We did this for our last hike of our trip to Banff. Another couple we had met told us it was pretty…read moretough so I was a little worried, but it really wasn't bad...or perhaps I was just used to it after a week of hiking. It was steep, but not nearly as steep or long as the lake agnes tea house hike. Like everything else in Banff this hike was pretty crowded, but at least i knew we were in good company if a bear decided to join us. I forgot to bring bear spray so assumed one of the other 800 people on the trail had to have it. The view from the top was gorgeous - so we sat for awhile and enjoyed it. My legs were definitely tired when I made it down, but had enough energy to walk back to the Fairmont. For those staying at the Fairmont it's an easy walk to and from tunnel mountain.

Pretty sweet area to do some outdoor activity overlooking Banff and surrounding areas. Windy…read moremountain roads and overlooks are all around this are a.

Serenity can be found here. It's right off Icefields Parkway, you can't miss it. In off peak season…read moreit isn't as crowded with people and it's a bit more peaceful. There is ample parking too.

I only spent one evening at Waterfowl Lake on the way to Jasper. What I liked about it, was that…read moreit had a "laid back" crowd. The campground was reasonably quiet and even though there were lots of people, it wasn`t packed. There were a fair number of people there, but my impression was that they were there to enjoy the space. The scenery was gorgerous. I uplaoded some pictures of the sceneary around the campground. The camp sights are surrounded by tall trees, and there are washrooms and free firewood available. The campground was a little over $20 a night and you are able to pay by credit card, which was convenient.

I really enjoyed this campground…read more The weather was less than ideal, but I was happy for sheltered and warm showers and flush toilets. Spectacular views! The campground is more of a really nice parking lot. You drive up to your spot like you're parking on the curb in front of your house. It's easy. But. If you're big on site privacy there is really not so much here. Walking distance to Banff townsite. Mostly. It depends on what kind of walking or no walking you want to do. It's a good walk through the campsite, down along the road then a set of stairs. And you're there. No worries about parking in the townsite.

Honestly the saddest excuse for a campsite I have ever seen these past few years... Banff is a…read moreNATIONAL Park, it should be an example of how people all over Canada and the world get to experience what Canada's nature has to offer. Instead it has turned into a sorry excuse for a money grabbing extravaganza. The price has absolutely sky rocketed over the years, campsites are never cleaned, and snow removal seems to be non existent except for the main drive. The fire permit fee is mandatory even if you're not having a fire, and the wood is always, wet, rotten, or never properly dried in the first place. The showers have been under construction for the last two off-seasons, with no sign of anyone even working on them. Instead of a quick fix in the spring or fall, parks decides to capitalize on summer reservations, turn their profit, and not actually put it back into it facilities in a timely manner. At this point, Parks is pushing tourism to park illegally in Banff, as all they really offer is a washroom and there are several public ones readily available in the town. Parks Canada should be ashamed. This is a sad, sad excuse for a federally funded government agency. Check yourself.

What an amazing time I had at this park! I am a big National Park junkie back in the U.S. and was…read moreexcited to visit my first Canadian National Park. I came with my running group and they combined our runs with various activities around the park. Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park and was established in 1885. It is known for its mountain peaks and turquoise glacial lakes (Lake Louise and Moraine are the two popular ones). Banff offers year-round outdoor adventures like hiking, wildlife viewing, cycling and skiing. The Town of Banff has lots of shopping and restaurants for those that aren't into the outdoor activities. Banff National Park is located in Alberta's Rocky Mountains and has several large glaciers and icefields. Nearby are Yoho, Jasper and Kootenay National Parks. The Town of Banff is at the center of the park in the Bow River Valley. The park itself has a variety of recorded mammal species. Banff National Park has been successful at reducing the number of animals killed on the roads by building wildlife crossings. We drove under a number of these while driving through the park. They are such a clever idea. My running company booked three runs in and around Banff National Park. The views were gorgeous as we did our trail runs. When I first arrived, we took a tour bus to Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and Emerald Lake (in nearby Yoho National Park). I really enjoyed the beauty of those lakes and was able to do some photography work at them. They are just as pretty in person as the pictures that you see on the internet. The huge crowds in the summer was the only downer part. For activities, we canoed down the Bow River. That was a lot of fun and we got great views of the mountain ranges while on the river. We also did the Via Ferrata at Mt Norquay. It was my first time doing one of these and it was easily one of my favorite activities. On my final day, I took the Gondola to the summit of Sulphur Mountain. You can see the whole Town of Banff from there and the breathtaking mountain ranges all around. The Town of Banff has lots of retail stores, gift shops and restaurants. I ate very well on this trip. Overall, Banff was an amazing experience for me. The flight to Calgary from Arizona wasn't too long and my running company did a great job in booking all of my activities. I look forward to a trip back someday!

