Our Banff & Jasper Vacation 2024 started with a flight to Edmonton on July 7th. We were nervous about our WestJet flights given continued flight cancellations at the end of strike action just days before our flight. Fortunately, our flights went through on schedule. Our itinerary included 2 nights at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and 3 nights at the Castle Mountain Chalets.
In Edmonton we rented a one way vehicle to Calgary with Avis. One way car rentals between Edmonton and Calgary are a standard offering with most car rental companies, because of the popularity of one way trips through Banff & Jasper National Parks. This was a nice option, but it would have probably been better to start in Calgary and travel northbound with the sun behind us through the Icefields Parkway.
Avis was super easy to deal with and we loved our Toyota Camry. The Camry got phenomenal gas mileage. The unusual cruise control button and the automatic slowing of the car when traffic was ahead did take some getting used to though. The road trip from Edmonton to Jasper took about 4 hours. You pay the entry fee to the National Parks from your car using a credit card.
We loved the grounds at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, but the expensive log cabin we shared with our fellow travellers was not impressive. The Fairmont Jasper doesn’t have air conditioning in its main lodge or the cabins spread throughout their property. Unfortunately, the unseasonal 88 F (31 C) weather made the rooms unliveable during the day. Around midnight the temperatures dropped enough to turn off the fans and enjoy some sleep.
The restaurants at the Fairmont Jasper we all too warm for us to enjoy. So, we headed to the nearby town of Jasper, which was packed with tourists at 7 pm. You have to pay to park until 9 pm on all the town streets in Jasper. We snagged outside seating in the shade at the Birch Kitchen & Bar, which was wonderful. Their burger and fries were amazing. On the way back to the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge we saw several elk feeding near the river.
At 7 am the next morning, the Fairmont was a lovely place to be. Temperatures drop significantly in the Canadian Rockies at night and the air was cool and refreshing. The views around the lakefront of Beauvert Lake are stunning. Loons were calling back and forth between different spots on the lake. Ground squirrels, often called gophers in Alberta, were busy digging up the lawns of the hotel. Chipmunks were scurrying about. Flickers, kingfishers and magpies were busying about too.
The small coffee shop was open with no line up, which made us very happy when we saw more than 20 people waiting an hour later. When our travelling companions woke, we decided to have breakfast at the Fairmont. This was expensive, but pleasant and also avoided the crowds in the town of Jasper.
Afterward breakfast, we strolled along the shores of Beauvert Lake and came upon a family of 4 loons close to shore. The crystal clear waters meant that you could watch the loon parents dive for food and then return to deliver a morning snack to their two young ones. This peaceful experience was the highlight of the whole vacation for me.
After enjoying the grounds at the Fairmont for quite a while, we headed out along Maligne Lake Road for an hour to reach Maligne Lake and our Spirit Island Boat Tour. Along the way we got to see a herd of mountain sheep crossing the road and a black bear feeding at the roadside.
Contrary to all advice from the park service, lots of people got out of their cars to see the bear. Fortunately tourists aren’t in the habit of trying to feed black bears in Jasper, so the bear paid no attention whatsoever to the people and the crowd didn’t get too close. You can get great photos of black bears with a phone from the comfort of your car, so don’t get out!
Spirit Island, Maligne Lake, Jasper
The hot weather we were having came with the benefit of clear, cloudless skies. The 1.5 hour boat tour to Spirit Island was an amazing experience, which is saying something as two of us had been before on a similar sunny day. Enjoying a classic experience like this as much the second time around speaks to how special the Spirit Island Boat Tour is.
Maligne Lake, Jasper
We were able to book our tour online the night before, but the price of the tours is about double for last minute bookings. Even so, it was worth it. The prices are much less expensive if you book in advance and the Spirit Island Boat Tour is often sold out for same day tours in the summer.
On our second full day in Jasper National Park, the breakfast spots in Jasper were so busy that we ended up eating at Smitty’s. Then we headed southbound on the Icefields Parkway. Our first stop was about 20 minutes south of Jasper, where we visited Athabasca Falls. The falls are along the highway with parking right beside the falls.
