The Incredible Banff National Park

With stunning trails, majestic canyons, and dramatic glaciers, Banff National Park—the oldest national park in Canada—is a natural wonder that promises breathtaking landscapes and unforgettable experiences. Adventures await in every corner!

We recently took the Rocky Mountaineer, a passenger-only train that travels from coastal British Columbia deep into the cloud-scraping Rocky Mountains of Alberta. And what a journey it was! The trip took several days to complete, and we also added a few extra days to explore the mountains in a rental car. There was so much to write about that it had to be broken up into two posts; this is part two of our Canadian Rocky Mountain journey.

Getting to the Rockies

Our trip started in Vancouver, Canada, where we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer—a luxury train that spent two days winding through incredible scenery before we disembarked in Banff, Alberta. That’s where this part of our story kicks off!

Our Itinerary for the Rocky Mountains

After disembarking in the charming alpine town of Banff, Alberta, we wasted no time tackling our adventure list. There is so much to explore in this area that you would need a lifetime to see it all—but with just a few nights here, we had prepared a list of must-see places. Banff would serve as our base as we explored the surrounding area.

Travel Tip: Our hotel was a 5-minute drive from downtown Banff, and there are shuttles and buses that take visitors there. The hotel had a great view, but if we go back, we would stay near downtown since all the activities are nearby.

Besides exploring the national park surrounding Banff, our list of places to visit included the Columbia Icefields, Mount Norquay, and Lake Louise. We also had a selection of hikes we wanted to tackle, as well as a canoe excursion. Ambitious? Perhaps, but we sure had a great time checking off our list!

Day One: The Quaint Village of Banff

Picture-perfect and postcard-ready, Banff is everything you would expect a Canadian Rocky Mountain town to be. Located within the national park, a moratorium on new construction has kept this mountain gem frozen in time. It was so much fun to explore the shops and restaurants. Of course, we didn’t have much time to spare—we had glaciers to see and hikes to conquer!

Renting a Car

Renting a car made the most sense for us to take in all the sights we wanted to see, and to do so at our own pace. The highways are broad, well-signed, and magnificent to travel on.

Just remember: Canada uses the metric system, so those signs are in kilometers! On our first day of car touring, we headed for the Columbia Glacier, one of the largest remaining ice glaciers in the Rockies.

Day Two: A True Alpine Experience

Almost any time you visit Banff, you can see snow—not just along the Icefields Parkway (our route to Columbia Glacier) but even on the peaks around town. Our springtime trip was no exception. The peaks around Banff were freshly dusted with snow, and overnight temperatures dipped surprisingly close to snowfall-friendly digits. These are proper mountains, and snow can fall in almost any month of the year.

The Canadian Rockies

We’ve heard from friends who have visited the Canadian Rockies how incredible they are. It’s really difficult to comprehend until you see them in person because photos and movies just can’t do them justice. Everywhere you look, for hundreds of miles, there are tall, massive peaks, one after another.

The Canadian Rockies are similar in height to the American Rockies, but they appear more impressive because they’re usually viewed from a lower elevation. Cities like Denver and Salt Lake City are at high elevations (5,280 feet and 4,265 feet, respectively), so the nearby mountains don’t look as tall. Even though capturing the sheer size of these mountains is impossible, I enjoyed trying. While they still look impressive in photos, the towering presence of the jagged peaks up close is indescribable.

A Story of Great Glaciers 

Several glaciers surround Banff National Park, but most of them form part of the colossal Columbia Icefield. The Columbia Icefield is a broad term for the sections of ice that straddle the area we were exploring—the continental divide separating Banff and Jasper National Parks. Our destination from Banff was the Athabasca Glacier, a massive slew of ice about a two-hour drive from Banff.

Driving the Icefield Parkway

Just half an hour outside Banff, a junction in the highway turns north onto a lonely section called the Icefield Parkway. This is the route to Jasper, another popular destination in the Rockies, but along the way lies the Columbia Icefield, our destination for the day. With the sun poking through the clouds, spotlighting the giant peaks around us, the drive up the Icefield Parkway was absolutely stunning. The raw, untamed wilderness stretches in every direction, with no towns or settlements for the entire two-hour drive up to the glacier.

Glacier Lakes and Alpine Hikes: The Athabasca Glacier

Scientists have studied this section of glacier possibly more than any other in Canada, and for good reason. It has been melting at a dramatic rate. In 1970, the Athabasca Glacier extended right past the highway in the photo below. However, the planet’s warming has changed all that, and now the glacier itself is a good distance from the Icefields Parkway. No problem, though, as we are booked with Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventures.

Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure

Nowadays, getting to the Athabasca Glacier means taking a bus. Private vehicles must be left in the parking area, and if you want to hike on the glacier, you need to take the ice bus. Wait, an ICE bus? Yes, that’s correct—but this is no ordinary bus!

These buses, mounted on giant tires, are custom-made for driving up to (and on) the glacier. After a slow, rumbling trip up to the ice, you can explore and hike on the enormous ice sheet.

The bus took us from the visitor center to the glacier, where we were able to walk on the ice for about 20 minutes. Our family had so much fun!

Athabasca Glacier: Quick Facts

Size: The ice sheet covers an area of about 6 square kilometers, or just under 3 square miles.

Depth: The glacier is around 300 meters (roughly 1,000 feet) deep at its thickest point.

Height: The top of the glacier reaches a staggering 8,900 feet (2700 meters) above sea level.

Columbia Icefield Skywalk:

We purchased the Columbia Icefield Skywalk experience along with the Icefield Adventures package. Visitors cannot drive to the Skywalk themselves; only visitor center buses are allowed in the parking lot. The Skywalk is suspended approximately 900 feet above the terrain below. Along the circuit, there are views of waterfalls, fossil exhibits, and lookout points for studying the glacier.

