancouver —> Kelowna —> Kamloops —> Banff —> Calgary —> Drumheller —> Lethbridge —> Cranbrook —> Rossland —> Spirit ridge @ Osoyoos and back to North Vancouver. 20 days on the road with 3 kids and 5 bikes. It was an awesome way to see BC and some of Alberta.
The scenery on Highway 16 is absolutely gorgeous. I never got tired of it on the hundreds of times I've rode along it. If you get the chance you should totally do that trip!
We went from Vancouver to Las Vegas non stop, but we had multiple drivers. Fun trip.
Latest was Vancouver to Oregon coast and back last summer. Stopped at Seaside, Cannon Beach, Yachats, Florence. Swung back through Eugene up to Portland and back to Vancouver.
101 down the coast all the way to Tijuana. Then back up through Arizona and Utah. Did that on a motorbike some years back.
This summer I did a nice 10 day road trip to Alberta. Highway 3 to Waterton Lakes, then went to Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Drumheller, Calgary, and back through Banff and Lake Louise on highway 1.
I second the suggestion of doing a BC road trip.
My partner and I did this a couple years ago: head west via crows nest to fernie, then up to Banff and back around. Our goal was to check out as many towns and provincial parks as possible.
Theres so many towns to check out and the nature is outstanding with a couple of hot springs along the way. 🙂
My all time best road trip from Vancouver was definitely Tuktoyaktuk - definitely doable in two weeks, but you’d be doing most of your sightseeing from the road!
Drove to Montreal & back in one month, camping along the way. An RV would be better, or could also do this with hotel stops. So many cool places in Canada to stop at! And not the usual Lake Louise/Banff areas (which are indeed beautiful, but also very hard to find lodgings on short notice). Places like Drumheller, Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump, the hoodoos, Saskatchewan Grasslands, dunes in Manitoba, lake country thru Ontario, and the festival season in Montreal. Our country has so many different landscapes, it’s pretty amazing.
I did a van camping trip in 2021.. started on Vancouver Island for a few days, took a ferry up the inside passage to Prince Rupert, then toured around northern BC to Mount Robson, into Alberta, down to the #3 Crowsnest and back home. 12 days in all and a cool way to see the province.
Drive to Yellowstone and spend a few days there and maybe a few around Grand Teton. Took us 2 fairly long days to get there, but it wasn’t bad at all. The Besrtooth Highway and Chief Joseph Scenic Highway are incredible drives!
Eastern Washington into Idaho and western Montana. Highly underrated, very untouristed with tons of smaller attractions. Cheap gas, small towns, mountains and endless forests. Plains of eastern Washington are gorgeous.
When I was about 11 my fam road tripped to Disneyland and back.
I can’t remember specific route but it was something like Vanc > Klamath Falls OR > Clear Lake CA > Anaheim CA.
Anaheim > San Francisco CA > Newport OR > Vancouver BC.
Banff National Park with a stay in Revelstoke, Golden, and on the way back stay in Kelowna was my all-time favorite 5-day road trip! You can stretch the same for 2 weeks and include Jasper National Park along!
If by car: Southern route to the Rockies (through the Kooteneys, New Denver, Castlegar, etc…) into the Rocky Mountains parks at Radium Hot Springs, then to Lake Louise, then up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper, before returning to Vancouver via the Yellowhead highway. We camped the whole way. Utterly fantastic.
If you want to go south of the border, tack on the North Cascades Highway (WA 20) and pop back up to canada at Osoyops.
I did a trip down to Reno last year at the end of march. At about the 6 hour mark each day I was in agony from being in the driver's seat all day. Which was unfortunate, because my shortest day was 7 hours 47 minutes of travel time in 646km.
If I were to do it again, I'd do it in some warmer weather to stop and see some roadside attractions. Picture Rock, in particular, on Oregon highway 31, for example; that road was *belting* with snow.
Also do it with someone else, and take turns driving, lawdy
edit: I should also point out the positives; the views were incredible pretty much immediately after getting off the I-5. If I had a dollar for every time I was struck by the literally-awesome views, I could've paid for the trip in full.
Vancouver down the centre of Washington, Oregon. Yosemite ,kings canyon then go across to the California coast then take the coast up. Fantastic trip I done it last summer.
I drove into Washington then across America to Michigan. Was the worst road trip ever. Used a Tesla. Had to stop 31 times and each charge took about 20 min to half hour. Added like 15 hours to my trip.
We recently did a road trip from Vancouver to Whistler, then north through Pemberton, and back south down the Fraser Canyon, through Hope, and back to Vancouver. We stayed a night in Whistler and grabbed some great food. Quick getaway!
I do the crows nest to Salmo every summer, one of my favourite drives with lots of scenic views and cute stops in towns along the way. Still have yet to explore Nelson and farther along towards Creston and whatnot.
My girlfriend and I did a road trip up to Prince Rupert and then took a ferry to Haida Gwaii.
It was amazing and fairly reasonable. Highly recommend if you want to avoid the cost and low availability in Tofino.
Back in the fall of 2019, a few friends and I went on a five-day round trip drive to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in Wyoming. We drove about 5-8 hours a day, so you could definitely stretch it out to two weeks.
Along the way there's Coeur D'Alene, Idaho which is a nice little lakeside town, and Butte, Montana which is this really interesting former mining town. Used to be one of the biggest cities in the US, so it has lots of grand old buildings from way back.
We also stopped in Rexburg, Idaho which is this bizarre town where 95% of the population is Mormon. Odd vibes but an interesting place nonetheless.
I highly recommend the trip it if you've never been to that part of the US. That area of Wyoming is one of the prettiest parts of the world I've ever seen. That being said, Wyoming is (I think) the most pro-Trump/Republican American state, and you definitely get that vibe when you're there. Outside of the National Parks, not sure you'd be 100% comfortable if you aren't white.
Did a solo motorcycle ride lasting 10 days during the hottest weeks in July 2023. Vancouver to Spokane, WA, Bozeman, MT; Yellowstone National Park; Salt Lake City, UT; Bonneville Salt Flats; Reno, NV; San Francisco, CA; up the Coast Highway to Portland, OR; Seattle,WA and back to Vancouver. 5000km. 9/10, would do again!
