Jasper National Park
Jasper
Jasper is a much more attractive town than Banff and felt home to more locals than tourists. We went to the Jasper Brewery Company a couple of nights which was fun and chatted to lots of locals
The drive up from Lake Louise is a continuation of the incredible Icefield Pathway. It takes about 2 hours from Lake Louise if you were to do it non-stop, but there are lots of stops along the way, so we took the whole day to make our way up. Recommended stop offs are:
Bow lake – breath-taking lake and backdrop of mountains. You can pull off the highway to enjoy this.
Peyto Lake – which is a short walk from the carpark, but worth it. There is a big viewing platform, but if you walk another 2 mins up the path and then down to the right, there is another viewing spot which is both empty and better so definitely worth the extra effort.
Athabasca Falls – always something magnificent about a waterfall
Accommodation – Wapiti Campground (Parks Canada) in Jasper was great. Slightly smaller than Whistler campground (which is on the opposite part of the road) which felt much more exposed because they had recently cut lots of trees down so not as private. The RV spaces at Waipti were a lot closer to one another than Lake Louise but you didn’t feel too cramped
Colombia Icefield
This is a big glacier complex where you have two glaciers combining together and is between Lake Louise and Jasper. From the visitor centre you can do a glacier walk where you get a bus onto the glacier and walk around on the glacier. It is quite expensive (CAD 109 per person – which is about £65) but it was a thrill to be standing on glacier. The walk on the glass floored skywalk is also breathtaking.
For an even more immersive experience on the glacier there is a company called Ice Walk which arranges half day hikes on the glacier. They provide equipment such as crampons and cost CAD127 for a 3 hour hike. The trips tend to book up so you need to book. We didn’t do the walk but reviews on Trip Advisor look good.
Walks
As well as the good vibe in Jasper it is also home to some great walking. The two trails we did are these
Edith Cavell, 7.5km, 786m elevation – medium/hard
½ hour drive from Wapiti Campground
This is up one of the peaks opposite a big glacier, and you get a 360° view across all the peaks in Jasper.
It is quite a tough hike with steep elevation at the end with a bit of scrambling at the end, but amazing and hugely rewarding views
Maligne Lake, Bald Hill 15km, 711m elevation – easy/medium
1 hour drive from Wapiti Campground
It is a steep uphill walk pretty much all the way but the incline is never too hard and there is a clear path. We didn’t see any animals, but this is famous for having lots of wildlife. In keeping with everything else in the Rockies the views and the serene lake just brought a smile to your face.
