McLeod Meadows Campground

On the Banff-Windermere highway in Kootenay National park one can find the McLeod Meadows campground. It wouldn't be too difficult to get a campsite here, even on a weekend. It's over a two hour drive from Calgary and not next to all the attractions in Banff or Windermere.

The highlight of the campground is the Kootenay river, you can see by the colours that it is glacial fed and wild. This is the only bridge across the river for dozens of miles and provides one with access to the hinterlands beyond.

The theatre has seen better days. Before TV and the internet one would go to such places to learn about the history and nature in the area. Now we can just read a blog or watch some video in the comfort of our tent. To be fair, I don't think there was internet service here, you would need Starlink.

The forested river banks and mountain views make the Kootenay valley special. In the Spring this area would be teeming with wildlife before they head up into the mountains during the summer.

The river is wild, you can see how it floods and takes trees down. We stayed here on a Saturday night towards the end of August so the water level would be low. The Spring melt would have made its way down to the Columbia river and into the Pacific Ocean in the months prior.

All these photos were taken from the bridge or an island between the bridges. Hanging out at the river or ones campsite is about all you can do here between hikes. There was a fire ban in British Columbia due to a large amount of wildfires during the Canadian Summer of 2023.

You can see our blue tent in the forest, we were lucky enough to get a spot next to the river. It drowns out the noise of other campers and offers privacy. The highway isn't very busy at night and there's a few hundred meters of trees between us and the road.

We have a 3 person Nemo Aurora tent, being just over three kilograms, it's meant for backpacking in the backcountry. This is car camping and we only ever go for one night at a time, so we don't need something large. While the tent was a little pricey, even spending one or two nights in it versus a motel in the area will make up for the costs. I've camped hundreds of times before and nothing is worse than cheap gear. The tent is easy to set up, it keeps the rain out and it's well ventilated.

One day I'll write about some of our other camping equipment. We just recently got back into camping and splurged on the tent, sleeping mat and sleeping bags but went cheap on everything else. If you ever want to get someone into camping that hasn't been before, don't scrimp on the sleeping gear. Everything else is just a matter of opinion.

This bridge was from where we began our Hike to Dog Lake. It was our third hike of the day so we slept well. One advantage about camping during August is that the bugs aren't so bad. In June or July they can be horrendous up in Canada.

It was a pleasant Saturday for camping and I can't wait to get out again. Most of the best places in Alberta and BC have already been booked for camping in National Parks- but in Alberta Parks you can only reserve up to three months in advanced so the Summer is still fair game. Thanks for reading.

All photos were taken with an s22 or iphone 13 pro and are unfiltered

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