Thanks. One reason I post these travel reports is to share what we learn on the trip and maybe that will help someone else plan theirs. I know I have gotten a lot of good information from other's post.

I debated with myself about posting the handicap placard information and decided to include it as it could be useful to others. My original intent was to include the comments below but got busy with other tasks. Thanks for motivating me to add it.

quote:
Posted by: highcotton2
Don’t know why but this struck me as funny as hell. Handicap placard allows you to park 100’ closer to a building. I’m sure their is a legit reason for her having this like recovering from a surgery but if your are hiking miles on vacation not really sure a handicap placard is appropriate

quote:
This is the geriatric report as we’re all 70 plus and didn’t do any long hikes. My wife even has a temporary handicap placard; she can walk about a mile, two if she rest a lot, and then that’s about it for the day for her.

The bold type is the first sentence of the paragraph you posted. We didn't do miles of hikes - two of us probably could have, not the other two. About the longest my wife walked in one day was 1.5 miles round trip. And that's about her limit for a day due to a medical issue.

But, it's not about getting 100' feet, or whatever the distance is, closer to a trailhead etc.; it's about utilizing a parking space that you need a placard to legally use. Because you are correct; not many people with handicap placards visit places such as these. Consequently, there are frequently vacant handicap parking spaces (sometimes many spots) whereas the regular parking lot is full or nearly so.

The only two places we could not find a handicap parking spot were Emerald Lake and Logan Pass. At Emerald Lake I let everyone else out of the car and circled the lot until a spot opened up; it was a regular spot. We finally found a regular spot at LP too.

There were two places that we did not use the handicap parking because we didn't see them. One was at the Icefield Discovery Center and I again let everyone else out because it was almost time for us to go to the glacier. I found a spot at the very far end of the main lot and then hurried back to the center to catch the bus. Then we saw the handicap parking spots which were near the DC on a hill away from the main parking lot.

We also found out that we could have driven to Moraine Lake because we had a handicap parking placard. Didn't know that until after we had taken the shuttle there.

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I don't think I posted this picture but this is Lake Louise about 8:00 pm. It was still fairly crowded at that time and the regular lot was full but we were the only car using a handicap space. And after 7:00 pm, (and before 7:00 am) there is no charge to park there.

If you happen to have a handicap placard it can save you steps but also save you time and frustration looking for a parking space in crowded places such as National Parks. And, you may be allowed to go places that you cannot go without one; e.g., Moraine Lake.

This post was edited on 8/13/23 at 8:21 am