Itinerary & Logistics for a Ten-Day Trip to the Canadian Rockies

Canada, Hiking, National Parks, North America, Tips, Travel

In August 2023, I went on a 10-day adventure through the Canadian Rockies with my fiancé Mike and his parents Denise and Joe. We spent four days in Banff, one day driving the Icefields Parkway, three days in Jasper, and one travel day on each end. This area is one of the most beautiful locations in the world. This is my second time here, and I’m sure it won’t be my last! I hope this post is helpful if you are planning a similar Canadian Rockies trip.

Itinerary

I’ve included our general itinerary for the ten-day trip below. You can read my individual blog posts on the separate areas for much more detail and lots of photos!

Thursday

We flew from Atlanta to Calgary on our first night and stayed at the Marriott in the Calgary airport. Depending on flights, you could do it this way or fly earlier in the day and go ahead and drive to Banff. The drive from Calgary to Banff is 1.5 hours.

Friday

We rented our car from the Calgary airport this morning and headed straight to Banff. After a 1.5 hour drive, we arrived at the Banff gondola.

Banff Gondola

After circling the packed parking lot for about 15 minutes, we finally got a spot and arrived in line at 10:45am for our gondola ticket time. After a short wait in line, we boarded the gondola and took the eight-minute journey to the top of Sulphur Mountain. The views kept getting better and better as we climbed. We walked on the Sulphur Mountain Boardwalk along the top, which is about 0.4 miles long and ends at Sanson Peak. We had tickets to take the gondola back down at 12:10pm, but we were ready a little sooner than that, so we headed down early. From the gondola, we drove about ten minutes into town.

Downtown Banff

We spent the afternoon having lunch at Park Distillery and souvenir shopping downtown. There are lots of shops and restaurants to choose from!

Bow Falls Trail

Next, it was time to walk off some of our lunch along the Bow Falls trail, just south of downtown. The trail goes from the pedestrian bridge at the southern edge of the downtown area and crosses the Bow River. The 0.6 mile trail heads south and ends at the Bow Falls viewpoint. There was an outdoor art exhibit set up along the trail while we were there, featuring over 65 displays.

Canmore

After Banff, we checked into our Airbnb in Canmore, got settled, and then ate dinner at The Wood Restaurant. Dinner was delicious and the view from their patio was amazing! It was a great first day.

Saturday

Our Saturday was spent checking out some sites in Banff National Park.

Lake Minnewanka

We arrived at the lake at 8:30am. Our tour boat left at 9am and was on the water for one hour. The lake and surrounding mountains are very pretty.

Rundle Forebay Reservoir

This trail in Canmore is very flat and easy and is about 1.3 miles each way. For a Saturday with beautiful weather, I was shocked that we only encountered one other group on the trail while we were there. There were several kayaks and paddle boards out on the water. This would be a perfect spot for it!

Horseback Ride

Our main activity for the evening was horseback riding with Banff Trail Riders. We arrived at the stables at 4:30pm for our 5pm ride. Mike, Joe, and I all went horseback riding, and Denise chose to ride on their covered wagon. It was about a one hour ride to the location for dinner. The scenery along the way was gorgeous! We arrived at the dinner site and they took our orders for how we wanted our steak cooked. Shortly after, we received our food and it was delicious. On the way back, we took a different route that was even more beautiful than the way there. We really enjoyed this horseback ride!

Vermillion Lakes

After we departed from the stables around 8pm, we were only about ten minutes from Vermillion Lakes, a spot well-known for its sunset views. It was perfect timing since sunset was at 9pm. There were several other people there when we arrived (one guy was even swimming), and we waited our turn to walk out on the dock and take some pictures. A perfect end to the day!

Sunday

Our third day was spent in Yoho National Park and the town of Golden, which is about 1.5 hours from Banff.

Emerald Lake Hike

Our next stop is probably the most popular spot in Yoho National Park, Emerald Lake. The lake is accurately named – it’s very green! There is an easy 3.5 mile trail that goes all the way around the lake.

Natural Bridge

Natural Bridge is close to Emerald Lake, only a ten-minute drive back in the direction you came from. It’s a quick walk from the parking lot, but really cool. The “bridge” is a rock formation that was once a waterfall, but the rock eroded away, creating a hole in the formation. Definitely worth stopping at to see if you are going to Emerald Lake. We ate our packed lunches we’d brought here before continuing onto Golden.

Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre

I’d come across the Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre in my research and thought it sounded interesting. This is an educational facility that promotes wolf conservation. For $15 you can see the wolves and take an interpretive tour. There are several wolves there in their large enclosures. A few of them were not up for being seen, but we got to see the rest lying around and even pacing back and forth when their human mom walked by. I thought it was a nice spot and learned lots of interesting facts about wolves.

Golden Skybridge

Our last stop on the day trip was to the Golden Skybridge. There are several activities you can do here including a zipline over the canyon, a mountain coaster, a ropes course, a canyon swing, and the biggest attractions are the two sky bridges that span across the 426 foot canyon. The park was designed to be a one-way loop, and you must walk the entire thing to get to any of the activities. The first skybridge was way scarier than I thought it would be. It sways a little and bounces when people near you are walking. Fortunately, the steel wires on the sides of the bridge come up to about shoulder height and would make it nearly impossible to fall off. After you cross the first bridge, you do have to cross the second bridge to get back. Since we knew what to expect, the second one was a little easier to cross. It was really cool watching the zipliners fly by overhead as we walked across.

Moraine Lake

On our way back from Golden, we stopped at Moraine Lake, which is about halfway between Golden and Canmore. I would’ve normally planned to go to Moraine Lake the same day that we were going to Lake Louise. Our shuttle tickets to get to Moraine Lake were for any time between 5 and 6pm. The shuttle ride took about 25 minutes each way. When we arrived, we headed straight for the trail that goes up the rockpile. The color of Moraine Lake is the bluest you can imagine! There’s really nowhere quite like it. We spent a little time taking pictures at the top of the rockpile and then down along the shore as well. We boarded the shuttle back to our car.

Eat at Outpost Pub

We were all very hungry at this point, and wanted to get something to eat nearby. We found Outpost Pub, a pub-style restaurant in the Post hotel in the Lake Louise area. All four of us ordered burgers and they were great.

Monday

On our last full day in Banff, our top priority was seeing Lake Louise.

Lake Louise

By the time we got our packs ready and everyone had visited the bathrooms, we got down to the lake shore around 7am. The sun was rising but the lake was still relatively dark and quiet, compared to what it would be like in a couple hours.

Mike, Joe, and I would be hiking up to Little Beehive, which is a moderately strenuous 5.5 mile round trip hike. Denise was not comfortable doing that big of a hike, so she walked along the lakeshore trail and then hung out at the Fairmont Lake Louise while she waited on us to finish our hike.

The hike to Little Beehive is gorgeous! I couldn’t believe how amazing the view was! You could see all of Lake Louise, the Fairmont, and the mountains surrounding us. It was a tough hike, but it felt so good to conquer it. I highly recommend this hike!

Bow Valley Parkway

On our drive back to Canmore, we drove the Bow Valley Parkway. This scenic road is known for its wildlife sightings and many pretty stops along the way. We didn’t see any wildlife here, but we stopped at Morant’s Curve and saw a train on the tracks.

Relax and have dinner at Airbnb

We arrived back at our Airbnb just in time to have a late lunch. It was nice to do a couple loads of laundry and pack up our things before heading out the next morning. We made dinner at the Airbnb so we didn’t have to go anywhere and could just chill. Everyone was exhausted and it was the perfect night in the trip to stay home. Our next day would be a big one!

Tuesday

The Icefields Parkway, one of the most scenic drives in the world, lies between Banff and Jasper, Canada. We completed most of our stops on our way from Banff to Jasper on this day.

Peyto Lake

Peyto Lake is a must-see, and was our first stop of the day. This is probably my favorite lake in this area. It’s an extremely blue glacier-fed lake and is shaped like a wolf’s head! I also love it because there is a lesser-known path that takes you to an area away from most of the tourists and lets you enjoy the view in peace.

Jasper National Park Icefield Information Center

Our next stop was another hour’s drive north of Peyto Lake, the Columbia Icefields. This is where we would be spending a good chunk of our day. There is a really nice facility that has a restaurant, lodge, souvenir shop, restrooms, and is the starting point for a couple activities we’d be doing. The restaurant was pretty expensive, so we had picked up sandwiches from Subway that morning to eat. There were several picnic tables outside. We ate our sandwiches outside and enjoyed the view. We then checked out the souvenir shop and restrooms before joining our first tour activity.