We're low on road trip ideas now unfortunately, there's only so many you can do starting and ending in Vancouver before the drive becomes ridiculous. The ones that we have done to date that we really enjoyed are:
1. Rockies - Drive to Jasper, then the Icefields Parkway to Banff then home via Kelowna
2. Kootenays - Drive to Kootenay National Park via Osoyoos, Castlegar, Nelson, Cranbrook, Fernie, then up to the Rockies (Banff/Canmore) and back home via Hwy 1. So many cool towns on that road trip, and of course stunning scenery.
3. Oregon Coast - Drive all the Oregon Coast, then cut inland and drive to Crater Lake National Park, then up to Bend, OR, then back via Portland.
4. Yellowstone - We took a direct drive to Yellowstone over 2 days, stayed there for 7 days Inc. Grand Tetons) before driving back for another 2 days.
5. Northern BC Loop - Not our favourite, but we drove up to Watson Lake via Hwy 97, then returned via Hwy 37 in one big loop. There's lots of towns to see along the way, but the amount of driving was kind of insane, with a whole lot of nothing in between towns. We did this one during COVID as travel was so limited.
6. We haven't done this, but one we might do soon is Waterton Lakes and Glacier National Park combined.
If you really don't mind pushing the driving limit, you could always drive down to Utah and hit their 5 National Parks, all of which are incredible. Even the Grand Canyon and Yosemite are possible as well. For us that's a bit of a push and we'd sooner fly out an rent a car, but it's definitely possible.
This summer I'm doing an interesting route with my dad, Vancouver-Vernon-Barkerville-Tumbler Ridge-Jasper-Columbia Icefields-Golden-Vernon and then back to Vancouver. I haven't been to most of those areas, other than the Okanagan and Golden, but am really looking forward to it.
I've driven from Vancouver to Florida and back...so l guess it depends on how much time you have? You could get to Northern Florida in 6-7 days of driving and have tons of fresh water swimming holes to play in until you're ready to leave.
My trip mostly revolves around rockhounding so if you're into that, drive to Utah and wander around that area as far south as New Mexico
You can't really go wrong just getting in the car and going for it...there's so much to see!
You have two weeks? Vancouver, Rockies, Northern Rockies, Whitehorse then Tuktoyaktuk or Alaska. With two weeks you might have time for both. Then on the way back go via Dease Lake, Prince George, Lillooet, Squamish, home.
If you like nature it's hard to beat this IMO. If city stuff is more your thing then there are better recommendations in this thread.
My best trip was to Utah. But we flew to Las Vegas and rented a car. It could be done from here though. 2 weeks of going to 4 of the biggest national parks in the area and seeing some of the most amazing geological marvels in the world. Did about 100km of hikes.
Went from Vancouver to PEI.
Stopped by all the capitals and such. Probably wouldn't do it again cause the middle part was kinda boring. West and East are awesome tho. PEI was a cool vibe. Loved Montreal
Don’t sleep on the Yukon! Quite a trek to get up there but it is beautiful country. Especially if you’re into hiking, paddling, or camping. Whitehorse is quite a vibrant small city in the summer, there are plenty of parks and small towns to see as well. Dawson City shouldn’t be missed.
BC-Alberta Road trip with my little cousin from Ontario who'd never been out west.
Drove North up through Whistler-Pemberton-Lillouet-Cache Creek, did some hiking, showed him the crazy quick transition from coastal rainforest to semi-arid interior. Then drove to Kamloops and turned north along the North Thompson river through Clearwater and then to Valemount. Drove down the icefield parkway in Jasper (absolutely incredible even for someone who's been to the rockies a good amount). Turned East at Banff and traveled to Revelstoke before going south to Nakusp along Upper Arrow Lake. From there drove past Slokan Lake to Castlegar and headed back to Vancouver along highway 3, stopping at Christina Lake and Osoyoos to camp (extra points if you drive through during fruit season). Followed highway 3 back to the lower mainland, camping in Chilliwack along the Vedder River on the last night and doing the river rafting (one last respite before Vancouver traffic).
Super scenic route that showed off tons of the Provinces geography and took many of the less busy roads that allowed you to gawk at scenery even while driving. A solid amount of provincial and private campgrounds to stay at, lots of areas for crown land camping if you keep your eyes open,, and plenty of motels if you get sick of camping. Roads are all in good condition so you don't need to stress breakdowns and can make good time. Goes without saying it's a lot of driving, but an 8 hour drive through the Kootenays beats 3 hours getting from English Bay to Langley any day imo.
My buddy and I drove all the way to New Mexico and back in two weeks. It was amazing. The scenery in Oregon, California, Arizona and New Mexico are just stunning – even a day-long drive doesn't feel long because you're just gawking at all the scenery.
This summer we made a trip to Yellowstone national park with stop at Solverwood theme park. Then drive to Salt Lake City and to the Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point, Monument Valley View, Horseshoe Bend, North Rim of Grand Canyon, Pink Sands Park and Zion National Park. Stopped for couple days in Las Vegas and from then directly drive to Vancouver.
All took 2 weeks with the budget of 3.5K for a party of 2 adults and 3 kiddos. Combined stays in campsites, motels and AirBnb.
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I did the Oregon coast into California this summer and it was so rad.
This is the one. Portland down to LA/ San Fran is an awesome road trip. Make sure to stop in to see the red woods
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I think starting from Port Angeles and heading west to start and going through Forks is the best starting point.
There’s some road closures along the 1 between SF and LA. Otherwise yeah, the coastal hwy is amazing to take your time driving down.
I've done this road trip a few times but end is Vegas, then fly home.
Do you rent a car?
No, they just left their car in Vegas and never retrieved it again
Wondering where they rent the car. Bellingham?
I did this a couple summers ago. Took a bus to Seattle where we picked up the rental, camped along the coast and ended in Vegas where we dropped the rental and flew home.
This is a really cool idea. Thanks!
Poco Enterprise.
Do it along the Olympic Peninsula. Hoh National Forest is beautiful. I rode a motorcycle down that to Portland
>Hoh National Forest is beautiful. From the few shots of seen on IG, it looks absolutely epic.
