Lake Louise / Banff National Park

(Lake Louise, Alberta - AB, Canada)

Without question the most popular and historic of all the region's Canadian Rocky parks, the Banff National Park was established as far back as 1885. Lake Louise lies at the very heart of Banff National Park, while lying directly to the north-west and merging seamlessly, the larger Jasper National Park tends to be somewhat wilder in appearance, and remains less explored.

Banff National Park covers more than 6,600 square kilometres / 2,550 square miles, although despite its size, the main sights are relatively easy to locate when you have the 'Mountain Guide', which comes complete with maps and other useful information. The park of today was very much built around the Cave and Basin National Site, which is well known for its sulphur springs and beautiful scenery. Leading places of interest other than Lake Louise include Castle Mountain, Mount Assiniboine, Mount Louise, Mount Rundle, the Sawback Range, the Johnston Canyon, the Mistaya Canyon, various icefields and glaciers, dramatic waterfalls, and no less than 25 dramatic mountain peaks.

General Information

Famous for its superb camping sites, areas of wilderness, rock climbing and summer hiking trails, which stretch for around 1,500 km / 932 miles.

However, Banff National Park becomes nothing short of a winter wonderland when the snow begins falling in late November / December, and skiing becomes the order of the day, with world-class ski slopes and cross-country skiing opportunities awaiting visitors, at resorts such as the Lake Louise Mountain Resort, Mount Norquay and the Sunshine Village.

The entry fee for the Banff National Park remains valid until 16:00 on the next day, although for considerably more money, you can purchase an annual pass, which permits unlimited entry to 11 national parks around the Western Canada area for an entire year.

Of note, the Bow Valley Parkway connects Lake Louise and the Banff townsite and tends to be a the preferred route, rather than using the Trans-Canada Highway 1. The Icefields Parkway links Lake Louise and Jasper, while to the west, the Wapta and Waputik Icefields may also be of interest and are easy to reach, lying alongside the Banff-Yoho National Park boundary.