Where to camp in Banff National Park

There is NO boon-docking allowed in Banff National Park so the only way to visit with a camper is to book a camping spot or score a first come first served campsite.

All campgrounds inside of Banff National Park are run through Parks Canada. There is no private campgrounds inside the national park. I will give some options for outside of the National Park in this guide, after we go over the options inside the park. I think its best to stay inside the park if you can.

Reservations opened for the season on Friday, January 24, 2025 at 8:00 am MT. You had to be on the website half an hour early (so 7:30am MT), in order to be placed in the queue. When the queue opened, you were randomly assigned a spot "in line". When its your turn, you can pick your spot. Its extremely important to be on the site during the mentioned times. I was on at 7:30am and was placed 40,000 in line. Thankfully, because we are traveling through Banff this year in the off season, I was still able to get the site I wanted but be prepared to have back up dates.

I will update this guide with the 2026 dates as soon as they are released. If you want to check for any cancellations or try to score a site, this is the website for booking.

There is only one full hook-up campground in the park, the name is "Tunnel Mtn. Trailer Court". The price of this campground is $42.50 per night.

There are only 2 campgrounds (besides the trailer court mentioned above) with electrical hook up. The rest of the campgrounds in the park are unserviced. The name of the 2 with electrical are "Tunnel Mtn. Village II", $36 per night. Both this campground and the trailer court have a free shuttle bus into the town of Banff. These 2 campgrounds are close enough that you could walk or bike into town.

The other electric-only campground is "Lake Louise hard-sided". $36 per night. This campground is located 6 minutes from Lake Louise so its 45 minutes to get to the town of Banff from this campground.

There are two campgrounds that offer rental tents if you want to camp but don't have your own tent or trailer. Here is a list of all the other unserviced campgrounds within the park & the ones with the rental tents.

In short -

Full hook up - Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court

Electric only - Tunnel Mountain Village II OR Lake Louise Hard Sided

First Come, First Served Options

Mosquito Creek

Waterfowl Lakes

Options outside of the national park:

If you were unsuccessful at getting a camping spot inside the national park, I have a few options for places outside of the park.

Bow Valley Provincial Park - Bow River Campground. Electric & Water only, $47 per night. Reservations open on a rolling 90-day window.

Wapiti Campground is first come, first served, electrical sites for $42 per night. Located 20 minutes from Banff.

Mount Kidd RV Park in Kananaskis, full hook up sites for $60 per night. This park is an hour from Banff but is located in an area that is great for experienced hikers wanting less popular hikes.

Golden Municipal Campground & RV Park - Electric & water sites in a very cute mountain town. The cost is $56 per night. This is an hour and a half from Banff but is only 20 minutes from Yoho National Park.

READ HERE- View the full breakdown of operational dates & every campground in Banff National park here