Canada: Banff, Kootenay, and Glacier National Parks
Trip Dates: August 10th 2024 - August 17th 2024
My husband, Bryce, and I planned a Banff/Jasper vacation all year long. Unfortunately, two weeks before our departure, the town of Jasper caught fire and we had to replan first few days of our trip. We were really bummed to miss out on exploring Jasper National Park, but we also worried for the town and the people of Jasper. Jasper was on our mind constantly until the fires were under control. We were able to salvage those days, though. The late change of plans allowed us to explore less-visited areas in British Columbia.
Things to note:
The best time to go to the Banff area is late June to early September due to the weather and open roads. We went in August which is very crowded, but we managed to avoid crowds by going to the parks super early or after 3:00 when people are leaving. Late July and early August are known for wildflowers, but sadly also wildfires.
Canmore, Banff, and Golden are expensive. They attract a lot of tourists and are very popular. Be prepared to spend more on meals and hotels.
Buy bear spray! You can buy it cheaper out of the park and in less touristy areas. Carry it with you on each hike. We saw many warnings about bears in the area. We did not encounter any bears, but we felt we’d rather be safe than sorry and kept bear spray with this on all hikes. When we were done we gave it to a park ranger since we could not take it back on the plane. They said they always take bear spray for their training.
You might want to buy bug spray too. Mosquitos are bad there! We reapplied many times during hikes and still had many bites on us.
Lake Louis is very, very crowded! I write more about it in the Banff section below with what we learned.
Canmore:
Canmore is about 25 minutes from the town of Banff and about 45-60 minutes to Lake Louise depending on traffic. The drive is beautiful, and went by quickly. Canmore does get a lot of visitors, but this is where most “Banff Locals” live. Canmore is smaller and 10 times less crowded than Banff. Unpopular opinion, but I think the town of Banff is overrated. I LOVED Canmore. There were lots of shops and great food options. If you have to park in town, parking is relatively cheap. However, there are plenty of Airbnb’s and hotels that are walking distance. They are more pricey, so we stayed a little off of the main stretch.
Restaurants:
The Grizzly Paw Pub – Dinner/ Lunch. They had great burgers!
Beaver Tails- Dessert. In Banff there was a long line, but in Canmore we walked right in!
Fergus and Bix- Dinner/Lunch
Rocky Mountain Bagel Company- Breakfast/Lunch
Rocket Pie Pizza- Lunch/Dinner
Blondies- Breakfast/Coffee
Hikes:
There are a lot of Provincial Parks (state parks) that have great hikes. We opted to check out Bow Valley Provincial Park. You need a different pass for this park which you can buy online or get at the nature center.
Upper Grassi Lake- 2.1 miles (follow AllTrails for less steep trail)
Ha Ling Peak- 4.6 miles. This was hard! There were a lot of stairs and rock scrambling at the top. We had a great view of Canmore and felt very accomplished when the hike was done.
Banff:
Banff was very crowded and touristy, but is a cute town. If you go, I would park and walk everywhere which is doable because parking is hard to come by. Parking is more expensive here. I believe we paid $20-$30 for 4 hours. We did not spend much time in town.
Activities in Town:
Art in Nature Trail (free)
Cascades of Time Garden (free)
Hikes:
Stewart Canyon Trail - 3.6 miles. It starts at Lake Minnewanka which is very pretty.
Johnson Lake- 1.8 miles. An easy loop around the lake.
Lake Louis Lakeshore- 2.8 miles out and back, but you can go as little or as far as you want. Here is my BIG tip: Bryce and I wanted to do multiple hikes here like Lake Agnes and Beehive, but we didn’t get the free shuttle and didn’t want to pay for one since we paid for Lake Moraine. Our plan was to go early morning, which they recommended before 6:00am, or try to go in the evening just to see Lake Louise and do shorter hikes. Well, the evening worked! Go after 5:00pm and it’s likely that you can drive to the parking lot with no issues. It will say parking is full, but keep going unless they turn you around. We had no problem parking at this time. Parking is $37 CAD, but free after 7:00pm, so you might want to beat the 7:00 crowd. If you want to go earlier and do long hikes, I would pay for a shuttle. The free shuttle can only be booked 48 hours in advanced and books FAST. Lake Louise is mandatory though. It’s why people go to Banff. Unpopular opinion again, I preferred Moraine and Emerald Lake mainly because there are less crowds.
