Canadian Rocky Mountain is an incredible place. It is a magnificent view with all the mountains ranges soar in the background. Canadian Rocky Mountains are located on the West side of Canada. It is split among the province of British Columbia and Alberta. Many of the well known national park in Canadian Rockies include Banff, Jasper, and Yoho. This time we did a road trip on the Alberta side of Canadian Rocky Mountain and visited both Banff National Park and Jasper National Park.
This road trip start in Calgary. We flew to Calgary and rented a mid size Sedan from Avis. Avis gave us a red 2016 Chevrolet Cruz. The car looks quite fancy but does not drive smoothly. Car problem aside, it does give us a built-in GPS which is very convenient. When we drove the car out of Calgary International Airport, we simply had to follow highway 201 first, then switch onto trans-Canada highway 1 towards West. It took about an hour to get to the entrance of Banff National Park. This is where we purchased our admission tickets. The admission ticket is reusable for all national parks in Canada.
After entering Banff National Park and driving on the highway, the scene on the side of the road is just incredible. The endless mountain range soaring on the side of the road. When the afternoon sunlight shines on the side of the mountain, the view is just magnificent. One thing we noticed is that there are fences on the side of the road throughout entire Banff National Park. I am guessing that this is to prevent wildlife animal from running onto the highway.
On the first day, we simply walked around Banff village and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon to check out all the shops.
On the second day, we drove to Lake Louise very early in the morning to avoid the crowd. While we were there, we did Big Beehive hike to the top of the mountain. Then in the afternoon, we went to check out Moraine Lake.
On the third day, we hiked up to Sulfur Mountain. The view of Banff from the top is amazing.
On the fourth day, we went to Lake Minnewanka to check out the clear and beautiful lake. We just loved how calm it is there.
On the fifth day, it was time for us to head to Jasper. On the way, we stopped by Peyto Lake in the morning. What a gorgeous lake it is. Then we visited the famous glacier at Columbia Icefield.
On the sixth day, we first visited Pyramid Lake in the early morning. Then we went to Maligne Lake to visit Spirit Island.
On the seventh day, we visited Patricia Lake in the morning and also came back at night to do stargazing. We also went to the top of mountain at Whistlers Peak.
On the final day, we drove for 5.5 hours all the way back to Calgary to fly back to Portland.
Overall, this road trip experience is an amazing experience! There is a lot of view points on the way and the views are incredible. I strongly suggest people to do this road trip when they got to Banff and Jasper!
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