The Athabasca River looks pretty innocent just before it disappears into a narrow gorge. The spray of water produced a nice rainbow plus a refreshing mist to fend off the heat. A foot bridge crosses the gorge, providing great views down into the churning water. At the other side, you can head upstream to the river edge or down a path through the rocks to the bottom of the gorge. At the bottom, you then get a view back up the gorge and a view of the Athabasca River continuing onward as if the falls had never happened.
At about the halfway point along the Icefields Parkway, we arrived at the Columbia Icefield. The glacier here is actually the largest finger out of the gigantic Athabasca Glacier. The Columbia Icefield is receding at a significant rate. In the early 1960s it extended almost to the highway, but by 2024 it was about 70% smaller in size.
The Columbia Icefield is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Canadian Rockies. The interpretation center was jam packed with tourists. Many arrive in tour buses and then head out onto the glacier surface on specially designed Ice Explorer Buses. These expensive tours park their ice buses side by side on the ice, just like a mall parking lot. Tourists then walk on the ice in a very confined area beside the buses, thus ensuring there is no danger from ice crevasses.
Ice Explorers, Columbia Icefield
I’ve never understood the draw to pay to stand on a piece of ice, but I’m definitely in the minority with my opinion. I was happy to snap a pic of the glacial valley and get out of the people zoo.
After the icefield we tried to stop at Simpson’s Num-Ti-Jah Lodge on Bow Lake, but the turnout had a warning that there was no parking and we could see a big traffic jam. So we continued on. For the Banff portion of our Banff & Jasper Vacation we booked our accommodation at the Castle Mountain Chalets, halfway between Lake Louise and Banff.
We all loved the Castle Mountain Chalets. For me it was a trip back in time. The cabins look the same as they did in the 1960s. Plus the cabin was comfortable under the shade of the pine trees, unlike the Fairmont Jasper Lodge.
The small store here sold retro snacks like 100 Grand Bars, Babe Ruth, Butterfingers, Sugar Babies, candy cigarettes, tiny wax juice bottles and baseball bubble gum. The store also sold gas from an old fashioned pump that couldn’t accept credit cards. You paid inside first and then you had to lift the hose and also a pump handle to start filling.
For dinner the first night, we headed to Banff. Due to all the tourists, they’ve had to restrict town parking to residents only. You need to bus to get around or pay for off street parking. After a pleasant dinner at the Banff Social Restaurant and a trip to IGA for food supplies, we paid our $21 parking fee and headed back to Castle Mountain.
The IGA in Banff has been forced to use AI to combat the large number of people trying to park in their lot without shopping there. An employee issues tickets on a full time basis after technology scans all license plates upon entry. The software indicates how long the vehicle has been parked and whether or not they entered the store.
The Castle Mountain Chalets offer free firewood at a communal fire pit. Young children from multiple families banded together to play in a wonderful family atmosphere. The cabins also offer free ear plugs, which was surprising, but we soon found out why. The main line for freight trains passes right down the edge of the property. No ear plugs for me, though. I loved the rumble of the train and the blast of its whistle. Yet another reason to love this place.
Our trip to IGA the night before meant we could enjoy breakfast in our cabin. Scrambled eggs, Dempster’s Multigrain and black coffee were a perfect combination. In the morning it was wonderful to wander out from the cabins, through all the Columbia Ground Squirrels to the clearing with a view of Castle Mountain. I also liked to walk the short distance to the train tracks, but each time I did so there were no trains to be found.
After breakfast we headed off to Peyto Lake, which still had a few parking spots left when we arrived. About 7 years previously we visited Peyto Lake at the end of June and shared the viewing platform with 2 other people. In early July of 2024 the viewing area and trail were full of tourists. It wasn’t difficult to get to great view though.
The view at Peyto Lake is at its best in the late morning when the sun lights the lake and the peaks behind it. Peyto Lake didn’t disappoint despite all the people. The rest of the world has finally discovered this is one of the best spots in the Canadian Rockies.
From Peyto Lake we took a 45 minute drive to Emerald Lake, which is over a pass into Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Along the way we stopped at the Natural Bridge. Emerald Lake was almost as busy as the Columbia Icefield. Cars were parked on the road a long walk from the lake. The crowds were thick at the lake shore.
We wandered past the Emerald Lake Lodge on a short walk that soon reduced the number of tourists by about 90%, which was extremely pleasant. The lake wasn’t as emerald blue as I’d seen in the past. I think there are 3 factors that influence its color. Silt from runoff in the excessive heat turns the water grey. Clouds had rolled in to dampen the lighting and a slight ripple of breeze on the water faded the reflection. Emerald Lake was still beautiful, but I recommend trying June or September for a better experience.
