I drove into the Canadian Rockies on a September morning when the larch trees were turning gold against the grey rock faces, and I pulled over within twenty minutes of leaving Banff because the view was so good I could not continue without stopping to simply look at it. This happens repeatedly in the Rockies, and you should budget extra time for it in your itinerary.
Banff: The Gateway Town That Earns Its Reputation
Banff is the main hub of Banff National Park, a small mountain town of about eight thousand people that swells significantly with summer visitors and is, in autumn, one of the most pleasant places I have found in North America to simply be. The town sits in a valley surrounded by mountains so dramatic and so close that they seem architectural rather than natural — as though someone placed them there specifically for effect.
The Banff Upper Hot Springs, a thermal pool on the hillside above the town, is one of those experiences that seems touristy until you are actually sitting in hot mineral water looking up at the peaks, at which point it becomes one of the finest afternoons imaginable. The Fairmont Banff Springs hotel, a castle-like structure above the town, is worth visiting for a drink even if you are not staying there.
Lake Louise and Moraine Lake
Lake Louise is the most famous lake in the Canadian Rockies and one of the most photographed spots in Canada. The water is a specific shade of turquoise-green produced by rock flour suspended in glacial melt, and the colour is so vivid it reads as artificial in photographs but is entirely real in person. The château hotel on the shore is one of the great railway hotels of Canada; having a coffee on the terrace while looking across the lake to the Victoria Glacier is a civilised pleasure.
Moraine Lake, twenty minutes further up the road, is my preference: smaller, quieter (relatively), surrounded by the Valley of the Ten Peaks, and with a colour that seems to intensify as the day goes on. The classic photograph from the rockpile above the lake is one of the genuinely great landscape compositions in photography. It requires about ten minutes of scrambling to reach the viewpoint; it is worth every minute.
The Icefields Parkway
The Icefields Parkway runs for 232 kilometres between Banff and Jasper, through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world, past glaciers, icefield viewpoints, turquoise lakes and wildlife. I drove it in a day and immediately wished I had taken two. Pull over at Peyto Lake, where the water is an almost unreal shade of blue-green and the viewpoint looks down over the forest to the valley below. Stop at the Athabasca Glacier, where you can walk out onto the Columbia Icefield — wear sunglasses; the light off the ice is intense.
Jasper: The Quieter Alternative
Jasper, at the northern end of the Icefields Parkway, is smaller and considerably less crowded than Banff and has its own considerable attractions. Maligne Lake, a two-hour drive from the town, is one of the largest glacially fed lakes in the Rockies and home to Spirit Island, a tiny spruce-covered islet that appears in perhaps a quarter of all Canadian tourist brochures. The Maligne Canyon is a deep, narrow limestone gorge that can be walked easily and is extraordinary.
Jasper is also one of the best places in Canada for wildlife: elk wander through town with complete indifference, black bears are common along the roads in spring and autumn, and the Jasper Dark Sky Preserve — the largest in the world — makes the town one of the finest stargazing destinations in North America.
Practical Tips
- A Parks Canada Discovery Pass covers entry to all national parks and pays for itself within two days.
- September is the finest month: the larch trees turn gold, the summer crowds have thinned, and the weather is usually clear.
- Book accommodation in Banff and Lake Louise far in advance for summer — the area is extremely popular and the good places fill up quickly.
- A car is essential for exploring the parks — public transport between the main sites is limited.
Love dramatic landscapes? Read our guide to the 28 best hikes in Utah — another extraordinary landscape just south of the border.
