Jasper National Park Travel Guide

The Jasper National Park Travel Guide encompasses snowcapped peaks, vast icefields, beautiful glacial lakes, soothing hot springs, thundering rivers, and an extensive backcountry trail system that make Jasper National Park one of Canada’s finest travel destinations.

Lying on the Albertan side of the Canadian Rockies, Jasper protects the entire upper watershed of the Athabasca River, extending to the Columbia Icefield (and Banff National Park) in the south. To the east are the foothills, to the west the Continental Divide (which marks the Alberta to British Columbia border) and Mount Robson Provincial Park. Encompassing 10,900 square kilometres (4,208 square miles), Jasper is a haven for wildlife; much of its wilderness is traveled only by wolves and grizzlies.

Jasper National Park’s most spectacular natural landmarks can be admired from two major roads. The Yellowhead Highway runs east to west from Edmonton through Jasper National Park to Mount Robson Provincial Park. The Icefields Parkway, regarded as one of the world’s great mountain drives, runs north to south, connecting Jasper to Banff. At the junction of these two highways is Jasper National Park’s main service centre—the town of Jasper. With half the population of Banff, its setting—at the confluence of the Athabasca and Miette Rivers, surrounded by rugged, snowcapped peaks—is a little less dramatic, though still beautiful. But the town is also less commercialized than Banff and its streets a little quieter—a major plus for those looking to get away from it all.