Rockies-TCH view of Castle Mountain in winter-sliver
Arrival Airport: Calgary International (YYC)
Overnight Stops: Calgary – Invermere – Golden – Jasper – Banff – Calgary
What to See & Do in the Canadian Rockies?
Heading west from Calgary, you approach the stunning Rocky Mountains, rising a mile above you. See the hotspot of Banff, with easy hikes in a near the town, Lake Louise and Morraine Lake. Head southwest via Kootenay National Park, pass through a tunnel into Radium in the Columbia Valley on its northwards journey. Head north to Golden, and up the rugged Kicking Horse Valley and the Spiral Tunnels, and then up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper, passing the massive Columbia Icefields. (and lots of other glaciers) before returning to Canmore and Calgary.
Arrive in Calgary (1), home to the Calgary Stampede, Heritage Park, Canada Olympic Park, the Olympic Hall of Fame, and the famous Calgary Zoo and Prehistoric Park.
From there, travel west through Kootenay National Park to Radium where you can enjoy the renowned Radium Hot Springs, and then to Invermere (2) to see the magnificent Rockies from the British Columbia side.
Golden-TCH-Summer View Of Mountains4 Kicking Horse Ski Hill
Travel up the wide Columbia River Valley to Golden (3), which is known as Kicking Horse Country and home to mountain recreation like hiking, horseback riding, and white water rafting. And see a black bear (“Boo”) at Kicking Horse Resort, or visit a wolf preserve just west of town.
Drive east on the Trans-Canada through Yoho National Park, passing several amazing avalanche abatement walls and devices. You’ll cross the stunning Park Bridge, which is as high above the river below as the rock cut on the east end of the bridge rises above the highway. Inside the park, stop at the Spiral Tunnels, an engineering marvel of their time, and catch a training crossing over itself on either the way east (uphill) or west (downhill) before crossing the Continental Divide back into Alberta.
Head north in a breathtaking steep mountain-walled valley, heading up the switchback Bow Summit driving past stunning glacier-fed Peyto Lake and then past massive Columbia Icefields Glacier. Marvel at many other scenic wonders including the Endless Chain, a 20 kilometre long knife-edge of majestic mountain peaks before arriving in the picturesque community of Jasper (4) in the heart of Jasper National Park to enjoy its variety of wildlife and recreation. in Jasper, you can head up the Jasper Tram, just south of town, for views of pyramid-shaped Mount Robson which is 100 km away to the northwest.
