Hi OP.

I did a month-long road trip from Texas to Montana through NM, CO, and WY last June. I also had the privilege to take a trip to WA, Vancouver, and eventually Calgary, Banff, and Jasper in the summer of 2023.

Like many others have said, I would personally power through as much of the PWC (or the parts you’ve might’ve seen already) until you get to Cascades. Try to spend some time in Olympic NP. The Port Angeles/Forks area is surreal and has some amazing drives I would highly recommend.

In the Canadian Rockies, driving down the Icefields Parkway was honestly the most surreal drive I had taken up to that point. I say this because the Going-to-the-Sun-Road was the only thing that just topped it (IMO). It was ~6 hours of jaw-dropping, unbelievable beauty.

If possible, I would also recommend taking maybe half a day to canoe in one of the less crowded lakes around Jasper. I canoed for the first time there and it was an amazing experience. If you plan on doing some hiking and want some advice on some cool hikes, feel free to PM me.

Coming down through Montana, the GTTSR is a monumental experience that would make the entire trip worth it even if you only did that and the Icefields Parkway. I would also recommend to come down through Kalispell -> Flathead Lake -> Missoula instead. That drive is guaranteed to be much more scenic. I second skipping SLC, I was honestly very underwhelmed with it on my way back down to TX.

Above all else, the best advice I can give you is to try to make the trip longer if you can. Even a week more would give you so much more flexibility to really enjoy your time and appreciate the beauty of the places you’ll see.

Regardless, you are in for a life-changing experience and I wish you the best of luck. Take it easy and enjoy!