The two restaurants at Emerald Lake are expensive and don’t have air conditioning. So, we headed to the small town of Field and enjoyed late lunch at the Truffle Pigs Bistro. Then we headed back over the pass to Banff National Park and our accommodation at Castle Mountain. Unfortunately, I missed the turn off and we ended up shopping again at the IGA in Banff again.
The popularity of Lake Louise and Moraine Lakes has caused the park to require shuttle services. That’s because the Lake Louise parking lot fills up very early each morning despite how large it is. If you arrive when it’s full you are turned away.
Moraine Lake parking lot was completely closed during our visit in July of 2024. When we visited in 2017 you could drive in around 8 am and park if any spots were left, but after that the road in was closed for the rest of the day. I asked about early access in 2024. I was told by staff that no early access was possible. They said the Moraine Lake parking lot was closed completely for the summer season after a fist fight occurred over a parking spot at 3 am.
The park service offers shuttle service through their website but it’s actually tricky to book. They open bookings at 8 am each day for spots 2 days later. I got into the web site at 8:02 but got confused for 2 minutes by the screens. By 8:05 the spots were all gone and I was out of luck.
If you can’t get on the park shuttle, you still have options. We booked the Lake Louise Ski Resort Gondola and Lake Shuttles Ticket Combo, which worked out well for us. Check out lakelouise.com for other options too.
With our pre-booked tickets from the Lake Louise Ski Resort, our second full day in Banff on our Banff & Jasper Vacation was all about Lake Louise. We arrived to catch our shuttle at 10:10 and found Lake Louise to be another tourist zoo. You needed to search a crease in the wall of tourists to see the lake without people blocking your view.
Although the Fairmont Lake Louise is extremely expensive, things have reached the point where the extra expense is probably worth it for the privacy of the lakefront at sunrise and sunset. You also enjoy the benefit of private parking.
After an hour at the lake, we’d had enough of all the people and we caught the shuttle back to the Lake Louise Ski Resort to try the gondola instead.
At the Lake Louise Ski Resort we discovered that the gondola (actually a chairlift) wasn’t crowded at all. The views of the Bow River Valley, the snow covered peaks and Lake Louise made this an incredible spot. The lack of crowds was also very calming. From the upper chairlift station it’s a short walk to the Whitehorn Bistro, which was a favorite restaurant on our Banff & Jasper vacation.
The menu at the Whitehorn Bistro is unique and amazingly under priced compared to the rest of Banff. They offered swordfish, garlic prawns, rabbit, bison burgers, duck and ostrich. Their large deck nicely catches both the breeze and the expansive mountain view. I really shouldn’t recommend it, as it would be nice to keep this place a secret. We enjoyed it way more than our time at the Lake Louise lakefront.
On our last morning at Castle Mountain, I took one last stroll to the train tracks and finally timed it perfectly to see one of the super long trains pass by. The blast of the horn and the vibration of the engine was like being in a tornado while remaining safe at the same time. What a blast!
Tokumm Creek, Marble Canyon, Kootenay National Park
After check out, we headed to Marble Canyon in Kootenay National Park in British Columbia just a 15 minute drive from Castle Mountain in Banff National Park, Alberta. Marble Canyon was a thoroughly enjoyable experience with its walkways along the deep canyon and the refreshing breezes generated from the icy river waters of Tokumm Creek. The trailhead starts beside the creek, but after a short hike up you find the river gorge far below you. Eventually as you criss-cross over the walking bridges, you end up at the same height as the river again, as it tumbles into the narrow canyon.
After Marble Canyon we made our way to Calgary where we returned out rental car and caught our WestJet flight.
Although we had a wonderful vacation, I think the crowds have become too overwhelming in Banff and Jasper during the months of July and August. June and September are good options to avoid the crowds. June will have more waterfalls and raging rivers. September will have better blue colors in the rivers and lakes, if it hasn’t been raining recently. Unfortunately forest fires have also become an issue affecting the air quality of the Canadian Rockies in early September even if there are no fires in the parks.
Regardless of when you visit, a Banff & Jasper Vacation is always beautiful though.
