Throughout my world travels, I've been lucky enough to see some pretty damn epic landscapes.
The Southern Alps in New Zealand. Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. The island of Santorini in Greece. The Grand Canyon. Pretty much ALL of Iceland. The Isle of Skye in Scotland. Yosemite National Park.
And now I have one more place to add to my list: the Canadian Rockies.
Mountains in general lend a landscape a touch epic-ness, if you ask me. Snow-capped peaks and craggy cliffs. Crystal-clear lakes and spiny pine trees. And the Canadian Rockies are not lacking in any of those things.
I was lucky enough to be able to spend a whole day driving through some of Canada's most stunning national parks as part of the Great Coast Road Trip — from Calgary (Alberta) to Revelstoke (British Columbia), we drove through not one, not two, but THREE national parks in the Rockies, and skirted around the edge of a fourth.
That's a LOT of mountains and epic vistas in one day, people.
According to Google Maps, this drive along the Trans-Canada Highway should only take about 5 hours, but it took us much longer than that since we stopped frequently.
Here were some of the highlights:
Banff National Park
Banff is one of Canada'a most famous national parks, and one that I've been itching to visit for years. Approaching the park from Calgary had both Stephanie and I giddy — our driving definitely suffered as we craned our necks to see as many sun-drenched mountains as possible on a beautiful late spring morning.
Banff Village
Our first stop in Banff was in its striking resort village. In late May, the town was pretty quiet. But it was still oozing spectacular views and lots of mountain charm. We stopped into an old-fashioned candy shop, and then headed further into the park.
Lake Louise
The plan had been to drive out to Moraine Lake and then have lunch near Lake Louise, but the road to Moraine Lake was unfortunately still closed (it doesn't open back up from the winter avalanches until early June, I'm told). So we headed straight for Lake Louise instead — and found it still mostly covered in ice! We were not expecting this at all, but it was still stupidly pretty.
Yoho National Park
Okay let me be honest here: I hadn't even heard of Yoho National Park before this trip. I knew Banff, and that was pretty much it. But what a beautiful surprise Yoho turned out to be! It's connected to Banff, and if you keep following the Trans-Canada Highway from Lake Louise (instead of taking the Icefields Parkway up towards Jasper), you'll drive through it, too.
Natural Bridge
We turned off from Highway 1 just past the town of Field for a little detour into the mountains to hopefully see another glacial lake. On the way, we came upon Natural Bridge, which is exactly what it sounds like — a natural rock formation that spans the Kicking Horse River like a bridge. This ended up being a fantastic stop!
Emerald Lake
After Natural Bridge, we continued on to Emerald Lake, the largest lake within Yoho. This lake, too, was still partially ice-covered, but we were nevertheless able to make out the color of the water — you can see how it got its name! I would love to come back here in the summer and rent a canoe.
Glacier National Park
As we continued on towards Revelstoke, the skies became cloudier and we happened upon a lot of mountain roads that were still closed from the harsh winter Canada is still recovering from. We did make one stop, though.
Trail of the Cedars
This short hiking trail takes you through a grove of trees on a raised boardwalk. It was wonderfully quiet and green — and Steph even spotted a bear that we startled (lucky for us, she only spotted its backside).
I can only imagine how much time you could spend in these parks in the summer, when everything is open!
Now that I've finally been to these places, I'm already ready to go back. Just maybe with less ice next time…
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Have you been to any of these parks? Which of these sites would YOU most like to see?
Jasper is definitely my favorite!!!
I have every intention of continuing the family tradition, and take my daughter to Banff when she is old enough to appreciate it.
The backwoods hikes are amazing in June and July. Everything blooms at once, because summer is short. Critters colonize every nook and cranny.
The Canadian Rockies cradle and nurture the landscape. The mountain faces transitions fairly quickly from thick tall stands of conifers, to blooming meadows and stunted trees in the alpine regions. Small glacial lakes are cupped in the bowls that form between mountain peaks. Waterfalls spill over cliff faces into lush old growth forested valleys. If magic exists, it would be in those mountains.
There are bear and cougars in the mountains to be aware of and prepared for, but I imagine smelly intruding humans are more confusing then mouth watering. With that said, hanging your supplies up at night is a must. The Canadians take great efforts to keep the place pristine, and they encourage mindful behavior at every opportunity.
I’ve made the long road journey from the Midwest 3 times in my lifetime. There will be more trips to come.
I hope you have had the opportunity to go back in the summer.
I am so sure your stunning pictures will make anyone wanting to go there to enjoy the beauty.We did a five week road trip from Toronto to Vancouver Island 2 years ago in Summer.We did all camping in provincial parks & almost all the popular National parks along the way.The best way to embrace the beauty while being closer to nature.Still dont feel enough.Last year Fall we did another 1 month road trip.Did the loop from Quebec city via Baie-Comeau,Labradoor city,Happy valley-Goose Bay,Blanc Sablon,Newfoundland,Cape Breton Highland,PEI,New Brunswick & back to Toronto through Quebec City. Enjoying Fall colors through out in variety of landscapes in different provinces,just amazing.The world famous Cabot trail was a different beauty.
Both sound like fantastic road trips! I would love to do a road trip through the maritimes (similar to your second one), and I know autumn would certainly be an amazing time to do it!
Banff is an old dream of us. We haven’t heard much about Yoho though, but your pictures of it are beautiful, looks like a park definitely worth a visit! I guess we can never get enough of these scenes and colors… 🙂
We’ve been to Glacier National Park this July and our timing was perfect to see it in the peak of wildflower bloom (it was both planning and luck :)). Stunning!
Ooo wildflowers blooming in Glacier National Park? Sounds amazing!
And yes, if you’re going to Banff, a visit to Yoho is a must as well! Both beautiful parks.
Those are amazing photos, young girl ! I do understand you had a fantastic trip through Parks,Valleys – watching all these mountains ! Thanks for sharing.
Arvid
Thank you! And yes, it was a fantastic trip!
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Wow!! those are stunning pictures. It makes me wanna visit Canada.. 🙂
Thanks, Tina! Canada is pretty awesome!
Wow, this is very helpful! I have a trip planned to Canada in a months time and I really need things to fill up the itinerary. I will be visiting these places and also Vancouver! This has helped me loads thank you! 🙂 xoxo
Sounds like an awesome trip! Enjoy!
Lake Louise looks amazing!
It is!! I would love to see it un-frozen someday. And Moraine Lake is also supposed to be spectacular!
Went canoeing there two weeks ago. Awesome!! Also walked Colombia icefields 30 degrees 30 mile per winds and snowing July 25. What an amazing part of the world.
I would love to get out on some of those lakes someday!
It’s so incredibly beautiful! I’ve been dreaming of This part of the world for years now and will finally make it there next year. Was thinking of going in May to avoid the crowds but rethinking this now after reading your post. I don’t want to miss out on anything because of ice and road closures so maybe June would be a better time. Did you spend much time in Calgary? Is it worth much time do you think?
We only spent a night in Calgary, but there are a lot of great restaurants there – plus the Olympic park is nearby! I wish we would have had time for that. Early June would probably be great. I just saw photos from Lake Louise today and it looked completely thawed!
Excellent, thanks Amanda!
oh my god I’m in love with these landscapes. Really REALLLLY hoping I make it to Whistler later this summer…
I haven’t been to Whistler, but I’ve heard fantastic things. I hope you get to go!