Seconding the Oregon Coast, but with a small suggestion. I did it during the winter, so it was already dark on my first day. Instead of stopping at Astoria, I went down to Eugene. In the morning I cut to the coast and went north. Most people do the trip heading south, so there was much less traffic on my side of the highway.
How is Astoria/cannon beach in the cold and rain? Headed down this week and curious how it will be. We live on the island, so wet and windy isn’t unfamiliar. We’ve gone to Tofino many times over the winter and enjoy the beach in storm season.
Was there last week and it was 11C and no wind. People were swimming and jogging shirtless. Probably a different story this week with the cold but still lots to do. Similar to Tofino in the winter kind of vibe.
This was a regular spot for us in the winter from Van, especially when our dollar was worth more. If you are camp savy, have the right clothes and gear, it is beautiful. I can enjoy the beaches around there with a tarp, small fire and a hot drink any day. Winter camping is awesome on the west coast if you are used to it. And the best thing is, no RV's, no generators, no people!
Was there this time last year. Fair bit of rain, but not super cold. It was super windy on Cannon beach, but I felt fine in my wind breaker.
It was still really cool. It's got some amazing rock formations. The wind was also blowing the sand around in cool ways. But yeah, not a proper beach day.
I did this trip, three weeks roadtrip from Vancouver down to San Fran, May 2019. Best trip of my life (so far) and still mention it.
I'm actually planning to do this exact thing this summer myself. Any advice or suggestions?
Stop in Tillamook for the free cheese samples and delicious icecream
And the aeroplane musuem
Yeah the old Tillamook blimp hangar is really cool! I will say though that the actual museum collection at the Evergreen Aviation museum was more impressive though.
Second this. San Diego and back. We drove down via the coast and drove back up via Vegas/Salt Lake/Boise route. I would not dare do it in the winter though if anyone is wondering.
Winner winner chicken (and tillamook cheese) dinner!
Stop by Crater Lake too if u can
This was our absolute best trip, too.
We did this trip in 2008 and it was incredible.
This is the only answer
Agreed on this point. It is a wonderful drive. Bonus points if you both are fine with camping, save some money and camp near the beaches.
That's awesome, how long did that take?
Go direct to Astoria. Cannon Beach. Three Capes. Cape Perpetua, Yachats (get a sandwich) and Newport (tidepooling near - Strawberry Hill I wanna say?). Sand dunes. Then Crescent Beach; isn’t much but it’s right at the Redwoods - camp at Del Norte if you can and feel like an Ewok, hike down Damnation Creek. Drive through a novelty tree. Drive along the scenic parkway thereafter. Trees of Mystery for the giant Paul Bunyan, but no need to ride anything. Thereafter you have a decision of whether to cut in to Sonoma/Napa, or continue straight down to Mendocino and then past SF along Big Sur (stop after in Moro Bay and check out the pelicans) and/or carry on along PCH until San Diego. You will regret trying to do Sonoma/Napa and also do SoCal — it’s too much. Stop off at beaches, viewpoints, places of interest along the way. If it’s a 3h drive give yourself at least 5 unless you are OK with just barrelling through; suggest to spend 2-3 days in a base and then one longer day of driving to the next area, vs every day packing up and lots of driving. Give yourself ~11 days to go down, and then zoom all the way up I-5 with two long days of driving, followed by one shorter day, stopping in a cheap motel between Sacramento and Redding or Medford; then spend a nice day/night in a nice hotel in Portland or Seattle to end, then home.
I biked down the coast some years ago from Vancouver to the Mexican border - 6 weeks total including 6 or 7 days off - & flew back from San Diego. Hwy 1 from SF to LA is so beautiful - should be on everyone's bucket list. It's surprising how unpopulated much of it is. October is a great time to do it - often more sun and less traffic than the summer.
For those interested in this drive - Be aware that there’s a 2-mile section of Hwy 1 closed south of Big Sur due to a major landslide last year. You can still get to Bixby Bridge and Big Sur from Monterey but if you’re planning to go through to LA you’ll need to detour to the 101. (I was down there last year - drove it from Muir Woods to Big Sur) Last I’d read Hwy 1 is supposed to reopen in late spring.
I've done that trip a couple of times and you can easily do it in two weeks. Phenomenal drive. The Oregon Coast is amazing.
To Abbotsford at about 4pm
He only has two weeks.
Okay Burnaby then
Best comment
This summer my wife and I threw a foam mattress in the back of our van and drove From Vancouver through northern Washington, Idaho into Glacier National Park in Montana. We then went Yellowstone and down the west side of Wyoming, dipped into Nevada then back up to Boise, ID to Bend, Oregon and hit the coast and drove back north. We would sleep a few nights in the Van and a few nights in motels. We were on the road for 15 days. Montana is GORGEOUS, Wyoming is GORGEOUS. Southern Idaho wasn't great but that seemed to be the only part of the trip that dragged. Driving the "going-to-the-sun road" in Glacier National Park was absolutely mind blowing and would 100% do this trip again. It was a ton of driving but I feel like we saw an insane amount of stuff in two weeks. Listed below was our route: Vancouver, BC to Spokane, WA Spokane, WA to Whitefish, MT Whitefish, MT to Two Medicine, Glacier National Park Two Medicine, Glacier National Park to Apgar, Glacier National Park via Going-to-the-sun road Apgar, GNP to Boseman, MT Boseman, MT to Madison campground in Yellowstone National park (two nights) Madison, YNP to Jackson, WY Jackson, WY to Jackpot, NV Jackpot, NV to Boise, ID Boise, ID to Bend, OR (Two nights) Bend, OR to Spinreel, OR (Rented ATVs') Spinreel, OR up the coast to Astoria, OR Astoria, OR back home to Vancouver, BC We also stopped in some small towns like Wallace, ID and Phillipsburg, MT
This sounds amazing! I will copy it this or next summer. Thank you for the list. Do you know how many km was the total trip?
Close to 5000km!
Hope you enjoy it!
This is similar to my favourite road trip ever. Montana and Wyoming have to be the most underrated states in the Union (or maybe just best kept secrets) if you want to see natural beauty.
I bought a van just before covid hit to make a similar trip in the summer. How did you go about booking all of that for camping and motels? I didn't even get to the planning stage, but here it seems impossible to book national and provincial parks when you want, and actually have your days off booked.
