Johnston Canyon trailed closed this morning. Ranger hesitated to provide reason. Said “public safety issue” and would not provide more info. Any further info available that can be shared here as to why so, and when it might reopen? Canada Parks website not up to date on this.
My fiance and I are visiting for the first time Canada on 12 July with 3 full days in Banff. Our current itinerary plans were as follows:
- Day 1: Full day spent at Lake Louise (get the bus from Banff)
- Day 2: Full day spent at Lake Moraine (again, get the bus from Banff)
- Day 3: Rent a car and drive to Peyto Lake and Emerald Lake from Banff
Would anyone be able to provide any help / thoughts on this itinerary? Is a full day at Lake Louise and Lake Moraine each too much? Are we missing anything key to see/do while there? Is getting buses to Louise and Moraine ok or would you recommend hiring a car for the full trip?
We are a bit overwhelmed as there are so many different guides / blogs out there!
We are also then heading to Jasper on the Icefields glacier experience, with one full day in Jasper. If anyone had any recommendations for must-sees in Jasper also that would be very helpful!
Any thoughts / recommendations are much appreciated! Thank you 😊
Hello. I'm super confused about my upcoming trip and would love your inputs.
After visiting Banff, we would like to go to Jasper. We won't be able to stay in Jasper because we are unable to find accommodation :-(
We are traveling with a 3 year old. And he will need multiple stops on the way. Also, our trip is planned for August 2026
And would love your thoughts on which is better, scenery wise and ease of travel wise -
Banff to Jasper to Clearwater, overnight in Clearwater
Banff to Jasper to Banff and overnight in Banff
This is our detailed itinerary, for more background
We are driving from Sammamish (East Side of Seattle)
This is our itinerary-
Wednesday onwards I'm confused. We definitely want to drive on the Icefields Parkwys. And we have accommodation in Canmore until Thursday.
Option 1
Option 2-
I thought that even if we won't be able to do much in Jasper or Clearwater, the drives will be worth it.
Hi everyone! I’m planning a trip to the Rockies in late September and am trying to decide how to schedule two "must-dos." I have availability on both Saturday evening (Sept 26) and Tuesday evening (Sept 29).
The most concern is about the crowd. Any advice on which night is better for which activity would be appreciated. Thanks!
I’m so confused about the shuttle booking. On the parks Canada site it groups lake Louis and lake Moraine together. Do we have to do it on the same day? Or do we just have to make two separate shuttle bus bookings if we do it on separate days? Thanks!
Just wanted to ask for some advice on hostels in Banff and Canmore. I saw the Canmore Downtown Hostel and it actually looks pretty solid, but I can barely find anything about it online, same with the Canmore Hostel.
My friends all bailed on me last minute for this trip, so now I’m doing it solo and just trying to figure out the best place to stay. Mainly looking for somewhere social, clean, and good for meeting people/hikers.
Would appreciate any recommendations or if anyone’s stayed at either place before. Thanks!
Hi everyone! We are headed to Banff towards the end of June for our honeymoon and this is kind of what we have planned so far, I’m just wondering if these things are worth it? Sound like a good way to plan our trip?
Monday: Banff Kayak Experience (Bow River & Vermillion Lake) and explore downtown
Tuesday: Lake Visits (5 hr shuttle bus that goes to a bunch of the lakes including Louise and Moraine)
Wednesday: spa day and reservations for dinner
Thursday: find some hikes to do and possibly kayak on emerald lake
Friday: hike in morning before head back to Calgary
Has anyone done the shuttle around the lakes or the kayak experience? Thoughts? Also, what should we pack for weather wise? What kind of clothing? We are from northern cold states. Thanks in advance!
Hey y’all. Going to be visiting the first week of June (weekdays). How tough will it be to find parking at the train station mid-day or afternoon?
My fiance and I, both active people, are wanting to visit the athabasca glacier this weekend. Would it be best to take one of the bus-only tours or should we do one that involves a 3 mile round trip hike? I am worried we would do the hike and essentially have the same experience as the bus!
Hey everyone! We are planning on riding bikes to morraine lake on the last day of our trip (May 31st) and I got this email from our bike rental a month ago but haven’t heard any updates. Does anyone know how morraine lake road is looking or where I can go look for information on that? I want to know because if we can’t ride our bikes there that day I’d like to have something else lined up. Thank you!
hey guys so im flying to Calgary on June 18th and I have my car rental booked. I will drive to Vancouver to start my actual road trip. It was supposed to be w a friend but they bailed last minute. I have an itinerary for 2 week: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iG6u0CSdFSlUlH7T\_D4KIUuzTamHQaZFNMIqAW8Fpng/edit?usp=drivesdk. I am looking for some people I could tag along for hikes and exploring Banff. im soloing a trip for the first time so lol kinda scared.
I saw a post recently from someone wanting to walk on the glacier. Hopefully it wasn’t this man. stay safe.
I heard Bear 142 lost a cub to a train on May 17th the other day, can anyone confirm as I saw her today with just one cub and Bow valley parkway was roped off the other day with a lot of no stopping signs ??!
I know it’s very expensive to rent a canoe so just curious if you think it’s worth it or not
First time to Banff and looking forward to the vacation.
See above. Curious if you have a specific tour company too you recommend
Hey there! My fiance and I are planning to go to Banff late august/early sept of 2027 for our honeymoon. We love to hike and are very active (marathon runners), so more physically intensive hikes are fine. I’m planning to stay somewhere within the park, and rent a car (from what i’ve seen it’s the best way to make sure you can access all the trails).
What are your recommendations for hikes? As well as stays around the park area?
Hi everyone, my friends and I are looking at doing a ski trip to Banff next season and had a few questions:
- What is the aprés scene like? For reference, we’re a group of guys in our mid-20s that visited Whistler this past season and loved it and were curious how it stacks up to that
- How is it staying in Canmore vs the town of Banff? We typically like to stay in a big airbnb and it looks like if we want to do that Canmore is the best option. Are there still worthwhile bars and restaurants in Canmore to check out?
- How easy is it to get a late night taxi back to Canmore if we go out in Banff? We understand that the shuttle stops at 11pm and there is no Lyft or uber and it typically costs ~$80 or so to get a taxi. Our question is how easy is that to get? Do they need booked in advance? We just don’t want to be screwed after a night out with no way back
Thanks in advance, we appreciate the help!
Hey y'all. Heading up from Louisiana next week, and have very limited experience with snow/ice. My wife and I hiked the Harding Icefield Trail in Kenai last year, and while we loved it, we didn't get as far as we'd like to go after sliding all over the place.
We're going to try to do as much of the Icefield Parkway as possible, with the understanding that there is a lot of snow still on the trails. I'm personally down for whatever, but I know from experience that she's going to want to turn back if the snow gets too deep.
That being said, any suggestions for budget microspikes? I'd like to see how far we can go, but also don't want to get disappointed if she gives up and we have to eat $150+ after a few minutes. I saw a few options on Amazon, but not being too familiar with snow and ice, I have no idea if they are budget or just trash. Thanks for any suggestions!