The following is an excerpt from an MSNBC article on May 17th. It details the 10 best National Parks in Canada. The main group is visiting two of them...the splinter group will also go to Waterton Lakes. Just more reason to get off the couch and join us...it will likely be an amazing ride.
Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta
Separated by a slashed clearing through the forest, Alberta’s Waterton Lakes National Park and neighboring Glacier National Park in Montana form the world’s first International Peace Park. The tiny lakeside town of Waterton sits where the Rocky Mountains drop dramatically to rolling prairies, generating winds so strong the historic seven-story Prince of Wales Hotel has to be anchored with huge cables.
 |
|
Travel Alberta
Prince of Wales Hotel, Waterton Lakes National Park
|
When to go: The sunniest weather is from June through September. For wildflowers—55 percent of Alberta’s wildflowers are found in the park—visit in early summer; for bird migrations and the best animal sightings, go in late fall.
Wildlife: Watch for moose at Cameron Valley (a popular canoeing lake); black bear, elk, and bighorn sheep on the prairie portion of the park; eagles on updrafts in the valley; and grizzlies wandering in the wilderness beyond town.
Don’t miss: The two-hour cruise along the shores of Upper Waterton Lake, which is the deepest lake in the Rockies. It goes to Goat Haunt, a U.S. ranger station just over the border in Montana ($19 adults, $14 ages 13 to 17, $7 kids, Waterton International Shoreline Cruise Company, 403/859-2362).
Where to stay: Waterton Lakes Lodge is the only full-service resort in town (from $163 in summer, about $50 less in spring and fall, 888/895-6343, www.watertonlakeslodge.com). The historic Prince of Wales Hotel, below, has an undeniably spectacular view—unfortunately, it charges high rates to match. You’re better off visiting it for afternoon tea ($19).
You need to know: Because there are only 400 hotel rooms available in town, you really do have to book far in advance!
Budget secret: Park interpreters from both the United States and Canada lead free cross-border, full-day hikes every Saturday. You only have to pay for the boat fare: $4 to $11, depending on age.
Planning: 403/859-2224; regional information, 403/853-2252, www.watertonpark.com.
Banff National Park, Alberta
 |
|
Getty Images
Banff National Park
|
Canada’s oldest national park started with three prospectors poking around the Rockies. They didn’t find gold, just a steaming, sulfurous hot spring, but the protection of that discovery, in 1885, led to the creation of a 656-square-mile park of jagged snow-capped mountains, broad U-shaped valleys, turquoise lakes, rich forests, and meandering rivers. More than 4 million visitors pay their respects every year, and with some of the world’s best hiking and skiing, peak season never ends.
Photo op: For that classic, mountain-reflected-by-the-lake shot, make an early-morning visit to the poppy-filled garden behind the elegant Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise resort. Also stunning is the unbelievably blue Peyto Lake, off the Icefields Parkway, between Lake Louise and the Jasper Park border.
Wildlife: Elk were once so prolific that park staffers were issued slingshots in an effort to persuade them to move out of town. Grizzlies, meanwhile, hang out in the mountains, stuffing themselves in summer with up to 100,000 buffalo berries each day.
Where to stay: There are roughly 30 inns, including the pleasant Rocky Mountain B&B right in town (from $72, 403/762-4811, www.rockymtbb.com). The Banff and Lake Louise youth hostels, made of stone and timber, have been rated in the world’s top 10, and they have family rooms (doubles from $55 in Banff, from $65 in Lake Louise, www.hihostels.ca, 866/762-4122).
Don’t miss: The free guided hikes offered by the Friends of Banff Park (www.friendsofbanff.com); the 50,000-plant Cascade Gardens, also free, at the foot of Banff Avenue; or the historic Banff Upper Hot Springs, located on Sulphur Mountain—it’s a pool with a fabulous setting surrounded by pines and peaks ($5).
Fascinating fact: The Trans-Canada Highway between Banff and Lake Louise zips beneath a pair of million-dollar overpasses that were constructed so that animals could cross the highway safely.
You need to know: There are lots of additional lodgings by Banff’s eastern gate in Canmore’s strip of hotels and motels. What they lack in charm, they make up for in convenience. Try the Quality Resort Chateau Canmore (suites from $82, 403/678-6699, www.chateaucanmore.com).
Planning: 403/762-1550; Banff/Lake Louise Tourism Bureau, 403/762-8421, www.banfflakelouise.com.
Jasper National Park, Alberta
 |
|
Courtesy of Jasper Tourism & Commerce
Jasper National Park
|
Raging rivers, crashing waterfalls, and one of the world’s most accessible glaciers are just three reasons why people drive the 142-mile Icefields Parkway, which winds from Lake Louise to Jasper. Once they arrive, they bike wooded trails, raft on waters that were glacier ice hours earlier, and soak in Miette Hotsprings, the hottest mineral pool in the Rockies. What makes the park particularly appealing, though, is that it’s so darn easy to stumble across wildlife.
When to go: Mid-June to Sept 1. Ski mid-December through spring.
Photo op: Fifty-mile visibility from the Jasper Tramway ($21), just across the river from town.
Wildlife: The 29-mile drive to Maligne Lake; you might just catch glimpses of bears, moose, and deer on a single outing. In town, don’t be surprised to see elk peeking from between train cars.
Where to stay: The central, recently re-furbished Athabasca Hotel has enough mounted critters in the lobby to fill its own museum (from $75, 877/542-8422, www.athabascahotel.com).
Don’t miss: Larger than the city of Vancouver, Athabasca Glacier sends melted snow and ice to three oceans—the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific—as well as to powerful Athabasca Falls. The glacier and the falls can easily be seen by car from the dramatic Icefields Parkway.
To get in closer go to Icefield Centre, at the Athabasca Glacier, 65 miles south of Jasper, with tours on giant-wheeled buses that crawl onto the ice ($22 adults, $11 children, Brewster Snowcoach, 877/423-7433, www.brewster.ca).
You need to know: You’re most likely to spot roadside animals at dusk and dawn—but that’s when it’s also easiest to accidentally hit them. Drive carefully.
Budget secret: The Friends of Jasper offer nightly, year-round historical walking tours, birding excursions, and moonlight hikes for $1.50 (780/852-4767, www.friendsofjasper.com).
Planning: 780/852-6176; Jasper Tourism & Commerce, 780/852-3858, www.jaspercanadianrockies.com.