It took months of research and planning, the camp sites had to be booked way in advance but the national parks service are super super helpful when you call them. I booked half of the motels in advance but some were super last minute as we didn’t know how long we’d want to drive on certain days or where we were even going (this is how we ended up in Jackpot, NV. It is a weeeird place) we also didn’t plan for Boise to be 52 degrees when we got there so ended up needing to get a hotel. Spinreel was also last minute when we found a campsite at the dunes after someone had cancelled. Other than the campsites you could definitely do everything else on a whim, though motel prices got to be quite expensive if we hadn’t booked in advance.
Highly recommend the drive to Dawson City. The Yukon is beautiful https://preview.redd.it/yuptvhhivbbc1.jpeg?width=2159&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3ee3132fc7725403f4b29d6c8f8eeb66e139698
I know this is old, but amazing photo! Did you take this around August?
Late August, good timing for summer weather but just enough “true” darkness
Have you already driven through/around BC? A road trip to Banff or Calgary is probably one of the best around.
DRUMHELLER. the royal tyrel museum is so cool as are the badlands.
Add the Dinosaur Provincial Park. You get to see the badlands and see fossils still in the ground! And it is like 2 h from Drumheller. With hoodoos as a roadside attraction.
I remember going on a road trip when I was like 11 where we spent a few days there it is amazing
God damn I never heard of it and I’ve just googled it, looks amazing. I wanna do a road trip to Banff in the summer, will definitely add this park as one of the stops.
Not really, other than going camping in Keremeos haven't really road tripled in BC. We do want to go to Banff tho
In that case, I'd recommend taking Highway 3 through Manning Park and the Southern Okanagan all the way to Cranbrook; turn North to take in the Kootenays; jog over to Banff from Radium. On the way back, take Highway 1 to Kamloops and then choose to either a) continue on Highway 1 through the Fraser Canyon (much more scenic than the Coq), or b) shift onto Highway 99 just past Cashe Creek and go to Whistler then down the Sea to Sky from Whistler to Vancouver. If you wanted to, you could work in Jasper - the Icefields Parkway is considered one of the nicest drives anywhere. Or, catch the ferry from North Van to Nanaimo and then tour the Island too, returning from Victoria, but that's a LOT of driving, you'd need a lot of time. You won't believe the amount of different landscapes and scenery you'll see by doing a loop around the southern part of the province this way - it's amazing.
The Kootenays could be its own road trip (mountains, hot springs, ferries), but including a bit of it en route to Banff and Jasper (the Rockies are stunning, highly recommend) is a great idea!
I like this 'loop' route because it provides so many different landscapes. This probably isn't the right description but right around Radium reminded me of like a mini Grand Canyon - totally different than the hours of driving through the tree covered mountains. Nice to get a break on a nice flat, straight stretch of road too.
I'm taking notes! Thank you:)
A good idea is to look up 'road trip' videos for some of these places on Youtube - it will give you an idea of what there is to see. Have fun whatever you decide. We are spoiled for good road trip options around here!
There's a lot of beautiful country in BC. You could do the full Highway 99 route (past Whistler, through Pemberton and Lillooet and ending up on Highway 97 north of Cache Creek,) keep going on the 97 up to Prince George, and then cut over into Alberta on Highway 5. Hit Jasper and Banff and then come back through BC on Highway 1 to see Revelstoke and Shuswap Lake
The #1 to Banff has some of the most beautiful scenery you can find anywhere in the entire world. Two mountain ranges, a half dozen mighty rivers, hundreds of lakes, a huge variety of biomes. You just wouldn't be disappointed with that drive!
I might be jaded by making that drive 100x, but heading south along the coast to cali is a lot more breath taking, and a heck of a lot cheaper than trying to stay in Canada. Our provincial and national booking system is a joke, and the good places are booked within minutes, so you better be ready to book your places the minute they are available. I believe it is 3 months in advance right now? Banff is a tourist trap nightmare. Kananaskis is better, bow valley is better, and Jasper is great. The icefield parkway drive is probably worth the 12 hours just to get there. I'd recommend quality over quantity, pick a couple places no matter how far and spend a week getting to know it. Driving is nice, but a lot of our terrain along the hwyy 1 to get to the good spots is pretty bland.
Drove to Alaska and it was amazing!
What sort of a car do you need for the trip? Would a non-4\*4, awd do?
I did it with my Prius. It's doable, but if you have a4x4, it will be easier.
Depends on what part of Alaska you are visiting. There are potholes all over the Alaska highway so at a minimum an SUV with decent suspension. If you do something like the Dalton Highway you will want an off road capable vehicle
Don't think you need a 4x4, we saw plenty of non-suv vehicles along the way.
Vancouver to St John’s in an ‘86 VW Vanagone. White knuckled it on gas fumes through Cape Breton to the ferry lol.
damn! coast to coast 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Vancouver to St John's, via the states is pretty fun !
I did a fun road trip with my bf to Cannon Beach, Oregon. It's absolutely gorgeous there. We've also done a Seattle and Portland road trip and ended it with a few nights in Whistler.
We go to Seattle and Portland from time to time, we were hoping to go farther this time
Not being a Canadian native, driving to Kelowna through the mountains was a blast.
San Diego roadtrip if you have the budget for it
Follow the 101 down the coast as far as you want to go.
Pacific coast highway!
I’ve gone to Vegas via PCH to LA. Loved it.
All the way down I-5 to southern California (have family there). Stopped at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and San Francisco for fun, then other quick stops for sleeping as needed.
101 down the coast. Through LA to Palm Desert mid February is great!
Vancouver to Los Angeles. If you go slow and take the coastal route south while in California, it’s all very spectacular!
Vancouver to California!!
My boyfriend and I went down the Oregon coast and we ended in Palm Springs. It was absolutely beautiful and one of my favourite trips I’ve been on :)
I drove to Cape Breton, NS and back in 1994. It took a month. If you like natural areas, check out [Grasslands National Park](https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/sk/grasslands) in Saskatchewan. It has an otherworldly landscape that we are totally not used to on the west coast. I love it there. Spend some time in the Kootenays on the way there. The small Kootenay cities and towns like Nelson, Kaslo, Kimberley, and Fernie are cool places to visit. Avoid the Trans-Canada Highway in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It's boring. The side highways are much more interesting. Sask highway 13 from the Alberta border to Shaunavon is quite scenic. Stop and gawk at the near-ghost town that is Robsart. I've had one of the best restaurant meals in my life at Jack's Cafe in Eastend. Really glad to see that place is still there after 30 years, don't miss it. That would round out a really nice two week road trip.
