The Canadian Rockies Mountain range spans the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, Western Canada. With jagged, ice-capped peaks, including towering Mt. Robson, it’s a region of alpine lakes, diverse wildlife and outdoor recreation sites. Other national parks are Jasper, with the famously accessible Athabasca Glacier, and Banff – site of glacier-fed Lake Louise.
We did an extensive amount of planning for this June road trip. It is a trip you can’t do on the fly otherwise there is a high risk of disappointment. Even then we missed out on a couple of attractions because they were sold out at the time we wanted. The Canadian Rockies is an extremely popular destination, and many hotels and attractions are booked out months ahead of time.
Coming from picturesque New Zealand we were still totally awed by how beautiful the Rockies were and how assessable the parks were by road and train. Geoffrey did the driving (around 1,500km in total over 6-days) and although a little apprehensive at first – was surprised how straight-forward and relaxing it all ended up being.
Day 1
We picked up the car rental after we flew from Vancouver into Calgary. The weather was overcast, and the forecast for the first few days was for some periods of light rain but it wasn’t too bad. Calgary is a big city with plenty of tall skyscrapers which we found strangely quiet on a coolish dampish Saturday afternoon. We soon discovered where all the people were – the CF Chinook Centre shopping mall – Calgary’s largest shopping, dining and entertainment destination.
Day 2
Our road trip started the following morning with the 100km drive to Canmore where we stopped for lunch. It was wet and our spirits a little down as we weren’t able to really catch the surrounding craggy summits of The Three Sisters and Ha Ling Peak. It’s a pretty town with souvenir shops along the main street and we found a busy café to warm and dry ourselves. We discovered a much brighter day when we finished lunch with the clouds lifting and the sun shining through. We were able to marvel the beauty of the nearby peaks and we walked the trail along the Bow River taking lots of photos. We also caught our first sighting of a young elk just casually walking along by the road.
It was just another 20kms to Banff where we checked in at the cool and hip Moxy Hotel. Moxy is a Marriott brand designed for younger set and although not our style it was still interesting to experience. After checking in we drove the short distance to the Banff Gondola which ascends a further 700m up to the summit of Sulphur Mountain. We baulked a little at the CAD$80 ticket (especially as visibility may be restricted due to low cloud) but when we arrived at the top, we were treated to a stunning spectacle of the six different mountain ranges stretching into the horizon. The infrastructure was top class, restaurants, shops, educational displays and best of all – a long boardwalk taking you to all the best vantage points to catch the amazing views. The rest of the afternoon was exploring the Banff shops. If I were to describe Banff township – think of Queenstown x 2. We had dinner at the Bison Restaurant where we went for their specialty main – the Alberta Bison Tomahawk!!
Day 3
The following morning, we drove 60km to catch the Lake Louise / Moraine Lake shuttle. Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are arguably the 2 prettiest lakes of the Canadian Rockies and are an absolute must-see destination. However, be warned – this is an extremely popular attraction requiring a lot of planning ahead of time. You can view brilliant photos of the Lakes and the backdrop of the surrounding mountains but nothing, nothing, will match the breathtaking beauty of these natural lakes in real life. To round off our visit we treated ourselves to the iconic Freemont Chateau Lake Louise Hotel Afternoon Tea afterwards. After a sumptuous hi-tea we drove the 40km to Emerald Lake but the weather started to turn to persistent rain and it was no surprise that the Carpark was nearly deserted when we arrived. The drive back to Banff was eventful as it had started to snow, and the forest road and surrounding wood forests were an absolute picture. It was still snowing back at Banff, so we ate dinner in our rooms.
Day 4:
The drive from Banff to Jasper was stunning. The mountain / lake scenery from the road was breathtakingly beautiful and we often stopped for photos. We had allowed plenty of time to make our first stop at the Columbia Icefields Athabasca Glacier tour but we ended up nearly missing it!! The Columbia Icefield is the largest ice field in the Rocky Mountains. The tour begins with a ride on a massive ice explorer bus which travels down a scary 32% gradient on to the glacier. That was pretty cool, and we had around 20 minutes to explore the glacier within a pretty large enclosure. The second part of the tour is the Skywalk which allows you to see hundreds of feet (918ft to be precise) to the valley floor below, so stepping out onto the glass can be a little nerve wracking; especially when there are vast crowds also shuffling around on the glass at the same time! From the glass bottomed bridge, you can spot mountain goats climbing on the sheer rock faces. Sunwapta Falls (which is fed from the Athabasca Glacier) was our next stop – this was an impressive sight and although only a 19m drop, it very much reminded me of Huka Falls near Taupo. We arrived at our hotel – the Fairmont Kasper Park Lodge at 4pm. The Lodge is set on the shores of Beauvent Lake – right in the middle of the Jasper wilderness. It’s a stunning setting and by far the best accommodation available in Jasper (albeit a 8km drive from the centre of town). Dinner was a rather disappointing culinary experience at the main hotel restaurant.
Day 5
Jasper town is a good size but basic but offered a choice of good restaurants and ice-cream shops!! This is also where the famous Rocky Mountaineer train passes through, and we were lucky enough to see the train pull up and the passengers disembark. We had considered this option when planning the trip but, in the end, considered a road trip offered us more flexibility. After lunch we drove 48km to Maligne Lake which was gorgeously surrounded by peaks. There was a popular lake cruise on the shore which was all booked out for the day. We drove to the nearby Maligne Canyon which features deep canyons, waterfalls and 6 bridges crisscrossing the canyon at various points. The trail tested your fitness at parts, but the trail was surrounded by a lot of interesting flora and fauna. Just 5km from town was the pretty Pyramid Lake – and we were surprised how quiet it was considering the beauty of the surroundings. There is a convenient wooden foot bridge which takes you to a small island in the middle of the lake where we managed to take some panoramic photos of the lake and surrounding mountains. Dinner that night was Italian in town and a much more enjoyable experience than the previous night at the lodge.
Day 6
The drive from Jasper to Kamloops is 450km so this was our first big day on the road. We noticed that the size and number of the surrounding peaks were beginning to fall away indicating that we were now starting to move away from the main area of the Rockies. However 90km from Jasper we passed Mt Robson which is the highest (3,959m) and most prominent mountain in the whole Rocky Mountain range. The mountain is located entirely within Mount Robson Provincial Park of British Columbia, and is part of the Rainbow Range. We got incredible views from the visitor centre. If we were ever return to the Rockies, Mt Robson Park would be at the top of my list for accessibility, hiking, and exploring. It is indescribably beautiful. We stopped for lunch at Blue River before the final drive into Kamloops. Kamloops is a city with a population of around 100,000 situated along the Thompson River and is an interesting blend of an urban and outdoor lifestyle. The best of both worlds you could say!
Day 7
We started off a little later than hoped and made a small diversion to explore the nearby Tobiano – a masterplan luxury community sited above Kamloops Lake and centred around the Golf Club. It was a 4hr drive back to Vancouver and the mountains we were starting to leave the mountains behind us. We elected to take the shorter standard route rather than the longer but more scenic Trans-Canada highway. Traffic was heavy entering Vancouver and by the time we gassed following the 350km drive we returned the rental to Hertz just a few minutes before closure!!
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View from our cabin – Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge