British Columbia has hundreds of options for gorgeous backpacking trips. Most are free or require a permit, but for a few special trips, you need to make reservations in advance. If you’re planning ahead of time, these are the BC backpacking reservation dates you need to know for 2025 A quick note: Most 2025 reservation …
Canada
Banff National Park’s Egypt Lake area is gorgeous: a scattering of blue glacial lakes below rugged peaks. In between, you’ll find patches of meadows, majestic alpine larch trees, and well-maintained trails. It’s a moderate hike to the Egypt Lake campground, which makes a great base camp for exploring. It’s a tough backcountry camp to reserve, …
I’ve been to Gros Morne National Park twice, and I know I’ll be making another trip someday. When you think of Newfoundland, people picture St. John’s. But while I appreciate the charm of that city’s brightly painted buildings, the rugged and verdant landscapes of Gros Morne have my heart. I planned my first visit to …
With a population of about 30,000, Corner Brook is the largest city in Western Newfoundland and the second largest city in the province. It’s an important regional centre, but before I visited, I didn’t really think of it as a tourist destination. To the people of Corner Brook… I apologize. I was wrong. In a …
If you think of fall hiking, you are probably picturing strolling through a beautiful maple forest with red and gold leaves everywhere. That kind of scene is quintessentially autumn, but it’s kind of an East Coast cliche. We don’t have much of that near Vancouver. What we do have, however, is a pretty unique fall …
For years I sped through Yoho National Park on Highway 1, in a hurry to get to Banff. From the road, the mountains were pretty but they didn’t entice me to stop. Oh how wrong I was! Once I finally got off the highway and saw all the things to do in Yoho National Park, …
Fogo Island is a bit mysterious. It’s a small island off the coast of Newfoundland with a stunning windswept landscape and a tight-knit community. I dreamed of visiting for nearly two decades, and recently, I made it happen. There are so many cool things to do on Fogo Island! If you’ve never heard of Fogo, …
The Yoho Valley in Yoho National Park is a special place. In the Cree language, “Yoho” is an expression of wonder or awe. It pretty much means “wow!” And while it sounds cheesy, that’s what I kept saying when I spent three days backpacking the Yoho Valley Loop including the Iceline Trail. I had been …
Twillingate is known as the iceberg capital of the world and is a popular stop for road trips across Newfoundland. Located on a pair of rocky islands in the center of the province, this tiny town is full of history, culture, hiking trails, and yes, icebergs. I’ve been there twice, so I’ve got lots of …
While I haven’t been to every single town in Newfoundland, I have been quite a few, so I’m confident when I saw that Trinity is the prettiest town in the province. From theatre to historic sites to hiking, there are lots of things to do in Trinity. The town sits in a protected harbour at …