Alberta’s Greens and Blues

Aug 2

Last Trip: October 2018
I took this trip years ago, so please treat my ideas as a starting point for further Googling. Jasper weathered a major wildfire in 2024, and the town has been rebuilding since — all the more reason to go stimulate the economy. It’s the least we can do for the lush, limitless bounty it offers us for free.

A Tale of Two Towns

Everyone knows Banff. It’s the headliner, the Instagram darling, the reason you book the flight. I went for Banff. I came home talking about Jasper.

Here's the loop I did, and I'd do it exactly this way again. I flew Boston to Calgary, picked up my rental car around noon, and drove straight past Banff — five hours up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. I stayed in Jasper five nights, drove the Parkway back down, stayed in Banff five nights, and then it was an easy hour to the airport to fly home. Front-loading the long drive meant the back half of the trip felt effortless. It also meant that on my very first night, after eleven-plus hours of planes and highway, I rode the Jasper Sky Tram up Whistlers Mountain at 7:00 p.m. and watched the Rockies go dark from 7,500 feet. Welcome to Alberta.

Let the Road Take You

*Tinny rust, shushed turquoise, pinging lemon-lime, dusty dark chocolate*

Just Throw it In

October in the Rockies is winter flirting with fall. I layered every day: Uniqlo base layer, light fleece, and a packable down jacket I bought specifically for this trip — the exposed, windy stretches on high trails made it earn its keep immediately. While I didn’t need them, traction cleats are a requirement when the trails (and sidewalks!) become icy in winter; shaded switchbacks freeze early up there. When in doubt, bring that odd, extra layer. I can almost promise you may need it.

Download offline maps before you leave home, and pack an extra phone charger. I say this with feeling, because I got spectacularly lost on one of my Jasper hikes while my phone died in the Canadian wilderness. I mostly laugh when I tell it now.

Scenic Switchbacks

I was surprised at what the Icefields Parkway did to be … it quickly became one of the best parts of the entire trip. Waterfalls, glaciers, turquoise lakes, panoramic views for several hours. I don't mind a long car ride, and this one made me sad to arrive. Athabasca Falls, Sunwapta Falls, Peyto Lake, Bow Lake — you could pull over every twenty minutes and never regret a single stop. Without stops it's about three and a half hours between Jasper and Lake Louise; it would be a crime to do it in under five or six. I lucked into gorgeous weather on both driving days, which felt like the mountains showing off just for me.

Two logistics recommendations: drive it in daylight, and gas up before you go. There's exactly one station along the entire route. I don’t want you to waste time eyeballing the gas gauge when you could be gasping at nature’s colors, changing with the shifting daylight.

Jasper, the Indie Darling

Jasper is a chiller Banff. It's a little mountain town with a hippie, unbothered energy that I adored, ringed by lakes and laced with trails. I could have happily spent the whole two weeks there.

My first full morning, I was in a canoe on Pyramid Lake at 8:00 a.m., gliding across water so still it doubled the mountains. The surviving photos from that paddle are some of my favorites I've ever taken. For day three, I had pre-booked myself a deep tissue massage, because I contain multitudes and my calves contained knots. In between, I hiked — Jasper's genius is that the trails start basically at your door. From my Airbnb I could walk to many trailheads, without ever touching the car.

Speaking of that Airbnb: Jasper does lodging the old-fashioned way. There were no big hotels in town, and locals have been welcoming travelers into their homes since long before the app existed. My hosts wanted to actually know me, which I found both charming and … insistent? Their guesthouse cost me less per night than a chain hotel off a Massachusetts highway, and they had an old dog named Sully, a curious toddler named Addie, and a delightful back garden. It’s worth noting how many folks, including my hosts, inquired about hiking safety precautions. Nearly every local I met asked first, “Where are you from?” and second — right on its heels — “Do you have bear spray?” So, please, for the love of not becoming a this-SO-could-ve-been-avoided statistic, either bring or borrow a functioning bottle of bear spray for your trip. Mmmkay?

One planning reality, learned the fun way: I went in late October, deep in shoulder season, and when I emailed the local tour companies, most of them replied with some version of "we're closed for the year, but have you tried our competitor?" One outfit had to refund a canoe tour that couldn't run. The town gets sleepy between summer crowds and ski season. Email ahead, hold your plans loosely, and know that the tradeoff — empty trails, no lines, locals with time to chat — is worth the trip.

Banff, the Icon

Banff is more like Aspen — established, tony, built up, with higher price points and shops selling crystals to people in very good outerwear. It delivers exactly what the brochure promises, beautifully.

Here, the tours were still running, and I leaned in: the Banff Gondola up Sulphur Mountain, a Legends and Landmarks walking tour through town, wildlife excursions out toward Lake Louise where the guides pointed out elk like they were introducing old friends. Those short two-to-five-hour tours paced my days perfectly, and every good recommendation I got on that trip came from a guide or a fellow traveler on one of them. You'll do Lake Louise, obviously, and you should wander into the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise even if you're staying elsewhere — that hotel and its lake view are the stuff of legends (and the spot of many girly-pop-in-head-to-toe-Patagonia IG posts and perhaps-could’ve-been-more-original proposals). On my final morning, I did a sunrise canoe paddle before driving to the airport, because if you're going to leave the Rockies, you should leave them from the middle of a lake.

Behind my eyes, the colors have taste and sound, too

You'll notice this post is lighter on photos than usual. My phone was stolen back home in Boston before my trip photos ever synced, so most of them are gone. A handful survived on my Instagram — the good ones of Pyramid Lake and Lake Louise. I was heartbroken at first, but honestly? The time spent simply feeling the air over there will always be more than enough.