Camping and hiking are definitely two of the most popular outdoor activities in Canada. Many residents pack up their camper or car and take off for a couple of weeks each summer. These are some of the best areas in the country to enjoy the great outdoors.
1. Vancouver Island, British Columbia
You could actually explore this island by car in the space of a day. However, it’s not a wise idea since there’s so much to do and see here. You’ll find some excellent camping spots on the island. Some of the best are near Victoria on the southwest co
ast.
These include Pacific Rim National Park and Strathcona Provincial Park. There are plenty of campsites located on the island’s beaches and in the woods.
2. The Maritime Provinces
Canada’s eastern provinces are the smallest in the nation, making it quite easy to see as much as possible in a short period of time. Newfoundland and Labrador technically isn’t a part of the beautiful Maritimes, but Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick are.
These provinces are filled with tons of campgrounds and sites such as lighthouses and scenic ocean trails. You’ll also enjoy some of the finest oysters, mussels, clams, and lobsters in the world.
3. Gaspésie Gallivant, Quebec
This small parcel of land stretches along the St. Lawrence River’s north shore. It sits in the northern part of the Appalachian Range. It also stretches out to the Atlantic Ocean, making it an ideal location to get magnificent ocean and mountain views.
You’ll be able to enjoy outdoor adventures on sea and land and you can launch a boat to Les Îles de la Madeleine, which sits in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence.
4. The Icefields Parkway, Alberta
This famous route travels through the Jasper and Banff National Parks. The scenery is fantastic and the parks have some great campgrounds along the highway. These are ideals for setting up a home base if you want to go exploring in one area. If you’d like to keep moving, you’ll easily find a new campsite each night.
5. The Prairie Provinces
The Canadian Prairie provinces consist of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. All of them have some excellent campgrounds and hiking areas to choose from. You’ll be able to explore famous destinations such as the Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan, and Spruce Woods Provincial Park in Manitoba.
6. The Trans Canada Highway
If you’d like to travel across the nation, you should head out to the Trans-Canada Highway. As you travel across the country, you can get off wherever you feel like it to explore the diverse countryside. There are hundreds of national and provincial park campgrounds from the east to west coast and thousands more that are privately owned and operated.
7. The Great Lakes
For those who are landlocked in central Canada, be thankful the Great Lakes aren’t too far away. The lakes are as big as some of the world’s seas and you should find some of them are even ideal for surfing adventures.
Lake Superior Provincial Park has plenty of campsites to choose from with many of them lining the lake’s rocky shores. Some other popular sites include Sault Ste. Marie, Killarny Provincial Park, Tobermory, the Bruce Peninsula, and Manitoulin Island.
8. Dempster Highway
Dempster Highway is located in the great white north. It used to be an important dog sled trail. There are numerous places to camp along the highway and the scenery is second to none.
It stretches from Dawson City in the Yukon over to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, which sits in the Arctic Circle. It’s a very remote area and you’ll probably be sharing the land with local bears, so be prepared.