I started this draft in 2019. I had to go back to Banff in 2025 as I forgot why I wanted to give…read morethem 5 stars and what to write. Banff National Park is a place where everyone needs to go! They have something for everyone. Nature is at its finest here with lakes, mountains, and wildlife. Even with all the tourists, Lake Louise is awesome. The lake itself is stunning with its turquoise blue water. If you don't feel like walking, go inside the Chateau Lake Louise and have afternoon tea or go souvenir shopping at the gift shop inside the hotel. Moraine Lake is another place that is picturesque. It isn't as popular as Lake Louise, but, it is just as awesome. They have cabins and a gift shop that was closed for the season when we visited. Access to both Lake Louise and Moraine lake is limited. They don't let you drive there anymore. You need to either join a tour, or take the shuttle bus. The city of Banff is a huge populated area inside the park with many hotels, restaurants, shops and even a supermarket. Horseback riding is available. You can take a gondola ride or even go to a hot spring. Banff is a great park. Even my city loving wife, enjoyed our visit to this wonderful national park of Canada.

I did one of my trail runs with my running group here at Spray Valley Provincial Park. This was…read moredefinitely the most scenic run that I did during my trip. Spray Valley Provincial Park is a provincial park located along the Spray River in Alberta, Canada. Spray Valley borders Banff National Park. The park features forests, alpine lakes and rugged peaks. Activities in Spray Valley include camping, hiking, canoeing and fishing. We ran on the Chester Lake Trail to beautiful Chester Lake. The views along the way were just breathtaking. At the lake, you get a glimpse of both Gusty Peak and The Fortress. The water was so clear and had a nice reflection of the surrounding mountains and clouds. I stopped at the foot of the lake to enjoy its beauty before jumping back onto the trail to finish my run. The trails in Spray Valley Provincial Park are a mix of easy, moderate and challenging trails. Spray Lakes West Campground is the main campground in Spray Valley. There are many lakes within the park with Spray Lakes Reservoir being the largest. The Smith-Dorrien Trail (also known as Spray Lakes Road) is a scenic drive on a dirt road that has incredible views of the valley and mountains. A Kananaskis Conservation Pass is required for vehicle parking.

A friend of mine recommended the Troll Hike in Kananaskis country so we ducked out of Banff for an…read moreafternoon of exploring the parks just outside. It was beautiful! Mountains galore and lots of great outdoorsy opportunities for winter and warmer weather alike. During our drive we happened to see a bunch of guys in a parking lot near the road loading and unloading kayaks. Most of the water we had seen had been frozen so I was curious to see what the river looked like so my husband and I pulled over. I read the little guide at the start of the trailhead and it informed us that this part of the river is rapids heavy and a well loved route for extreme kayakers, with a course mapped out with markers and everything. We took the short stroll to the water and enjoyed watching a few fellas do their thing in the raging water. The water was bright blue and SO beautiful. It was a highlight of our day and we didn't even plan on it! Check it out if you're in the area. I wish I could remember where exactly it was in the park, but follow the river and you should be able to find it!

We have started and finished our camping season here for the passed 3 years. Even in the spring…read moresnow.... Friendly staff, and very well maintained grounds and clean bathrooms. A small fee for the showers, and laundry on site, as well and a dump station. They are pet friendly, with a city run off leash area right beside the grounds. They are close to downtown Cochrane and a short drive to Calgary and Banff. Nice bike paths and the sports center is right outside the gates.

