Compendium of inspiring, unique and historically significant sites

A castle in the wilds; a snail that lives nowhere else; trees that flag the wind; a summit two miles above roadside ... these are a few of the better and lesser known things that make the Canadian Rockies special. Ours is an inspiring landscape of superlatives and subtleties. Official viewpoints abound, but anywhere you look, walk or listen will create your personal story of what makes the Rockies famous.

River Thunder
The Athabasca carries more water out of the Rockies than any other river. At Athabasca Falls (along the Icefields Parkway), the glacially-fed torrent thunders over a 23 m (75 ft) drop. Stand at viewpoints in the spray of the falls, and marvel at nature’s power.

Top Town. Feeling Winded?
It’s a natural response to the thinner mountain air. Banff (elevation 1,383 m or 4,537 ft) is the highest incorporated municipality in Canada. Your pace may slow more at Lake Louise (1,534 m or 5,033 ft) -- the country’s highest hamlet (add another 197 m or 646 ft if you visit the lakeshore). Bow Summit (2,069 m or 6,788 ft) on the Icefields Parkway is the highest point in Canada on an all-season paved road. In Kananaskis, stop for a walk at Highwood Pass (2,227 m or 7,307 ft) on Highway 40, Canada’s highest paved, summer-only road. 

Old as the Hills
Established in 1895 and moved into its present Banff Avenue building in 1903, the Banff Park Museum is the oldest natural history museum in western Canada. Under the direction of curator Norman Sanson, the museum was known as “The University of the Hills.” Gone are the zoo and aviary, but 5,000 specimens and a fine reading room remain at this National Historic Site.

In Hot Water
When discovered in 1926, the Banff Springs Snail lived in all nine hot springs near Banff. By 1994 researchers could find it in only five. As a result, this creature the size of a corn kernel became Canada’s first endangered mollusc. The snails feed and breed in algae mats at spring sources, in water between 30°C (80°F) and 36°C (97°F). Among the greatest threats to their tiny ecosystem are visitors dipping their hands and dropping coins. Parks Canada is reintroducing the snails to areas where they formerly thrived, and is attempting to minimize disturbances.

Castle in the Wilds
In 1888, the Canadian Pacific Railway opened its flagship hotel, the Banff Springs. Designed by architect Bruce Price and built for $250,000, the 250-room facility was the largest hotel in the world. Hot spring water was piped 2.1 km (1.3 mi) from the Upper Hot Springs and room rates were $3.50. Today, you can pay 200 times as much in peak season, but casual visitors can enjoy the hotel public spaces without checking in.

Big Beginnings
Jasper was established in 1907 as Canada’s fifth national park and the country’s largest protected area -- it’s 10,878 sq km (6,757 sq mi) accounts for about one-half of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site. The park’s highlights include the Columbia Icefield, Maligne Lake, Maligne Canyon and Mt Edith Cavell.

Mountain Maze
In 1883, the Canadian Pacific Railway was built in the Kicking Horse Valley on a grade twice as steep as the 2.2 per cent allowed by the CPR charter ("a temporary solution," said railway baron William Cornelius Van Horne). This Big Hill railroading nightm">are persisted for 25 years until completion of the Spiral Tunnels -- two ingenious loops that doubled the track length and cut the grade in half. See lower Spiral Tunnel portals from a Hwy 1 pull-out, and explore railway history on the nearby Walk in the Past trail at Kicking Horse campground.

Final Barrier
Imagine a fish at home in an icy glacial stream and in the open ocean. Now visit Rearguard Falls, a spectacular river-wide rapid on the Fraser River in Mt Robson Provincial Park. From mid-August to mid-September chinook salmon battle the current of this final barrier as they attempt to return to their Swiftcurrent Creek spawning grounds after an 11-week, 1,300 km (807 mi) journey from the Pacific Ocean, four years after their birth.

Flag Trees
Who has seen the wind? At treeline where snow piles 5 m (16.5 ft) deep and summer lasts two months, flag trees reveal the direction of the prevailing wind. Stunted subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, whitebark pine, and Lyall’s larch may be hundreds of years old but less than 3 m (10 ft) tall. The windward side of each tree will be largely devoid of branches, pruned by a razor of cold. On the trees' leeward side, branches grow in the marginally better conditions, flagging the wind's direction. See flag trees on the Icefields Parkway (Bow Summit, Sunwapta Pass, Parker Ridge, Cavell Meadows), and Sunshine Meadows.

It is Wonderful!
The best place to appreciate Yoho National Park’s motto, "rockwalls and waterfalls," is at Takakkaw Falls where a ribbon of water plummets 380 m (1,247 ft) down a limestone cliff. Takakkaw is a Cree word that means: "It is wonderful." Stand in the spray of the falls on a hot day, or spot a rainbow in its mists in late afternoon, and you’ll agree.

Birthplace of Banff
When three railway workers stumbled across natural hot pools and subterranean springs in November 1883, they never could have imagined that two years later the Canadian government would set aside the Banff Hot Springs Reserve as Canada’s first national park. Learn more about the history of Banff and Canada’s national park system (46 parks and counting) at the Cave & Basin National Historic Site.

The Wonder Trail
A.O. Wheeler, the first proponent of a road between Lake Louise and Jasper, had it right when he said: "This wonder trail will be world renowned." Today, many rank the 230 km (143 mi) Icefields Parkway the most scenic drive anywhere. Completed in 1939, the road follows the Bow, Mistaya, North Saskatchewan, Sunwapta and Athabasca valleys, providing stunning views of glacier-clad peaks (including 11 of the 50 highest in the Rockies), glacially-fed lakes, and five of the 12 icefields that flank the route. Black bears, grizzly bears, elk, bighorn sheep and mountain goats make roadside appearances. A fortunate few see mountain caribou.

Totally Cool
The 325 sq km (202 sq mi) Columbia Icefield is the largest icefield in North America's interior. From its apex atop Snow Dome (3,456 m or 11,339 ft), eight tributary glaciers flow into surrounding valleys. Athabasca Glacier cascades almost to the Icefields Parkway -- walk to the glacier terminus, take a guided Icewalk, or ride an Ice Explorer.

How Strange?
On mountainsides near Field, rocks tell bizarre tales from 500 million years ago. Burgess Shale outcrops contain fossilized remains of 140 species -- some the earliest examples of lifeforms alive today; others evolutionary dead-ends that disappeared long ago (such as the Hallucigenia with 7 pairs of legs and 7 pairs of protective spines). Call 1-800-343-3006 for a guided hike.

Wickedly Big Lake
Stretching 22.5 km (14 mi), Jasper’s Maligne Lake is the longest natural lake in the Rockies. Maligne (mah-leen) is French for "wicked" -- an early traveller gave the name to the river that flows from the lake when he had trouble fording its mouth. Mary Schäffer penned a more favourable impression when she visited 100 years ago: "... masses of flowers, the lap-lap of the waters on the shore, the occasional reverberating roar of an avalanche and our own voices stilled by a nameless Presence." The 5.2 km (3.2 mi) Bald Hills trail climbs to a fire lookout site, wildflower garden mid-summer, and the area's best view. Or, take a Maligne Tours cruise.

Cloud Cap Mountain
Many of the Rockies' tallest peaks can't be seen from the road. But west of Jasper the highest, Mt Robson (3,954 m or 12,972 ft), compensates. The Monarch of the Rockies fills the windshield of Hwy 16 travellers. Its glacier-clad summit most often cleaves clouds of its own making.