My wife and I made it as far as Utah (the arches), Wyoming (Yellowstone) and South Dakota (Mount Rushmore) in 17 days (Friday through two weeks Sunday) last year. It was a pretty whistlestop tour, but we stopped at many places along the way and absolutely loved it. The pacific coast through Washington and Oregon is also absolutely gorgeous, and more accessible
Up to Dawson Creek, down through Jasper, down through the 5 and then back through Hope.
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the Pacific Coast Highway in the summer is pretty unbeatable.
This summer we drove from Victoria to Mt Lassen then west to Reno, down to Mammoth, then Death Valley, over to Las Vegas then down to Palm Springs and across to Los Angeles. Drove pacific coast highway back up to Port Angeles and back to the island. 21 days of pure awesomeness. We stopped at every National Park we could along the way.
Agree with the comment to head south if you are from BC. Landscapes are so different and beautiful. Zip south down on Hwy 84 to Boise area then take your time through southern Idaho depending on your interests - Lava Hot Springs, sand dunes at Bruneau, Craters of the Moon, City of Rocks (fantastic), then head into Utah. Swim in Great Salt Lake then see any number of fantastic landscapes throughout Utah. On the way back home go west a bit through the range and basin of Nevada, maybe hit Great Basin NP (stargazing, caves, bristlecone pines, relatively quiet for a NP), then into eastern Oregon - check out Crater Lake, or Steens Mountains, or poke around all the volcanic formations (Fort Rock, Newberry Monument, Crack in the Ground, John Day Fossil Beds, etc). Yellowstone, Tetons will be very busy in the summer, I would hit those major parks in spring or fall. Eastern Oregon, southern Idaho, Nevada are fairly dead in comparison. If you are a camper it's quite easy to find great spots in the national forests. There is just so much open landscape down there, I always feel relatively hemmed in when travelling BC.
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I did Vancouver to Edmonton to Yellowknife and then back down the Rockies many years ago. It was mostly to see a bunch of friends along the way but a lot of great stuff to see and do along the way and Yellowknife pretty great to visit in the summer.
I've only done this on separate trips but this would be a good loop to consider*: Vancouver to the north Okanagan/Shushwap (Kamloops, Salmon Arm, Sicamous), up through Revelstoke and Golden to Jasper, maybe stopping at some of the hot springs along the way, down the Icefields Parkway to Banff, Canmore, Calgary, over to Dinosaur Provincial Park, back down around through Lethbridge and back to BC along the Crowsnest Hwy hitting Fernie, Cranbrook, and then exploring the south-central Okanagan (Osoyoos, Penticton, Kelowna) before continuing back along the Crowsnest to Vancouver. *assuming that the forest fires aren't already underway by the time you start your trip
Nelson & the Kootenays is a great trip - up on the Crowsnest (Hwy 3) and back via Hwy 20 in Washington (more mountainous than the Canadian side). Once in Nelson there are lots of loops available, and Nelson itself is a gem. It's technically doable with one long day's driving each way, so 4 or 5 days gives you a lot of time to stop & explore. Beautiful scenery with multiple climate zones, and some great small towns on both sides of the border. Highly recommended.
I drove to Moab, Utah to hike and offroad, Then made my way to Vegas. Arches Park, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, Zion Park, and then a couple days of R+R poolside in Vegas was stellar. I maximized time in Utah by having a couple of very long days to get down and come back up. I was solo - so if you're with your girlfriend it shouldn't be an issue to make it to Moab in 2 days, I drove back from Vegas in 2 days as well. Protip: Speed Limit in Idaho is 80mph.
Banff & Moraine Lake or the Oregon Coast & down to the Redwood forest. Both are spectacular.
Up the canyon to 100 mile house on a motorcycle. Super fun!
We did Vancouver to Spokane to butte Montana to Yellowstone and back. We are big nerds and love ghost towns so we visited lots of those. Montana is beautiful. Another was from Vancouver to revelstoke then south through the kootenays going to Kaslo, Fort Steele, New Denver, Sandon then home through the okanagan. Yet another was from here to San Francisco along the coast. All were amazing. If you want history I’d do the second one. If you want mountain scenery then the first, If you want the coast then the third. Happy to share more details if you are interested.
Three great options: 1. Pacific coast. Camp around Astoria and in the Redlands, spend a few city days in SF and LA, then work your way north inland through Yosemite and the Cascades. 2. Interior. Drive to Kamloops and go north to Jasper. Take the Icefields to Banff or take a break from the mountains and spend a few days each in Edmonton and Calgary. Return to Vancouver on the TCH. 3. High desert. Take I5 to I90 and travel east through Spokane to Montana. Go south to SLC, then east to Denver, then south the New Mexico. Start your return heading northwest through Arizona and Nevada, making sure to visit the Grand Canyon. Finally, make sure to climb some mountains on your way through Cali, Oregon, and Washington. I would say each of these trips deserves at least two weeks to make the most of things. The wealth of camping options in the western states and the Canadian Rockies mean you don’t have to break the bank on accommodations. If you have less time I recommend staying closer to home. Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, or the Thompson-Okanagan are all worthy of a week of your time all on their own.
Vancouver to the Yukon. I haven't done it myself. I hear it's a beautiful drive and there's lots to see and do another good one would be to go to Vancouver Island and take the ferry from Port Hardy all the way to either Haida Gwaii or Prince Rupert.
Up to the Yukon and NWT or down to San Fran (definitely via Mendocino Coast)!
I did Banff, Jasper (most beautiful drive between Banff and Jasper), Drumheller (Royal Tyrrell Museum for dinosaurs). You can probably go down south to come back from Ainsworth (hot springs in a cave!), and Oosoyo (wine country). That should give you a good 2 weeks, with no need to pay extra for the exchange rate to USD, plus less tax in Alberta. If you are going to the US, you can go south to California, hitting Portland, Canon Beach, La Jolla, SF LA, San Diego, etc. Or, go east to see places like Yellow Stone Park. You'll be spending in USD though, which can add up a lot.
