If you go to Banff National Park, don’t limit your time to just there! Head north and drive through the Icefields Parkway to Jasper National Park. Here’s more on our camping trip in Canada.
Tuesday
It’s only a three hour drive from Lake Louise to Jasper National Park but we departed early to allow time for site seeing along the Icefields Parkway. We arrived at Bow Lake at the perfect time as the sun mirrored the mountains in the water. Peyto Lake was a bit more busy but we were still able to take in the view. We scrambled eggs and reheated potatoes in the parking lot before making the short hike to the Toe of Athabasca Glacier. Our final stop was at the Sunwapta Falls and we walked along the river watching the water cascade over the rocks. We checked into our site at Wapiti Campground then picked up a few groceries in town.
Icefields Parkway Bow Lake Peyto Lake Toe of Athabasca Glacier
Wednesday
The early bird gets the parking space at Maligne Canyon. Ugh. After circling the parking lot for what seemed like forever, we joined the bus loads of tourists. We stopped at the numerous overlooks listening to the calming roar of the falls. We continued down the road and had lunch on a rock at Medicine Lake. We rented a canoe at Maligne Lake and I took photos while Mark did all the rowing. We tried to coordinate strokes but I managed to make it more difficult. We later had dinner at the Olive Bistro & Lounge and finished with ice cream from Scoops & Loops.
Maligne Canyon Medicine Lake Maligne Lake
Thursday
As we were leaving Jasper we noticed several cars parked along the shoulder but we couldn’t see what had caught their attention. Eventually I saw a small black bear foraging along the side of the road. TRIP COMPLETE!

Canada was a dream! I did more than survive six nights of sleeping in a tent, I actually enjoyed it. I’m excited to start planning our next camping adventure.