Leaving Banff right now.

Glacier Adventure was pretty cool to actually walk on a glacier. Supposedly we lucked out and got the first sunny day in two weeks.

Peyto lake is an absolutely must. The most blue lake of any place around, looks fake. Only about a 1/2 mile hike to get to the observation area.

Lake Louise hike- Fairview lookout trail. It's 1 mile to the best view of the lake/Fairmount hotel. Far less crowded than the walking path around the lake and the more popular Lake Angels Teahouse trail.

Johnston Canyon hike to the lower and upper falls is a nice change of pace from seeing all of the nice lakes.

The weather right now is amazing so you can't really go wrong if you like hiking to see the views. There was so many places where I wanted to just pull to the side of the road and go wandering. Time didn't allow for all of that unfortunately.

Big suggestion- go early for all of the hikes and viewpoints. The main trails tend to get very busy after 11am. Plenty of "off the beaten path" places to hit on the side of the road in the afternoon when the popular trails get busy.

This post was edited on 6/26/17 at 10:31 pm

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Posted by tigerbater

New Orleans, LA

Member since Apr 2011

662 posts

Posted on 6/27/17 at 9:58 am to TigerTatorTots

Did you make it over to Yoho National Park? Was thinking about heading over there--curious as to how much time to allocate. We're on a bit of a tight schedule. Staying in Jasper for 2 nights, Banff for 2 nights, Canmore for 1 night, and Calgary for the last night. So far our loose itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: Arrive to Jasper around 6PM (coming from a wedding in BC). Walk around Jasper and grab dinner.

Day 2: Drive from Jasper to Maligne Lake (cruise), Athabasca Falls and Jasper Skytram in the evening.

Day 3: Leave Jasper and head to Banff on the Icefields Parkway. Debating taking the Glacier Adventure. Pit stops at Bow Lake, Peyto Lake.

Day 4: Lake Louise/Moriane lake in the early morning; Bow Valley Parkway and Johnston Canyon after.

Day 5: Yoho National Park (Emerald Lake, Takakkaw Falls, etc.)

Day 6: Lake Minnewanka cruise in the morning and then leave for Calagry.

Obviously I probably have some time to spare on days 4 and 5. Any suggestions?

TIA