Jasper NP
Jasper was the final destination on my trip, so while visiting the most popular places, I took some time to relax at the end of the holiday before going back home. The town, built around the railway which has shaped the history of the area, and the park are different from Banff since it is less crowded and less tourists oriented even if it offers everything a visitor may need. The most popular places are usually a little far from Jasper and not on the main road (Maligne Lake, for example, is a one hour drive from Jasper) and there are a lot of beautiful destinations to enjoy relaxing walks by a lake, canoeing, horse riding or whatever can be done in the wilderness where mainstream tourism is usually far away.
On my list there were of course Maligne Lake and Canyon, Edith Cavell, Miette Hot Springs, the Valley of Five Lakes, the Gondola and a trip to Mt. Robson. To relax instead I usually chose one of the incredible lakes close to Jasper, Pyramid Lake being my favourite, and the trails going around town. I’d say it was the perfect way to end the trip even if for a couple of days I had to deal with smoky conditions because of the B.C. wildfires again.
The most famous area in the park is probably the Maligne Road: it starts from Jasper outskirts, runs by Maligne Canyon and Medicine Lake going South and ends on the North shores of Maligne Lake. From there it is possible to take a boat to Spirit Island, one of Canada’s most iconic places as already explained in a previous post. It is a must do even if it is the only place in the park with real crowds and I suggest early morning for hiking in the canyon, Medicine Lake for lunch and then the cruise on Maligne Lake in the late afternoon for the best light (with good weather conditions of course).
Mount Edith Cavell with its glacier and lake is another popular destination but you need a special pass this year to get there because of renovations on the road and the parking lot. This means that only a limited number of vehicles can access the area, but if you are staying a couple of days in the Jasper it is not hard to get a pass, so I had a great time there seing more animals than people, grizzly bears included.
Also all the other places were well worth the trip and each one left me something. I think that probably this is the park I would return to more often if I was able spend a couple of weeks in the Rockies every year.
Since I’ve used pictures taken in Jasper NP in a lot of previous posts for many reasons, I’m going to end this final post about my trip in the Canadian Rockies with only the images of the park not already seen. I hope you have enjoyed this virtual trip as I did making it for real!