Columbia Icefields Glacier Experience

The two activities we’d be doing at the Columbia Icefields are part of the Pursuit Pass we had. We had tickets for the glacier experience at 12:15pm, so we joined the line about ten minutes before that. After a quick wait, they boarded us onto a bus to get to the edge of the glacier. It was a short drive over, and then they transferred us to the huge all-terrain vehicle that would be driving us onto the glacier. When we got to our destination on the glacier, we all got out and shuffled around on the ice to take some pictures. We really enjoyed this activity. They took us back to the visitor center and loaded us up on another bus to get to the skywalk.

Columbia Icefields Skywalk

The drive to the skywalk is about 10 minutes north. We arrived and they let us wander the site at our own pace. The skywalk juts out over the canyon below. It’s clear, so you can see below where you walk. There were a lot of people there, which took away from the experience in my opinion. I’d say if you have the Pursuit Pass, definitely check it out. It could be passed otherwise. We then boarded the bus to go back to the visitor center.

Athabasca Falls

Another 50 minutes’ drive north will take you to Athabasca Falls. The falls aren’t far from the parking lot. The waterfall isn’t tall, but the amount of water rushing down was quite impressive! There are paths on both sides of the falls and a bridge over the top. I’d say this is worth a stop on your drive.

Sunwapta Falls

Sunwapta Falls is another waterfall 20 minutes north of Athabasca Falls. It is similar to Athabasca Falls, where you can see it from either side or on the bridge over it. I really enjoyed the view from the bridge! In 40 more minutes, you’ll reach the town of Jasper, which is where we stayed.

Overall, I thought the Icefields Parkway was fantastic! If you are going from Banff to Jasper, you’ll have to make the drive. You may as well make a day out of it and stop to enjoy all these beautiful spots!

Wednesday

Pyramid Lake

On our first full day in Jasper, we started our day at Pyramid Lake, a 10-minute drive outside of town. We decided to do a short hike from the parking area by the lodge to Pyramid Island. There is a hiking trail that runs parallel to the road following the lakeshore. After about 0.8 miles, we reached Pyramid Island. There is a picturesque bridge crossing from the mainland to the island and a trail that follows the perimeter of the small island. We enjoyed this spot!

After arriving back at our car, we visited the kayak and canoe rental shop by the lodge. The four of us headed out in two double kayaks. We planned on just paddling to the other side of the lake and back. The wind made the water a little rough and more difficult to paddle. When we got about halfway across the lake, we noticed some elk swimming in the water over by the other shore. We got so excited and started paddling more quickly. We made it to the elk and were close. The elk just stared at us and kept enjoying themselves. We hung out there watching them for a bit and then headed back to shore. What an awesome experience!

Lunch at Earls Kitchen + Bar

We had worked up quite an appetite so headed to lunch in town at Earls. The weather was absolutely perfect, so we sat outside on their rooftop patio. Everyone loved their meal and the view!

Maligne Lake boat tour to Spirit Island

After lunch, we drove to Maligne Lake, which is about an hour away. The drive is down a road that is known for wildlife sightings. We ended up seeing a herd of bighorn sheep (including babies!) near Medicine Lake. We got in line for our Maligne Lake boat tour around 4pm and boarded the boat and started our cruise to Spirit Island. This lake is gorgeous. I thought it was prettier than Lake Minnewanka, which we had toured in Banff a few days prior. After about 45 minutes, we arrived at Spirit Island. We had 15 minutes of free time to walk around and take pictures of the island. Spirit Island is one of the most photographed spots in the world. I thought it was interesting that it’s not actually an island for most of the year and is connected to the mainland. In the spring, the snow melting raises the water level, causing it to turn into an island. On the boat ride back, Mike and I hung out on the back of the boat most of the time taking pictures. I highly recommend this tour!

Hike Moose Lake Loop

After our tour, we did a quick hike on the Moose Lake Loop, starting from the parking area on the opposite side of the lake. This is a 1.7 mile loop leading to a lake that moose frequent. The hike was easy and we reached the lake after only about 15 minutes of hiking. Thanks to another group who pointed it out, we got to see a moose from across the lake! It was far away so hard to see without a zoom lens or binoculars. We took a few pictures and then headed back to the car.

Dinner at Jasper Brewing Company

After the hour drive back to Jasper, we ate dinner at Jasper Brewing Company. We liked the food and beers we got there!

Witness the dark sky

There was a new moon that night, which is perfect for witnessing the dark sky and Milky Way. Jasper is a Dark Sky Preserve, meaning it has limited light pollution and is an optimal spot for night sky viewing. We saw the Milky Way and probably about a million stars that night!