Banff National Park Travel Guide

The Banff National Park Travel Guide describes everything you need to know about visiting 6,641-square-kilometre (2,564-square-mile) Banff National Park, which encompasses some of the world’s most magnificent scenery.

In Banff National Park, snowcapped peaks of the Rocky Mountains form a spectacular backdrop for glacial lakes, fast-flowing rivers, and endless forests, while also providing a home to abundant wildlife. Deer, moose, elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, black and grizzly bears, wolves, and cougars inhabit the park’s vast wilderness, while the human species is concentrated in the picture-postcard towns of Banff and Lake Louise—two North America’s most famous resorts. Banff is near the park’s southeast gate, 128 kilometres (80 miles) west of Calgary. Lake Louise, northwest of Banff along the TransCanada Highway, sits astride its namesake lake, which is regarded as one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The lake is rivaled for sheer beauty only by Moraine Lake, just down the road. Just north of Lake Louise, the Icefields Parkway begins its spectacular course alongside the Continental Divide to Jasper National Park.