North America
Banff National Park
Turquoise glacial lakes, Rocky Mountain peaks, and Canada's oldest national park in its full grandeur
Rocky Mountain Peaks
Soaring summits, hanging glaciers, and valleys carved by ancient ice sheets.
Glacial Lakes
Moraine Lake and Lake Louise — their colour comes from glacial rock flour suspended in meltwater.
Wildlife
Grizzly bears, elk, wolves, and bighorn sheep in one of North America's most intact ecosystems.
Banff National Park occupies a stretch of the Canadian Rockies that was set aside in 1885, making it the oldest national park in Canada and one of the oldest in the world. The decision to protect it has compounded over the generations: the result today is a landscape of essentially intact mountain wilderness — jagged limestone peaks, valley glaciers in slow recession, rivers clouded with glacial flour, and an animal population that includes grizzly bears, wolves, elk, and mountain lions moving through the same corridors they always have. The park covers over six thousand square kilometres, but most visitors encounter it along the Icefields Parkway, a 230-kilometre highway between Banff and Jasper that is widely considered one of the great scenic drives in the world.
Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are the images most associated with the park, and they earn their reputation. The colour — a specific, almost disbelieving turquoise — comes from rock flour: particles of glacially ground limestone suspended in the meltwater, fine enough to remain in suspension and to scatter light at the blue-green end of the spectrum. No photograph fully prepares you for the actual shade. Moraine Lake, in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, is the more dramatic of the two; arrive early or late to see it without crowds. The Plain of Six Glaciers trail above Lake Louise offers a longer approach to a teahouse perched at the base of the Victoria Glacier, with views that expand with every switchback.
Winter transforms the park entirely. Ski resorts at Banff Sunshine, Lake Louise, and Mount Norquay operate from November through May, with snow conditions that attract skiers from across North America and Japan. The frozen surface of Lake Louise becomes a skating rink lit at night, surrounded by ice sculptures. Wildlife is easier to spot against the snow, particularly the elk that winter in the valley floors. The town of Banff itself — a small, well-supplied mountain town within the park boundary — operates year-round and provides a comfortable base for both seasons. A Parks Canada pass is required for entry and is worth purchasing in advance.