This is suck a nice place. Everywhere in the campground very clean. We are stay here for a month…read more$945(per night $43). Had free wifi and you can pay more data. Bathroom very clean $2 for shower. Also Washing machine very clean $3 per machine 25 minutes for wash. 50 minutes for dry. I am very impressed with walking tail. Because the campground near river very nice. All staff here very friendly also. Love this place.

Loved this campground on my first trip out for so many reasons. We're into paddle boarding, so it's…read morea fun location on a windy bit of the Little Red Deer river. There's good trails, geocaching onsite, a little mini-store at the booth, and lots of picnic spots. The sites are well maintained as are the trails, the outhouses and the signage. But what we loved most about Red Lodge was it's proximity to many other local attractions, even during this time of COVID-19. One could feasibly come out to Red Lodge and then buy most of the fresh groceries you'd need at local farms and markets. We visited Pearson's Berry Farm and picked up berry treats of all kinds, and we also visited Edgar Farms where we picked up meat and veg. The Danish-Canadian museum and cultural centre are also nearby. There's so much to do at the campsite itself, and within a 20 minute drive from Red Lodge, we're really looking forward to coming back again.

Even though my trip to Canada mostly cantered around Banff, my tour bus did take us into Yoho…read moreNational Park for a part of the day. Yoho is the smallest of the four contiguous national parks. The other ones are Jasper, Kootenay and Banff National Parks. Yoho is an interesting name for a National Park and comes from the Cree language. It means "awe and wonder". After a stop at Lake Louise and Moraine, we ended up finishing our day at Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park. One of the things that I enjoyed about this park and lake was that it was less crowded than Banff and the other two popular lakes. I ended up walking the nature trail around beautiful deep-green Emerald Lake. I enjoyed the views and came across a plaque about the fossil-bearing deposits of the Burgess Shale in the area. Sadly, Emerald Lake was the only area of Yoho National Park that I was able to explore. Hopefully I am able to see other areas like Takakkaw and Wapta Falls, Lake O'Hara and the Natural Bridge next trip.

After spending most of our week stay exploring Banff and Kootenay National Park's, we decided to…read morecheck out Yoho as well. We stayed at a timeshare in Radium Hot Springs, which was a perfect central location for exploring all three! Yoho was less busy than Banff and Kootenay, which we appreciated after almost a week of crowded stops. Our drive up to Golden was gorgeous in the Fall. We then headed over to Field, to visit Takakkaw Falls and Emerald Lake. Both were gorgeous! We even had lunch at The Emerald Lake Lodge during our visit. You can rent canoes on Emerald Lake. It's cheaper and less crowded than the more popular Lake Louise in Banff National Park. We also stopped to visit Natural Bridge. The glacial blue water was absolutely beautiful. My husband enjoyed the Spiral Tunnels stop more than I did. He found all the placards interesting. It would have been cool to see a train enter or exit the tunnel, but it didn't happen during our visit. Overall, we enjoyed our time here. It was much more relaxing than the busier ones. Don't sell this national park short. If you have extra time, it's definitely worth a visit!

Great place to camp, site are small and almost on top of each others. I wish the bathrooms were…read morecleaned more often as I often didn't have toilet paper in my stall and they were just gross overall. Still better than outhouses.

Redstreak is a beautiful campground located just minutes from the Radium Hot Springs town site and…read morethe Hot Springs pool. There are a variety of sites: tenting, RV, pull through, full service, no service, walk-up, little cabins/huts. A fire permit is extra but firewood is provided; however, keep in mind you will need a park pass to stay here (which can be purchased at the campground gates). In total (with a fire permit), it came to about $55.00 for one night. The registration process was a bit of a joke - if you didn't have a reservation of course. It was taking anywhere between 7 to 15 minutes per unit to check in (on a Monday afternoon no less) which almost sent me into breakdown mode with about 12-15 cars ahead of us when we arrived. The sites were nice - we ended up with a walk up site on the edge of a cliff. It was nice, but we were pretty close to our neighbors, and having to walk back and forth to the car every time you needed anything got a little tiring eventually. The facilities were clean and well kept (free showers are nice too). I would also recommend taking the hike to the hot springs pool; it was beautiful and not overly strenuous. I don't know that this would be our first choice for camping in the area, but we would certainly consider it. I think we would likely look into making a reservation though next time since no one wants to spend 2 hours in line on their vacation!