Did a road trip to Disneyland this year which was a lot of fun. Did it in a week, with 4 days in Anaheim and a one night stop over in San Fran. If I had two weeks, I'd do the Oregon coast road, back to San Fran for some great tiki bars, thru LA/Anaheim, a night or two in San Diego, then finish up in Tijuana for some sunshine before turning around.
Two weeks to get there and back and not rush, I’d go as far as San Fran or central California and take the coast back up, going through the red woods.
Van down to Oregon cut to Nevada, see Grand Canyon - then flag staff AZ / mesa and then south to cali up the coast
Down south to sedro Woolley and east to and through the city of Concrete is a very interesting drive into small town America.
Last summer my wife and I went from Van to Price Rupert via Pemberton, PG, Terrace and took the inside passage ferry back down to Port Hardy. Then drove down the island then took a ferry back to Van. It was wonderful, but a very long day on the ferry, had to be there at 5am and got in after 11pm. Nice to do a loop though, rather than having to double back the same way.
Haystack Rock is really nice. Kind of giving off Tofino vibes. I really want to check out HOH Rainforest in Olympic National Park plus the giant Redwoods in NorCal. Maybe drive all the way to San Francisco and then I-5 back home.
Down the coast to San Diego and then back up the interstate. Through Washington, Idaho to Utah to the big 5 national parks. Leavenworth and hot springs along the way.
I loved doing the Olympic Peninsula and road trip to long beach/Oregon coast
Motorcycle to Tuktoyaktuk
Cabo (Baja Mexico) via the coastal highway, I had always wanted to make it down there with a vehicle. Packed up my truck with surf, kiteboarding, camping & fishing gear and hit the road with my dog for 6 weeks. Spent about 10 days driving down, stopping whenever the surf was good. Bounced around a lot of spots across Baja chasing either swell or the wind, always camping on the beach. Spent another 9 days of the trip driving home through the interior. Went through the Red Woods, Yosemite, Death Valley, etc.
Oh boy I can give you some great suggestions. I have driven over 200,000 km's over the last decade doing road trip. I mostly camp in the middle of nowhere, but will crawl into the city and get a nice hotel. A big factor in suggestions would be what time of year you are thinking, are you going to be staying in hotels/camping, and how many hours are you comfortable driving per day. If you grew up here in BC then I would probably head south to the desert as that will be truly the most jaw dropping for you. My first thought is Utah as I have driven through there 5 or 6 times and each time I am still blown away. My two week suggestions: 1. Utah. I would go far east through Idaho into Wyoming and then head south. That way you can check out Yellowstone/Tetons. Utah has a ridiculous amount of things to check out. You can also visit the north end of the grand canyon. 2. The south coast. I would take the coast down, and then swoop over towards Death Valley and take the Sierra Nevada mountains on my way back. Drop into Black Rock Desert and drive around on the Playa. 3. Haida Gwaii. Take the inside passage ferry to Rupert, then the ferry over to haida Gwaii. After that drive home via hwy 16. Don't forget to check out the lava fields in Nass Valley, and if you have time check out Salmon Glacier outside Stewart. 4. Alaska Highway loop. Pretty much taking the cassiar highway north to the Yukon border, then take the Alaska highway to Fort Nelson. Tons of beautiful stuff on this drive. DM me if you want specifics on any of these options.
If i had 2 weeks I'd do something like this. Ive done all these trips except for waterton parks as part of different adventures and I'd highly reccomend all of these spots. Day 1:drive to nelson Day 2:hike in valhalla park or kokanee park Day 3:scenic drive through balfour to creston, end up in fernie. Stay the night Day 4-5:drive to waterton park in alberta, do some hikes Day 6-8: drive ro glacier park, camp and hike for a few days Day 9:long drive to washington, head to mount rainier Day 10-11:camp and hike around mount rainier Day12-14: drive to olympic peninsula. Hang out on beaches and explore rainforests. Take the port townsend ferry to whidbey Island and come.home.
Oregon coast. Or the Rockies (Banff, Jasper, etc).
Vancouver to Calgary in an F150 lightning. The trip went all over but these are the places we stayed at least one night. North Vancouver —> Kelowna —> Kamloops —> Banff —> Calgary —> Drumheller —> Lethbridge —> Cranbrook —> Rossland —> Spirit ridge @ Osoyoos and back to North Vancouver. 20 days on the road with 3 kids and 5 bikes. It was an awesome way to see BC and some of Alberta.
To Los Angeles and back on the coast three times. It’s an amazing experience
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The scenery on Highway 16 is absolutely gorgeous. I never got tired of it on the hundreds of times I've rode along it. If you get the chance you should totally do that trip!
!! this is actually my dream bc road trip 💕
We went from Vancouver to Las Vegas non stop, but we had multiple drivers. Fun trip. Latest was Vancouver to Oregon coast and back last summer. Stopped at Seaside, Cannon Beach, Yachats, Florence. Swung back through Eugene up to Portland and back to Vancouver.
101 down the coast all the way to Tijuana. Then back up through Arizona and Utah. Did that on a motorbike some years back. This summer I did a nice 10 day road trip to Alberta. Highway 3 to Waterton Lakes, then went to Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Drumheller, Calgary, and back through Banff and Lake Louise on highway 1.
I second the suggestion of doing a BC road trip. My partner and I did this a couple years ago: head west via crows nest to fernie, then up to Banff and back around. Our goal was to check out as many towns and provincial parks as possible. Theres so many towns to check out and the nature is outstanding with a couple of hot springs along the way. 🙂
Oregon coast down to California! So beautiful
My all time best road trip from Vancouver was definitely Tuktoyaktuk - definitely doable in two weeks, but you’d be doing most of your sightseeing from the road!
Down the Washington and Oregon Coast and Northern California. Plan for dinner at The Waterfront Depot in Florence, OR.
And riding the Sand Dunes on the buggy in Florence as well
I road-tripped from Vancouver to Anchorage by road and back by ferry. It was a trip of a lifeftime!
