Go RV camping in Canada at these scenic locations.
10 RV Camping Destinations In Canada
Are you thinking about heading north for a more-than-ordinary RV camping experience? There are plenty of well-known RV camping destinations in BC, Alberta, and Manitoba.
Campgrounds in gorgeous settings like Jasper and Lake Louise in BC book up fast and are usually packed with people from across Canada and all over the globe. If you are into more relaxed and quiet camping in Western Canada, we’ve got a list of 10 places you’ll want to put on your RV bucket list. You can find more great places to go camping in Canada while planning your trip with RV LIFE Pro.
Why these RV camping destinations are our top picks
After spending plenty of time sequestered away in our quiet little worlds during the pandemic, the phrase “too peopley” is being applied to a lot of situations and places where it wasn’t used before. We’re using it in places where crowds of people didn’t used to bother us.
If you’re out there to relax and escape from the hubbub of Canada’s tourist traps. we’ve got you covered. We picked these amazing RV destinations for their quiet, laid-back settings in absolutely epic locations. You’ll be just as stunned by the natural beauty of these places as you would be by Western Canada’s more popular tourist destinations.
RV camping in Manitoba
Manitoba is an amazing province with lots to see and do. What other place in the world has miles of sunflower fields flowing across its southern prairies and Northern Lights that dance in the sky above the treetops and lakes?
The only drawback is the mosquitos throughout the province are legendary for both their numbers and ferocity. Be prepared with a mosquito trap or Thermocell unit and personal mosquito repellent.
Whiteshell Provincial Park
The Whiteshell sits on the northern section of the Canadian shield, the exposed portion of the continental crust underlying the majority of North America. The stunning geography of this area is dotted with lakes, remnants of glacial melting thousands of years ago. Indigenous people left their mark on the area 3,000 years ago with petroglyphs in an area called Bannock Point.
This area has numerous campground facilities. Some top-rated campgrounds include Falcon Lake and Nutimik Lake Campground.
Borden Bridge Regional Campground in Saskatchewan
RV camping in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is underrated. If you’ve only driven through Saskatchewan on either of the two major highways, you’ll think that it is very flat and mindlessly boring.
Get a little off the beaten path and you will find living skies, cactus-studded deserts, picturesque badlands, lush valleys, diverse wildlife, historical landmarks, museums, and amazing campgrounds. Saskatchewan has many amazing places for RVers to explore. Every Saskatchewan town seems to have a fully serviced, low-cost regional park with a nice campground that shows off the best assets of its region.
Grasslands National Park
Grasslands National Park is located in southwestern Saskatchewan. The park borders on the relatively mountainous Big Muddy Badlands on its east side.
The whole area abounds with native wildlife, and be prepared to be stunned by the blanket of stars covering the tranquil night sky. Hiking and biking trails and parkways throughout the area allow you to explore to your heart’s content. RV camping is available in two RV campgrounds in the park.
Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park
Located near Stewart Valley, Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park provides unique landscapes in a unique setting where you’ll find a large lake and cacti growing on the hillsides. The park is a monument to a historic time when the first western settlers traversed the prairies in search of homesteads. It’s a truly interesting area with a huge, well-treed campground.
Craik & District Regional Park
Craik & District Regional Park is nestled among gently rolling hills. This sweet little gem of a park has miles of trails and interesting things to see, including a refurbished homestead dug out of the side of a hill. Bird species, deer, and a lot of other wildlife abound in this area. At night, coyotes yip and howl under a clear, starry sky.
RV camping in Alberta
Alberta has a wealth of camping in its national and provincial parks as well as in public lands camping. RV camping in Alberta is amazing, whether you camp in Kananaskis Country in the heart of the Rocky Mountains or head to Dinosaur Provincial Park, where archeologists are still finding some of the biggest dinosaur bones on the planet.
Icefields Parkway
The Icefields Parkway stretches between Lake Louise and Jasper through Banff National Park and Jasper National Park. This must-see drive provides incredible vistas of the Rocky Mountain glaciers along the way. While there are campsites available along the way, they book up very early in the season, so if you want one, be sure to book ahead.
Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site
Looking for something fun to do with the kids? Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site is a heritage where you can camp in a tipi and learn traditional Canadian skills such as making a campfire with just a flint and steel, learning how to make mocassins, or trying your hand at making a traditional bread called bannock.
Rocky Mountain House once served as an important fur-trade outpost for European settlers and indigenous people. Visiting the site is a fun adventure back in time, especially for children.
Dinosaur Provincial Park
Located right in the badlands of the Red Deer Valley, Dinosaur Provincial Park is home to some of the richest deposits of dinosaur bones in the world. The park is a UNESCO heritage site and boasts a small museum and information center where you can learn about the site. The spectacular badlands geography has trails around digs where archaeologists are still finding dinosaur fossils.
RV camping in British Columbia
British Columbia lies up and down Canada’s west coast and stretches all the way to the Rockies. We strongly recommend driving around this province to see the diverse geography throughout BC’s various regions. From mountains to deserts to lush coastal rainforests, BC has it all.
Miracle Beach Provincial Park
Situated on the northern region of Vancouver Island, Miracle Beach Park lies facing the shores of the Strait of Georgia on the Pacific Ocean. The park’s campsites are well treed in a lush old-growth forest. A short walk from camp takes you to miles of hiking trails and a sandy beach. The park is home to a variety of wildlife species including sea lions, eagles, otters, and mule deer. Be sure to book well ahead as this campground tends to book up fast.
Cape Scott Provincial Park
Cape Scott Provincial Park lies at the northwest tip of Vancouver Island. It is a must-see place because the sheer wilderness of the park and its wildlife and sandy beaches are truly astounding.
