Category: Blog

(Jasper National Park)

Jasper National Park is situated immediately to the north of Banff National Park in Alberta. The two are basically conjoined twins, one gigantic park with no natural boundary separating them, nor much of any other way to tell them apart. For us, it was simply a matter of passing through a ranger station and continuing on our way driving north along the Icefields Parkway.

If there is any appreciable difference between the two parks, it would have to be in the number of visitors. Banff N.P. lies farther south and has the heavily traveled Trans-Canada Highway 1 cutting right through the heart of it. This is Canada’s major east-west arterial. With the park’s southern boundary less than a hundred miles west of Calgary, getting to Banff N.P. is an easy day trip along Highway 1 for the million-plus people living in the metropolitan Calgary area. Accordingly, Banff N.P. receives something on the order of five million visitors annually

(Retired steam locomotive in downtown Jasper)

Jasper National Park, by contrast, is more geographically isolated from large urban population centers. It’s about a three hour drive west of Edmonton, the closest big city, and receives approximately two million visitors annually. Granted, this is still a lot of people, but it simply feels a lot less crowded than Banff. The park was established on September 14, 1907 as Jasper Forest Park, and was granted national park status in 1930. Jasper N. P. is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, spanning 4,200 sq mi.

(Maligne Lake)

Continue reading “Canadian Rockies Part 4 – Jasper National Park” →

(A typical view driving the Icefields Parkway)

If you love driving scenic mountain highways, have I got a trip for you. Highway 93 (commonly referred to as the Icefields Parkway for reasons abundantly obvious when you take the trip) which runs from Lake Louise in Banff National Park to the town of Jasper in Jasper National Park, will exhaust your supply of superlatives. This one has absolutely everything you could ask for: serrated peaks, hanging glaciers, cascading waterfalls, pristine lakes and rivers, forests without end, wildlife sightings, sweeping valley vistas, you name it, you got it.

(One of many alpine jewels along the Parkway)

At 230 kilometers in length (140 miles) the Icefields Parkway packs more spectacular views per mile than any comparable road this traveler has ever driven. It honestly is a challenge to keep your eyes and attention on your driving, not just occasionally but nearly all the time. Within the first half hour I’d lost count of how many times I stopped the car to gawk and take photos. Luckily, two factors made this relatively easy to do. One, we were there in May and traffic was light; two, there are plenty of pull-outs along the way designed specifically for this purpose, and I think we took advantage of every single one.

(The Bow River near Banff)

Continue reading “Canadian Rockies Part Three: The Icefields Parkway” →

(The town of Banff, left center, and surrounding terrain)

When you say Canadian Rockies, one of the first words which comes to mind is Banff. It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about Banff National Park or the town of Banff, either one is synonymous with the Canadian Rockies experience, and for good reason. Blessed by spectacular mountain scenery, abundant year-round sunshine, world-class skiing, and tons of pristine freshwater lakes and rivers for whatever water-based activity you desire, Banff and vicinity simply can’t be topped for an outdoor oriented holiday.

(Banff taxi service)

Our own Banff experience began on the second day of our trip. We arrived in the town of Banff mid-afternoon on a Sunday and encountered large numbers of folks roaming the streets. Well, it is a tourist mecca, after all, and crowds would be expected on a weekend, although it did seem more jammed than I anticipated for early May. So we meandered and gawked and jostled through the shops and got the feel of the place. The real fun began, though, when we finally decided it was time to find a hotel for the night.

(Bow River flowing through Banff)

Continue reading “The Canadian Rockies – Part Two Banff” →