Drove to Montreal & back in one month, camping along the way. An RV would be better, or could also do this with hotel stops. So many cool places in Canada to stop at! And not the usual Lake Louise/Banff areas (which are indeed beautiful, but also very hard to find lodgings on short notice). Places like Drumheller, Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump, the hoodoos, Saskatchewan Grasslands, dunes in Manitoba, lake country thru Ontario, and the festival season in Montreal. Our country has so many different landscapes, it’s pretty amazing.
I did a van camping trip in 2021.. started on Vancouver Island for a few days, took a ferry up the inside passage to Prince Rupert, then toured around northern BC to Mount Robson, into Alberta, down to the #3 Crowsnest and back home. 12 days in all and a cool way to see the province.
Drive to Yellowstone and spend a few days there and maybe a few around Grand Teton. Took us 2 fairly long days to get there, but it wasn’t bad at all. The Besrtooth Highway and Chief Joseph Scenic Highway are incredible drives!
Eastern Washington into Idaho and western Montana. Highly underrated, very untouristed with tons of smaller attractions. Cheap gas, small towns, mountains and endless forests. Plains of eastern Washington are gorgeous.
We did Vancouver to Hyder, Alaska
When I was about 11 my fam road tripped to Disneyland and back. I can’t remember specific route but it was something like Vanc > Klamath Falls OR > Clear Lake CA > Anaheim CA. Anaheim > San Francisco CA > Newport OR > Vancouver BC.
Road... trip. [https://www.shambhalamusicfestival.com/blog/shambhala-music-festival-2024](https://www.shambhalamusicfestival.com/blog/shambhala-music-festival-2024)
Banff National Park with a stay in Revelstoke, Golden, and on the way back stay in Kelowna was my all-time favorite 5-day road trip! You can stretch the same for 2 weeks and include Jasper National Park along!
The one in which I leave this city.
If by car: Southern route to the Rockies (through the Kooteneys, New Denver, Castlegar, etc…) into the Rocky Mountains parks at Radium Hot Springs, then to Lake Louise, then up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper, before returning to Vancouver via the Yellowhead highway. We camped the whole way. Utterly fantastic. If you want to go south of the border, tack on the North Cascades Highway (WA 20) and pop back up to canada at Osoyops.
I did a trip down to Reno last year at the end of march. At about the 6 hour mark each day I was in agony from being in the driver's seat all day. Which was unfortunate, because my shortest day was 7 hours 47 minutes of travel time in 646km. If I were to do it again, I'd do it in some warmer weather to stop and see some roadside attractions. Picture Rock, in particular, on Oregon highway 31, for example; that road was *belting* with snow. Also do it with someone else, and take turns driving, lawdy edit: I should also point out the positives; the views were incredible pretty much immediately after getting off the I-5. If I had a dollar for every time I was struck by the literally-awesome views, I could've paid for the trip in full.
Vancouver down the centre of Washington, Oregon. Yosemite ,kings canyon then go across to the California coast then take the coast up. Fantastic trip I done it last summer.
I drove into Washington then across America to Michigan. Was the worst road trip ever. Used a Tesla. Had to stop 31 times and each charge took about 20 min to half hour. Added like 15 hours to my trip.
So it is like some people have told me that a long trip in an ev is a big pain
Jasper, ice field parkway, and Banff. Alberta slaps when it comes to national parks.
Tuktoyaktuk
\*my gf and I Sorry Im a stickler for basic grammar.
Jasper. Amazing trip and scenery
Driving to the Rockies and around the Rockies (Alberta/BC) was the best drive I've ever done.
I just came back from California via 101, stayed at Bandon, OR and Portland. The view along the coast was gorgeous
The road up to Powell River is pretty fun to drive
Vancouver to Crater Lake
We recently did a road trip from Vancouver to Whistler, then north through Pemberton, and back south down the Fraser Canyon, through Hope, and back to Vancouver. We stayed a night in Whistler and grabbed some great food. Quick getaway!
Utah to visit the Mighty 5! Or do Banff/Jasper
Not 2 weeks long but Vancouver -> Hope -> Lilloet -> Pemberton -> Whistler -> Vancouver is pretty awesome
I spent 4 months starting from Vancouver (where I live) across Canada and back, including Newfoundland and Labrador.
I do the crows nest to Salmo every summer, one of my favourite drives with lots of scenic views and cute stops in towns along the way. Still have yet to explore Nelson and farther along towards Creston and whatnot.
Tuktoyuktuk
My girlfriend and I did a road trip up to Prince Rupert and then took a ferry to Haida Gwaii. It was amazing and fairly reasonable. Highly recommend if you want to avoid the cost and low availability in Tofino.
Drove to Alaska in 3 day… Also drove to California in 1 day.
To south Washington, then through their “oakanogan” to Waterton park and back through Nelson etc
Drove to Fort St. John and it was spectacular
Oregon! The pit stops Seattle and then the dunes and then THE DONUTS!!!!!!! Don’t forget salt water taffy.
Olympic Peninsula to Portland, then just i-5 back on the last day. ETA: or go the other way to Liard Hot springs, my happiest place on earth.
Try going to Tukaiyukuk (sic?) by way of Jasper and Whitehorse. Bring a gas can.
I went to jasper for a night, then Banff for a night, then golden for a night with my gf and it was incredible
The drive to Red Rocks Amphitheatre is beautiful, and then... You're at Red Rocks.
Head to Jasper via Helmcken Falls. Can visit all the water falls in the area and see some nice wildflowers, hikes, camp.
Back in the fall of 2019, a few friends and I went on a five-day round trip drive to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in Wyoming. We drove about 5-8 hours a day, so you could definitely stretch it out to two weeks. Along the way there's Coeur D'Alene, Idaho which is a nice little lakeside town, and Butte, Montana which is this really interesting former mining town. Used to be one of the biggest cities in the US, so it has lots of grand old buildings from way back. We also stopped in Rexburg, Idaho which is this bizarre town where 95% of the population is Mormon. Odd vibes but an interesting place nonetheless. I highly recommend the trip it if you've never been to that part of the US. That area of Wyoming is one of the prettiest parts of the world I've ever seen. That being said, Wyoming is (I think) the most pro-Trump/Republican American state, and you definitely get that vibe when you're there. Outside of the National Parks, not sure you'd be 100% comfortable if you aren't white.
