Banff National Park

In the United States, we’re lucky to have an extensive National Park System which works hard to preserve our nation’s priceless natural resources. Luckily, Canada’s park service (known as Parks Canada) does an equally good job of protecting Canada’s most wow-worthy natural wonders. Banff National Park is no exception.

Perhaps one of the best known of Canada’s parks, Banff is Canada’s oldest national park. Covering a chunk of 2,500 sq miles to the west of Calgary, this park has a little bit of everything: mountains, lakes, glaciers, valleys, waterfalls, streams & rivers. Admission to the park is $19 per car for a 24 hour pass; a multi-day pass is your best bet if you’re going to be hanging out in the Banff/Lake Louise area, as most of the highways in that area are actually part of the park (something we didn’t realize before having to buy a second pass when we didn’t have ours).

Just driving down the Trans-Canadian Highway is a treat. Be prepared to take your time as you wind through the mountains, as you’ll want to stop approximately 58 gazillion times to take photos & explore. There are sightseeing stops along the way – pull off areas in particularly scenic spots, perfect for pulling over & taking photos, or even having an impromptu picnic. The water is crazy clear & blue – it looks exactly like Caribbean water. I’ve never seen turquoise water like this outside of the tropics!

Keep an eye out for wildlife, as it’s everywhere. While we didn’t have much luck seeing wildlife (we had to keep reminding ourselves that it’s not a zoo…), we heard reports of bears, moose & mountain goats from nearly everyone we chatted with.

We’ve been back from Banff for almost a month now & I’m still raving about it & dreaming about its sweeping vistas. I look forward to heading back to the Canadian Rockies one day to go on one more hike, to take a thousand more photos & to take just one more breath of mountain air.

Know if you go…
– Lodging options are a plenty in the park, from traditional park lodges to simple camping sights, to the posh hotels in the town of Banff.

– What’s not a plenty are gas stations, so make sure your tank is full before you head out for a drive.

– Keep an eye out on the weather – it’s pretty crazy. In the three days we explored the park we had heat, rain, drizzle, snow, cold & everything in between. Skies would go from gray & overcast to bright blue & sunny in a matter of minutes. Temperatures would swing 15 degrees in between each stop.

– Dress for comfort. We found that having a waterproof jacket was essential & dressing in layers was truly the way to go. Also, hiking clothes are the way to go: no one dresses up here, so leave the high heels at home! Jeans & hiking boots are acceptable in all but the finest restaurants.