Lake Moraine Lake Shore- 2.3 miles out and back. There is a small waterfall at the back of the lake if you go all the way. Only shuttles can go to Lake Moraine, so I recommend paying for a shuttle since the free shuttles book in seconds and you can only book 2 days prior, like Lake Louis. We used Moraine Lake Shuttle company. It was $59 CAD a person, but you can choose how long you want to stay. We gave ourselves 5 hours and had time to do 2 hikes and grab coffee at the cafe. We also enjoyed the scenery and took a lot of pictures. I think you could do 3 hours if you wanted to fit more in during the day. However, I do recommend going early, there are less canoes in the water and you get to see the mirror effect.
Consolation Lake Trail- 3.9 miles out and back. This is the second hike we did at Moraine Lake.
Bow Valley- You just drive right up to the lake. It’s stunning!
Peyto Lake Viewpoint- .8 out and back. Short, paved, but very steep. We went around 3:30 and found parking easily. Honestly, we followed another trail, tried to take a short cut and found an amazing view of the lake. I wish I could tell you what trail it was or how long, but we have no clue ourselves.
Yoho National Park:
Restaurants:
Sliding Café- There is a tiny town called Field with two or three restaurants. This was a cute little sandwich shop.
Hikes:
Emerald Lake- 3.2 miles. Easy loop and beautiful! Get there early to avoid crowds and canoes. We went at 10:00am because we had a long drive (from Calgary) and it started to get crowded 10:30-11:00. It is the least crowded when compared to Lake Louise and Moraine so it may have been my favorite.
Wapta Falls- 3.0 miles. Pretty steep at times, but you don’t have to do the last part which is the steepest. It takes you to the bottom of the falls, but you can see it from a view point. The trail head is up a long gravel road.
Takakkaw Falls- 1 mile. Easy paved trail, but very crowded! This trail is only open 2 months a year (July and August) due to the sketchy road but I’m an anxious person and I only thought it had one scary turn. People made it sound a lot scarier than what it was is.
Glacier National Park BC
We stayed in Golden when visiting here. It’s a cute town between Yoho and Glacier National Park. Glacier did not have many short or easy hikes compared to others. There was a couple trails that we wanted to do that were closed due to active bears.
Restaurants:
Pint + Fork- Lunch/Dinner
Whitetooth Bistro- Lunch/Dinner
Hikes:
Hemlock Grove Boardwalk- 0.20 miles. If you are passing by stop and stretch your legs, but it’s not worth going out of your way.
Hermit Trail- 4 miles. Hiking poles are recommended. Very steep, but worth it because the view is beautiful and we saw so many wildflowers! The meadow at the top was a very nice place for lunch too.
Kootenay National Park:
This park goes all the way to Radium Hot Springs. People say you can see bighorn sheep here, but we did not. Locals told us it was too warm and they were up in the mountains
Resturants:
Big Horn Cafe- Breakfast/Coffee/Lunch
Hikes:
Numa Falls- 0.4 miles. It’s a small parking lot. We went around 3:00 and found parking easily.
Marble Canyon- 0.4 miles. Also has a small parking lot, but we went around 3:30 and were fine.
Paint Pots- 1.3 miles. This is not as pretty as the rest of the area, but has orange/red clay which is different from everywhere else.
Vermillion River Bridge- Cute picnic area that has a trail. I am not sure how long it is because we didn’t finish, but you can see damage from old fires and a lot of wildflowers from the regrowth.
Overall, I’d say my husband and I spent close to $3,500 total. Like I mentioned before, hotels and restaurants were pricey, but we also had to book last minute for a few places due to the Jasper fire. Even though it was a little more than we like to spend (we are cheap), we loved our Canada trip so much! We always want to try to go to new places, but this was one place we both said we would gladly come back to. Hopefully next time we can add Jasper to our list when it is fully restored!
Photos Taken By: Dani and Bryce