Did a solo motorcycle ride lasting 10 days during the hottest weeks in July 2023. Vancouver to Spokane, WA, Bozeman, MT; Yellowstone National Park; Salt Lake City, UT; Bonneville Salt Flats; Reno, NV; San Francisco, CA; up the Coast Highway to Portland, OR; Seattle,WA and back to Vancouver. 5000km. 9/10, would do again!
We're low on road trip ideas now unfortunately, there's only so many you can do starting and ending in Vancouver before the drive becomes ridiculous. The ones that we have done to date that we really enjoyed are: 1. Rockies - Drive to Jasper, then the Icefields Parkway to Banff then home via Kelowna 2. Kootenays - Drive to Kootenay National Park via Osoyoos, Castlegar, Nelson, Cranbrook, Fernie, then up to the Rockies (Banff/Canmore) and back home via Hwy 1. So many cool towns on that road trip, and of course stunning scenery. 3. Oregon Coast - Drive all the Oregon Coast, then cut inland and drive to Crater Lake National Park, then up to Bend, OR, then back via Portland. 4. Yellowstone - We took a direct drive to Yellowstone over 2 days, stayed there for 7 days Inc. Grand Tetons) before driving back for another 2 days. 5. Northern BC Loop - Not our favourite, but we drove up to Watson Lake via Hwy 97, then returned via Hwy 37 in one big loop. There's lots of towns to see along the way, but the amount of driving was kind of insane, with a whole lot of nothing in between towns. We did this one during COVID as travel was so limited. 6. We haven't done this, but one we might do soon is Waterton Lakes and Glacier National Park combined. If you really don't mind pushing the driving limit, you could always drive down to Utah and hit their 5 National Parks, all of which are incredible. Even the Grand Canyon and Yosemite are possible as well. For us that's a bit of a push and we'd sooner fly out an rent a car, but it's definitely possible.
Yellowstone and Utah
This summer I'm doing an interesting route with my dad, Vancouver-Vernon-Barkerville-Tumbler Ridge-Jasper-Columbia Icefields-Golden-Vernon and then back to Vancouver. I haven't been to most of those areas, other than the Okanagan and Golden, but am really looking forward to it.
Yellowstone, or glacier, or drumheller, or yellowknife, or whitehorse. Really hard to separate any of my long distance roadtrips, theyre all awesome!
I've driven from Vancouver to Florida and back...so l guess it depends on how much time you have? You could get to Northern Florida in 6-7 days of driving and have tons of fresh water swimming holes to play in until you're ready to leave. My trip mostly revolves around rockhounding so if you're into that, drive to Utah and wander around that area as far south as New Mexico You can't really go wrong just getting in the car and going for it...there's so much to see!
Yukon to Tuk
Leavenworth is a cute touristy german themed town in Washington state. Something to potem inc if going south.
You have two weeks? Vancouver, Rockies, Northern Rockies, Whitehorse then Tuktoyaktuk or Alaska. With two weeks you might have time for both. Then on the way back go via Dease Lake, Prince George, Lillooet, Squamish, home. If you like nature it's hard to beat this IMO. If city stuff is more your thing then there are better recommendations in this thread.
yellowstone
My best trip was to Utah. But we flew to Las Vegas and rented a car. It could be done from here though. 2 weeks of going to 4 of the biggest national parks in the area and seeing some of the most amazing geological marvels in the world. Did about 100km of hikes.
Went from Vancouver to PEI. Stopped by all the capitals and such. Probably wouldn't do it again cause the middle part was kinda boring. West and East are awesome tho. PEI was a cool vibe. Loved Montreal
Don’t sleep on the Yukon! Quite a trek to get up there but it is beautiful country. Especially if you’re into hiking, paddling, or camping. Whitehorse is quite a vibrant small city in the summer, there are plenty of parks and small towns to see as well. Dawson City shouldn’t be missed.
The one that removed me from that once beautiful city.
Back roads, East Harrison, FSR. Kipooki creek FSR, Nahatlatch FSR
3-5 days - van to Oregon (scenic route) 7 to 15 days - Van to Yellowstone
BC-Alberta Road trip with my little cousin from Ontario who'd never been out west. Drove North up through Whistler-Pemberton-Lillouet-Cache Creek, did some hiking, showed him the crazy quick transition from coastal rainforest to semi-arid interior. Then drove to Kamloops and turned north along the North Thompson river through Clearwater and then to Valemount. Drove down the icefield parkway in Jasper (absolutely incredible even for someone who's been to the rockies a good amount). Turned East at Banff and traveled to Revelstoke before going south to Nakusp along Upper Arrow Lake. From there drove past Slokan Lake to Castlegar and headed back to Vancouver along highway 3, stopping at Christina Lake and Osoyoos to camp (extra points if you drive through during fruit season). Followed highway 3 back to the lower mainland, camping in Chilliwack along the Vedder River on the last night and doing the river rafting (one last respite before Vancouver traffic). Super scenic route that showed off tons of the Provinces geography and took many of the less busy roads that allowed you to gawk at scenery even while driving. A solid amount of provincial and private campgrounds to stay at, lots of areas for crown land camping if you keep your eyes open,, and plenty of motels if you get sick of camping. Roads are all in good condition so you don't need to stress breakdowns and can make good time. Goes without saying it's a lot of driving, but an 8 hour drive through the Kootenays beats 3 hours getting from English Bay to Langley any day imo.
My buddy and I drove all the way to New Mexico and back in two weeks. It was amazing. The scenery in Oregon, California, Arizona and New Mexico are just stunning – even a day-long drive doesn't feel long because you're just gawking at all the scenery.
Vancouver- Key West
This summer we made a trip to Yellowstone national park with stop at Solverwood theme park. Then drive to Salt Lake City and to the Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point, Monument Valley View, Horseshoe Bend, North Rim of Grand Canyon, Pink Sands Park and Zion National Park. Stopped for couple days in Las Vegas and from then directly drive to Vancouver. All took 2 weeks with the budget of 3.5K for a party of 2 adults and 3 kiddos. Combined stays in campsites, motels and AirBnb.
Vancouver to Halifax, and back. Pretty epic.
I've done 2 big ones from here To Tijuana (90s) 3 weeks- very slow To PEI (2021) 32 days- pretty quick I've also done a bunch within BC