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Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks

Near Golden · Canada

Background

World Heritage since
1984
Type of site
Natural
Canada's first national park
1885

The contiguous national parks of Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho, with the Mount Robson, Mount Assiniboine and Hamber provincial parks, form a striking mountain landscape of peaks, glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, canyons and limestone caves. UNESCO notes the Burgess Shale fossil site, famous for its soft-bodied marine animals, is also within the property.

The seven parks hold the headwaters of the North Saskatchewan, Athabasca, Columbia and Fraser rivers. Banff, established in 1885 around the Cave and Basin hot springs, is Canada's first national park and covers 6,641 km², with the town of Banff and the resort of Lake Louise inside it; Wikivoyage says it is about an hour and a half from Calgary on the Trans-Canada Highway, and that the scenery changes completely between summer and winter.

More on the UNESCO listing More on Wikipedia

  1. 1882Railway workers find the hot springs at Banff
  2. 1885Banff becomes Canada's first national park
  3. 1928The present Banff Springs Hotel is built
  4. 1980The Burgess Shale is listed as World Heritage in its own right
  5. 1984The four national parks are inscribed, absorbing the Burgess Shale
  6. 1990Mount Robson, Hamber and Mount Assiniboine provincial parks are added

Find Your Way Around

The main parts of the site, in the order most visitors see them

  1. 1
    Lake Louise
    The turquoise lake below the glacier, with the village and resort beside it.
  2. 2
    Moraine Lake
    Reached by shuttle, with sunrise runs in season.
  3. 3
    Johnston Canyon
    Walkways through the gorge to the waterfalls.
  4. 4
    Icefields Parkway
    The road north to the Columbia Icefield and Jasper.
  5. 5
    Cave and Basin
    The hot springs where the park began.
  6. 6
    Burgess Shale
    The fossil beds in Yoho, 500 million years old.

Know Before You Go

From Wikivoyage and the GoGo guides

Fly to Calgary
Wikivoyage: Calgary is the nearest international airport; Highway 1 bisects the park and Banff is about 90 minutes away.
Shuttles to the Lakes
A scheduled shuttle runs to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise from the Lake Louise gondola park and ride, including sunrise departures.
The Road Is the Risk
Wikivoyage: driving, not bears, is the greatest danger in the park; avoid winter driving if you are not used to it, and check avalanche warnings in the backcountry.
Two Different Parks
Winter brings skiing, dogsledding, ice skating and snowshoeing; summer the lakes and trails.

Banff and Lake Louise

Not yet in a GoGo guide

  1. 07:00
    Moraine Lake at Sunrise90 min
    By the first shuttle.
  2. 09:30
    Lake Louise2 hrs
    The lakeshore and the glacier views.
  3. 14:00
    Johnston Canyon2 hrs
    Walkways to the falls.
  4. 17:00
    Banff and the Cave and Basin90 min
    The town and the springs where the park began.

Best Time to Visit

Best months: Jul. Freezing days in Oct–May.

Typical highs

Best monthsRain: wettest Jun (117 mm), driest Feb (56 mm)

Climate: NASA POWER

Pair It With

Other World Heritage sites nearby, by distance

WORTH A NIGHTDAY TRIPSAME DAYDistance not to scale · tap a site
Do These Together
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is 276 km away in southern Alberta; nothing else on the List is within reach for a day.
Sources
UNESCO World Heritage Centre, listing 304 · Wikipedia: Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site · Wikivoyage: Banff National Park (CC BY-SA 4.0) · UNESCO listing