Tag: Alberta

Day Trips from Jasper National Park

Places to visit from Jasper National Park

Last year, we were lucky enough to spend some time in Jasper National Park.

Waking up early one morning, we heard hushed voices right outside the cabin. Peaking out, a herd of elk were lazily wandering down the embankment. We must have watched silently with about ten other travellers as they made their way from the river to the thick tree coverage.

What a beautiful way to start the morning!

Although we weren’t in Jasper for long, we did get chance to take a couple of day trips. These are our ‘don’t miss’ suggestions:

Athabasca Falls

The view from the top of Athabasca Falls

A furious waterfall on the upper Athabasca River, this was a great way to spend a morning. It was only around a half hour drive from our base in Jasper and was fairly easy to find. The force of the water is incredible, as is the noise as it crashes down into the gorge below. Over the years, the water has channelled a way through the softer cliff walls, creating a twisting, turning chasm.

The water thunders down into the chasm at Athabasca Falls

The viewing areas for the waterfall are well thought out, jutting out at a variety of places across the water. Athabasca Falls is located just off highway 93A, making it a great little stop if you are visiting the Athabasca Glacier or driving down the Icefield Parkway.

Looking out over the Athabasca Falls

Jasper Town Centre

If you are heading through Jasper, you can’t miss a trip to the town centre. Set out on a long stretch of road, multiple little shops await, full of the usual souvenirs and bear spray. This is not why you should visit the town centre. I have a bit of a pet hate of natural parks and remote places adding lots of shops (I’m looking at you Banff). I can completely understand the need for a couple of little stores, stocked with essentials and set up to blend in with the surrounding area – however national parks don’t need shopping complexes in my opinion. Anyway, with that in mind: go to Jasper town centre, find the shops and then turn your back on them. Look in exactly the opposite direction and you will be greeted by an incredible view of the Rockies.

Set against the cars, the backdrop of the Canadian Rockies looked like a cardboard cut out.

I’m not sure if it was the contrast of the mountains against the shops and cars, but this was truly an amazing view. It looked just like a cardboard cut out of a storybook skyline and it was breathtaking.

Athabasca Glacier

This was a slightly longer drive from where we were staying (about two hours). Try to keep your eyes peeled on the drive down the Icefield Parkway as early morning trips are likely to reveal lots of wildlife spotting opportunities.

Standing on a glacier was incredible! A real ‘bucket-list opportunity’

The weather change from Jasper town centre to the glacier is huge – we started in shorts and ended up wrapped up in layers and winter coats! You can read all about our Glacier Trip here.

Maligne Lake

This was the underdog of the day trips from Jasper. I didn’t know much about the lake and we’d not really done much research about the visit, deciding our destination on the spur-of-the-moment.

A view of the glaciers in the distance across Maligne Lake

If you plan to visit the lake, it’s worth trying to have as long there as you can – you won’t want to leave! What a setting this place is! Emerald waters stretch away from the sandy shore, framed by the glacial mountains in the distance, it’s clear why this location is one of the most photographed in the Rockies.

Maligne Lake has such a beautiful of the glaciers and mountains - I really didn’t want to leave!

One of the main attractions is Spirit Island – reachable by one of the many over-priced boat rides on the lake. The Stoney Nakoda First Nation believe that the Island is a spiritual place, particularly as it is overlooked by three of the glacial mountains, which they believe to be their ancestors. As you can’t actually set foot on Spirit Island, we chose to do a walk around the lake instead.

Canoes on the bank of Maligne Lake

A trail follows the outline of the lake, giving glimpses of the mountain range through the tree line.

The emerald waters create a musical setting for walk around the lake

I found Jasper to be far prettier and much more relaxed (and cheaper!) than it’s much-discussed Banff neighbour. Lots of other travellers told us to spend longer in Banff than Jasper, but I’m going to be rebellious and suggest that longer in Jasper would have been better. This might have been something to do with our little log cabin stay at Jasper House Bungalows which, although fairly expensive, were in a gorgeous setting, looking out over the Athabasca River.

We had some incredible sunsets here too, it was such a tranquil setting.

Haunting, Lonely & Beautiful

We chose one of the rainiest days of our trip to drive out to Moraine Lake. It had been sunny in the morning and we had taken the opportunity to head up Sulphur Mountain where we had amazing views (as long as you turned your back to the coffee shop and huge visitors centre – you can read about that in a forthcoming post). By the time we got back down the mountain and set off to Moraine Lake, it was drizzling and quite a bit cooler.

This change in weather had resulted in fewer people around the lake, giving us a better view once we arrived. A huge rock scramble to one side of the lake provided a good vantage point, but instead we trundled around the edge of the water, sticking to the cover of the trees.

At the mouth of the lake, many logs floated side by side, creating a false path stretching across the water. A few ripples broke the surface of the water as the rain hit the surface. The quietness of the lake, coupled with the rain, created a lonely atmosphere. The backdrop of the mountains provided a stunning frame for the lake and prevented the vibe from getting too morose.

Whilst waiting to get that ‘perfect picture’ of the lake, I watched a older Chinese family try to orchestrate several children and a couple of older family members into the best photo position, suggesting poses and shouting for smiles. This took some time and it was good to watch them taking such care in the capture of a family photograph in this beautiful spot. As everyone aligned and showed their best holiday smiles, the older female of the group let out the biggest sneeze, surprising herself and the rest of the family, right as the camera clicked. The group (including us and those around us) descended into fits of laughter and a better, more natural photograph was captured. I’d love to see how that picture turned out – and if the people who’s mantlepiece the photo ended up on realise just how much effort was put into its creation.