Wonders of the Canadian Rockies

What a wonderful place to experience the great outdoors! The Canadian Rockies stretch for over 800 miles from the Waterton National Park in the south right up to Boya Lake Provincial Park in the North. Many of the regions at the Northern end of the Rockies are inaccessible with the main towns and areas of population lying along Highway 43 to the East and Highway 97 which crosses over to the West.

If you are interested in exploring some of these more northern regions of the Rockies then Grande Prairie would be a good base to start from. The city has a population of just over 50,000 and is one of Canada's fasted growing cities but you probably wouldn't want to go there for a holiday during January when average daytime temperatures are around minus 15 degrees Celsius. During the summer months of July and August it is pleasantly warm with average highs of over 20 degrees.

Eighty miles further north and you reach Dawson Creek lying to the East of the Rockies and the start of the Alaska Highway. Here you will need to decide whether you stay on the eastern side of the mountains or head west and traverse through the Rockies on Highway 97 across to the huge Williston Lake. If you remain on the east and decide to tackle the Alaska Highway prepare yourself well. The journey to Fairbanks in Alaska is almost 1500 miles in total. Interesting stopping points along the way include Muncho Lake, a quintessential Canadian Lake which is a popular stopover location and offers plenty to do for holidaymakers including boating and canoeing trips on its wonderful waters.

It's a fantastic drive for a Recreational Vehicle during the summer months but watch out for Bears and Caribou as they frequently wander across the road. Oh and traffic jams are rare, in fact you'll often drive for miles without seeing another vehicle.

Fly Drivers travelling up Highway 97 on the west, also known as the Hart Highway, will have turned inland by this point and have started heading across the Rockies themselves along the Highway. Only accessible during the summer months the route provides the amazing mountain scenery travellers are expecting.

For more welcoming terrain, travellers can start their road trips further south, just across the Canada / US border at Osoyoos. The town sits at the bottom of Osoyoos Lake at the southern end of the Okanagan Valley, the hottest area in Canada during the summer and now an up and coming wine region. You'll be surprised to know that average daytime temperatures during July and August are in excess of 30 degrees Celsius. No wonder then that the area is a very popular holiday destination, with beaches and picnic spots all around the lake.

The town is also a popular starting point for sightseeing loops that take in the Shuswap Lakes, Radium Hot Springs and Fairmont Hot Springs whose pools are heated to almost 50 degrees. Over the past hundred years Fairmont Hot Springs has developed and grown into a year-round outdoor resort and now boasts winter skiing combined with golf vacations, canoeing on the Columbia River and of course the spring fed hot pools. For road travellers with an RV, the resort has the highest rated RV park in the Canadian Rockies. There can't be anywhere much better to park up and wonder at the glorious backdrop of the Rocky Mountains that sit all around you.

So you see Canada has a remarkable range of holiday choices and extremes of weather to go with them. Take a flight to Vancouver or Toronto in Canada this year and experience these wonders for yourself.