292-292 Travel Guide

Banff National Park, located on the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta, was established in 1885 as Canada's first national park and the third national park in the world, following Yellowstone in the United States and Royal National Park in Australia. Encompassing approximately 6,641 square kilometers of pristine mountain wilderness, the park is renowned globally for its majestic Rocky Mountain peaks, vivid turquoise glacial lakes, ancient subalpine forests, and thriving populations of iconic North American wildlife. Signature lakes including Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, and Peyto Lake display an almost surreal gemstone-blue coloration caused by the refraction of light from finely ground rock flour suspended in the glacial meltwater, and are widely celebrated as the crown jewels of the Canadian Rockies. The park provides critical habitat for grizzly bears, black bears, elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, wolves, and caribou, making it one of the premier wildlife viewing destinations in Canada. Banff also serves as a sacred site for alpine outdoor enthusiasts and nature photographers from around the world, offering world-class hiking, skiing, mountaineering, and backcountry exploration opportunities throughout the year, while the charming mountain town of Banff serves as a sophisticated base for exploring this extraordinary protected landscape.

The Columbia Icefield is the largest icefield in the Rockies and the most extensive south of the Arctic in North America. It feeds the Athabasca Glacier and others, and is a source of the Continental Divide. Visitors ride special ice explorers onto the glacier surface or gaze into the gorge from the glass-floored Glacier Skywalk. It is among the most awe-inspiring places to feel Earth's ice-age legacy and climate change.

Moraine Lake is another dazzling gem of the Rockies, set in Banff's "Valley of the Ten Peaks". Compared with Lake Louise, Moraine Lake shows a more intense, striking sapphire blue, embraced by ten jagged snow peaks; the rockpile at the shore is the best vantage point for the full view—climbing the rockpile and looking back, the sapphire water, rolling snow peaks and lush forest formed a picture once printed on the old Canadian twenty-dollar bill, arguably the most classic Rockies scene. Due to its remoteness and winter road closure, Moraine Lake is open only in the summer-autumn warm season, and in recent years private cars are banned—visitors must take the shuttle bus or join a tour. This hard-won beauty is unforgettable.

Parker Ridge is a well-known moderate-difficulty alpine hike along the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park. From the summit you can look down across the open alpine meadow toward the Saskatchewan Glacier, and it is widely regarded as one of the best-value short hikes along this highway route.

Sunshine Meadows is a vast alpine meadow in Banff National Park, sitting on the Continental Divide at an elevation of about 2,160 m. In summer it bursts into wildflower bloom beside alpine lakes such as Rock Isle, and it is one of the most beloved summer hiking and sightseeing destinations in the Rockies.

Castle Mountain is a dramatic 'castle-like' peak in the Bow Valley of Banff National Park, lying along the Trans-Canada Highway and Bow Valley Parkway. It is a famous Rocky Mountain landmark and hiking destination.