After a full day of exploring glaciers and scenic lakes, it was time to head back to Banff. Our dinner that night was an alpine-inspired fondue—perfect after all the fresh air and hiking. We chose a German restaurant, the Waldhaus, at the Fairmont Banff Springs. The meal was fantastic, one of the best we had on the trip.

Day Three: Johnston Canyon and Banff Canoe Club

Johnston Canyon:

This is a great hike to experience a little of everything the Rockies have to offer—towering peaks, mountain streams, suspension bridges, and caves. There’s plenty of thundering white water to admire along the way, with the trail winding in and out of the forest along the scenic path. We had the perfect weather for the hike, the ideal way to warm up before our canoe adventure.

Banff Canoe Club:

The aptly named Banff Canoe Club is situated on the river that flows right through Banff, and it came highly recommended to us by our hotel’s concierge. There are other places to canoe, such as the top-rated Moraine Lake/Lake Louise (with a 3-hour wait for a canoe), but canoeing on the Bow River means no crowds and equally scenic views. In fact, the scenery was so captivating that we often forgot to paddle, spending a good portion of our rental time just drifting and taking pictures!

The Bison for Dinner

Hiking, canoeing, and exploring left us famished, so our search for a dinner spot led us to The Bison Terrace restaurant in downtown Banff. They did not disappoint. Knowing we still had another full day of exploring ahead, we didn’t hold back on replenishing our calories! The food was delicious, though we found the service could have been better.

Day Four: Mount Norquay, Lake Louise, and Moraine Lake

It would be impossible to visit Banff National Park without encountering some wildlife. We had already seen eagles, deer, and several other local species, but on day four, we were treated to a special sight: mountain sheep!

Big Horn Mountain Sheep

Their curved, Princess Leia-style horns give these majestic animals a regal elegance, but don’t get too close! They are wild animals, after all, and those horns are more than just for show.

Summiting the Mountain

We spotted the sheep while driving up to Mount Norquay, where we had a morning of scrambling and climbing booked. Mount Norquay is a ski hill in winter, but they have devised ingenious ways to utilize it year-round. The excursion we chose gave us access to the craggy mountaintop scrambles via the hill’s ski lift.

Learning the Ropes

Accessing these world-class scrambling areas via the chair lift was a real treat, but we still had our work cut out for us! Before boarding the lift, we needed to be briefed on some important safety points. Since we would be using ropes for parts of our mountaintop scramble, a review of what to expect was required first.

Reward: Magnificent Views

After a tutorial on rope technique, it was time to tackle the peak! We were gifted another perfect day for this outing; the rain held off, and intermittent cloud cover provided excellent conditions for camera shots.

Choosing this route to the summit is not for the faint of heart; chairlift or not, some serious scrambling is required to reach the top.

We were rewarded with panoramic views that showcased the town of Banff and the grand park surrounding us, so the effort was well worth it!

Moraine Lake and Lake Louise

After breathing in the thin air and admiring the view from the top of the world, it was time for our next sightseeing adventure: Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. 

Lake Louise is home to a spectacular hotel: the Fairmont Château Lake Louise. As the crown jewel of the Fairmont chain, this castle-like hotel is famous for many reasons, with the views being arguably the most notable. The lake featured front and center is Lake Louise, and adjacent to it is Moraine Lake. Both are glacier-fed lakes that glisten with an emerald-green hue due to the high mineral content in the glacial runoff. Great walking and hiking trails abound in this area.

Notes On Lake Louise and Moraine Lake:

Lake Louise and the surrounding sights are all situated within a National Park—just like the town of Banff. However, unlike Banff, Lake Louise can be challenging to access by private vehicle. Certain areas, such as Moraine Lake, are entirely off-limits to private cars. The solution is to use the available shuttle bus services. It’s worth noting that the bus should be reserved in advance to avoid waiting, and it stops running at 7:30 PM. We would consider staying at Lake Louise for a night or two next time to access the sights in the area more easily.

Travel Tip: Bus tickets are booked weeks in advance, but Parks Canada releases a limited number of bus passes for the day each morning. Another tip from JOC readers is to visit Moraine Lake first. This proved to be a great suggestion, as it was less crowded, and we didn’t have to wait long for the shuttles.

Off to Calgary

The sprawling metropolis of Calgary is just a couple of hours from Banff, making it a great option for flying to or from. After our fabulous mountain adventure, we headed to Calgary to catch our flight home.

Wagashi Tea House

We had a great food stop along the way at Wagashi Tea House. This Japanese restaurant is located in Canmore, a town just outside Banff National Park and an ideal stopping point on the way to Calgary. We loved our meal here, and meeting the wonderful Japanese-Canadian owners became a highlight of our trip.

We made time for one more JOC family photo shoot, this time with the ‘Three Sisters’ in the background. The Three Sisters are a series of peaks on the outskirts of Canmore that mark the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain Range. Beyond the Three Sisters, the peaks gradually give way to the foothills of Calgary—and our flight home.

The End of an Epic Journey

Our Rocky Mountain experience began at the waters of the Pacific, with a train trip that wound through coastal mountains into the more rugged terrain of British Columbia’s interior, eventually climbing its way up to the majestic Rocky Mountains. Sitting at Calgary Airport, we could view the ridge line of the Rocky Mountain chain and reflect on all that we had seen and done. This was one of JOC’s most epic journeys yet, and it left us filled with unforgettable memories. Thanks for joining us as we revisited our trip!