Canada’s oldest national park is an amphitheater of titanic proportions. Established in 1885 following the discovery of natural hot springs in the Bow Valley, Banff spans over 6,600 square kilometers of glacier-carved valleys, subalpine forests, and wild mountain rivers where grizzly bears, cougars, and bighorn sheep roam freely.
Standing before the sheer mountain walls that rise from the valley floor, human concerns shrink into peaceful insignificance.
The Magic of Glacial Silt
The surreal, hyper-saturated turquoise brilliance of Lake Louise and Moraine Lake is not an optical illusion. It is caused by “rock flour”—extremely fine mineral silt pulverized by grinding glaciers. As glaciers slowly slide down mountain faces, rocks are pulverized into powder that remains suspended in the meltwater, selectively scattering blue and green wavelengths of sunlight.
Driving the Icefields Parkway
Connecting Lake Louise with Jasper, the 232-kilometer Icefields Parkway is recognized globally as one of the ultimate scenic drives. You pass more than one hundred ancient glaciers, cascading icefalls, and high-altitude alpine passes.
At the Columbia Icefield, visitors can stand before the Athabasca Glacier, an immense river of ice that has survived since the last major glacial epoch.
