Jaspar - Banff

pianotuna wrote:
Last time I drove the route there was no place to fuel between Lake Louise and Jasper.

Fill up at the Petrocan in Lake Louise NOT the Husky--Petrocan is often cheaper.

I find Banff to be a "tourist trap".

When we did the trip in 2017, there was only a SINGLE fuel station on the Ice Field Parkway located at the Saskatchewan River crossing (route 11). They charged 50% more for fuel than at Jasper or even Lake Louise. Beware.

We found the City of Banff itself to be nothing more than a very pretty outdoor shopping mall. The beauty of the area is in the mountains outside of the city.

If you plan on visiting Lake Louise - go there VERY early in the day. All parking lots (and road) are jam packed by 9:00 AM.

You will love this area. How serious are you about hiking? There is so much to do and see. We rarely hike more than about 8 miles a day (round trip) with about 2000 feet of elevation gain. Let us know if you want more info on hiking.

Anyway, here is one of our blog posts that might be useful:

Banff and Jasper blog post

And this is just a sample of what you'll see, especially if you hike up from the Parkway:


Click For Full-Size Image.

Last time I drove the route there was no place to fuel between Lake Louise and Jasper.

Fill up at the Petrocan in Lake Louise NOT the Husky--Petrocan is often cheaper.

Since you are coming from Seattle I would take the south route and come up through the Kootenays and visit Radium Hot Springs. Stay in USA for as long as possible for much better fuel prices.

From Radium to Lake Louise there are no powered campsites and no cell phone service (except at one "store")

I find Banff to be a "tourist trap".

I love Miette Hotsprings and there is a Campground at the bass of the mountain on the road up to the springs. It has no power--but there are good washrooms and showers. There was no attendant last time I went there. It runs on the honor system.

you could spend a month in each location and still not see everything.it will be the tip of the iceberg but memories you will carry for life.google, travel advisor and the parks websites will give you some great ideas. take your time across the ice field parkway there is a ton to see there also

Do you have reservations? The parks were very busy last year with Canada's 150th and the free admission. This seems to have carried forward into this year, but I also know that they keep some of the campsites FCFS. I'm guessing though that most of these are unserviced.

The campgrounds in the parks are open through September. There can be snow any time of year. We had snow in Banff in August, 2006.

The roads between Banff and Jasper are well-maintained. There are a few significant climbs.

There is never enough time to do and see every thing. Below is an outline of our last visit. We were traveling with a couple making their first trip; they wanted to do all they could in nine days. Sarah and I usually spend 5 in Banff and 8 or 9 days in Jasper

Banff:
Day 1: Tour Banff, Bow Falls, Gondola ride to top of Sulphur Mountain, Upper Hot Sprinds.

Day 2: Lake Louise, Morraine Lake (many get to Lake Louise and make the mistake of not seeing Morraine Lake), Drove part of Icefields Parkway (Crow Foot and Bow glaciers) Herbert Lake

Day 3: Lake Minnewanka, Johnson Canyon was too crowded so we did the Silverton Falls trail. Drove into Kootenay National Park and did the Marble Canyon trail

Drove to Jasper

Jasper:
Day 1: Patricia and Pyramid Lakes, tour jasper, did laundry.

Day 2: Hiked part of Maligne Canyon Trail (bridges 2, 3 and back to 1) Viewed Medicine Lake then continued on to Maligne Lake.

Day 3: Drove back down the Icefield Parkway to the Ice Field Center. (Don't miss the short movie - by far the best I've seen at a visitor's center.) Hiked to the toe of Athabasca Glacier. Seeing the markers of where the glacier used to extend gets one attention. Stopped at Sumwapta and Athabasca Falls on the way back to Jasper.

Day 4: Drive to Mount Edith Cavell. Always interesting to see how Ghost Glacier has changed. One has to look closely to see changes in Angel Glacier.

Drove to Radium Springs in Kootenay National Park.

Note: We traveled with 4 dogs, our friends with 3. In Jasper, we took the dogs swimming in Pyramid Lake every day. We took some or all of the dogs with us on some of the day trips.

Have fun, do what you can and start planning your next visit.

Tom

It is a very scenic trip. Best to do it before the 15th when caampgrounds start to shut down. There is also the risk of early snow if left until later. The road is well maintained so you should have no problems.