We have one caveat about this place: there is a large population of wolves in the area. These particular wolves view all dogs as delicious furry snacks. It’s best not to travel to this park with your four-legged traveling companion.
Saskquatch Provincial Park
This provincial park is north of Harrison Hot Springs and has a series of pocket lakes where you can relax and take in the gorgeous scenery, go fishing, or take a hike on miles of trails. There are 3 reservable campgrounds within the park. Like most BC provincial campgrounds, you will need to book months in advance of your planned stay.
Get ready to go RV camping in Canada
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Lynne lives, travels, and works full-time in a Forest-River R-Pod 180 with her 2-pointers, Jolene and Annabelle. Lynne has been an enthusiastic RVer for over 35 years. And then one day in 2019, she began full-time RVing as a lifestyle experiment. She quickly fell in love with the convenience, freedom and minimalist lifestyle offered by full-time RV living. Lynne is a professional writer and has been a professional dog trainer since 1995. You can read about her travel adventures on her R-Pod Adventure blog, R-podyssey at: http://www.rpodaventure.com
How is it going across the border to Canada now? Any wait times and costs for Covid-19?
Is Canada now open for non-vaccinated Americans? When we traveled from Washington State to Alaska in summer of 2020, we were not allowed to stop anywhere for recreation, but had to go straight through, stopping only for fuel and overnight rest. Have Canadian rules been relaxed?
These look nice, but without a vax card you can’t cross the border.
Glad I did my travelling up there when I did.
You should invite your readers to visit southern Ontario, Quebec and the martimes provinces. There is so much to see, events, cycling, etc.
These are great suggestions.
They should be called Ten Places in Western Canada since that is where they all are.
Northern Vancouver Island is on my bucket list as my father was a senior RCAF Officer who was posted to Station Holberg from 1959 to 1961. I was nine years old when we left. There is still a military radar on Mt. Brandes but no humans are required. The Domestic Site was bulldozed in 1990 after the unattended radar was operating.
I am really looking forward to exploring the entire island but the Northern tip has a siren call.
I might visit every place we lived as I drive west from St. John’s. Portage MB, Clinton ON, Holberg BC, Ottawa, North Bay ON and Kingston ON are all close to my route. Ramstein Air Base Germany will have to wait until I can afford to chase the Tour de France.
Awesome!
When rving in Ontario if you are using liquid filled propane tanks that are attached to the frame make sure you have enough fuel to last until you are back in Manatoba as the cost for permits and fines for any infraction are forcing most distributors to to quit selling it also don’t rely on website for finding iti took a propane powered van from Calgary Alberta to Niagara falls Ontario because of range between filling I went online and maped out my routes then to double check I phoned them and confirmed that yes they sold liquid propane so I headed out my first stop in Medicine hat was OK filled up and on to Saskatchewan first stop I found they lied all they had was exchange a tank but someone suggested that UfS and Co was op sold it so I hooked up my cheater tank and headed to Maple Creek and filled up at the Ufa so I filled up at co op and UFS had the same problem in Manatoba but found other places to fill up I found that all the places I phoned their had lied as well hoping to sell me expensive exchange a tanks at 30 dollars or more for a 20 pd tank but I watch as I went for signs first place I stopped at informed me that I might not get a full tank as the inspector had found that the rules were changed between when they had installed the tank and his inspection and hit them with a hefty fine as well as the cost of the the changes so when he was out the tank was being removed I did get a full tank I found another place at white lake then at Timmons I found a gas station that sold it but since getting attendant certified was costly they could only sell it when they were on duty found places to fill up the rest of the way phone books and lots of calls we made it to the wedding and toured the area since my sister had to be back at work we left on the labor day weekend should have waited until Monday as when we stopped at Timmons it was closed for the long weekend so we headed for white fish lake with enough fuel to get us about 20 to 40 miles short thank to AMA we got a lift to the station unfortunately we go a pig headed know it all driver it took 3hr before he got to us then he kept insisting that he knew where to find liquid propane didn’t matter that I had already found they didn’t he knew they did so we stopped at them all and he found we were right they only had exchange a tank or bottle refill by the time we got to white fish lake it was 530 half an hour after closing he asked where we wanted to be dropped at I told him to drop it off at the pump since I wasn’t sure if they’d fill my cheater tank some because it was liquid filled it didn’t need to be retested at regular intervals some treated it like a BBQ tank and it was way out of date so they wouldn’t fill it so as he was dropping the vehicle off someone came out of the cottage close by I thought he was going to tell me I couldn’t park there I’d have to rent an rv site or rent a cabin for the night. But after I told him that I was out of fuel he said let me get the keys for the station he then filled us up and we were on our way to the first place we had stopped at in Ontario and hoped that they still had some fuel or we’d go as far as we could and call AMA again to take us to our next stop in Manatoba but he was open and we got almost half a tank with our cheater tank we were able to get to the next stop once in Manatoba we were OK as we stopped at the same places we’d filled at on the way down same in Saskatchewan I said after I got home I’d. never go back to Ontario with a vehicle that only runs on propane it had to be dual fuel so when I run out I could switch back to gasoline and when we take our new camper it’s diesel but so we can cook and have hot water I’ll take my cheater hose and a 30 pd BBQ tank so I can refill it along the way I’d like to to take my forklift bottle but unless I can get it resertified I don’t know if I can get it filled past the Manitoba border don’t know how Quebec is or how the maritime are so I won’t take a chance and it’s too much trouble to take both I might see if I can put a larger tank on the camper
The more important catch about Cape Scott is that there is no access by road so forget about taking your RV there.