Canada National Parks Road Trip Itinerary

This blog covers the section of our road trip through Canada’s National Parks, including Canada’s Glacier National Park, Yoho National Park, Jasper National Park, Banff National Park, and Kootenay National Park.

In the summer of 2017, we set off on a 5,000-mile, summer-long adventure road trip through the Western U.S. and Canada.

Our goal was to lose ourselves in the mountains, connect as a family, and find incredible hikes and rock climbing destinations along the way.

Canada’s National Parks have some of the most amazing mountain ranges in the world. You’ll be amazed by all the waterfalls, teal colored alpine lakes, and density of snow-capped mountains.

All five national parks are incredible and were worth the drive. Here’s the lowdown on how to plan a road trip to all these places and which the best hikes are to do on your road trip.

Canada National Park Road Trip Stop 1: Glacier National Park

Canada’s Glacier National Park is gorgeous and has a ton of options for hiking. Our favorite was Great Glacier, a perfect hike for the whole family at only 4 miles round trip. The hike takes you to an open viewpoint of a magnificent, pouring waterfall, enormous peaks, and great glaciers (hence the name), where you can sit on open, granite rock formations, have a snack, and enjoy the view.

We enjoyed camping inside Glacier National Park at Illecillewaet Campground.

Canada National Park Road Trip Stop 2: Yoho National Park

Yoho National Park lies directly east of and shares a border with Banff National Park. The short hike we stopped for was one of our all-time favorite family-friendly hikes, Wapta Falls. The hike to the falls goes through an unchanging forest and opens up to a fenced viewpoint. Here you’ll see a glimpse of the massive waterfall, whose mist creates glorious rainbows and pools. Hike all the way to the bottom and enjoy the full beauty of the waterfall and amazing surroundings. Skip rocks on the river and if you’re brave, take a polar plunge in the river. 

As you drive onward toward Banff you’ll see a sign for Emerald Lake to the left. There is a great family hike here that goes around the circumference of the stunning emerald green lake. This is an amazing sunset hike.

When you finish, there’s a picturesque lodge restaurant across the bridge that overlooks the lake.

If you have the gear, backpack the famed Iceline trail which is one of the most breathtaking backpacking trips in the Canadian Rockies (we wanted to do this hike really bad but we didn’t have the gear for it). What’s great about it is that you can choose to sleep at a backcountry hut.

Canada National Park Road Trip Stop 3: Icefields Parkway

Don’t skip Icefield Parkway, even if you can’t make it all the way to Jasper. I highly recommend hiking to Helen Lake. It’s not one of the most kid-friendly hikes, but our 6-year-old pulled it off with lots of snacks. The hike goes into an upper layer of mountain peaks, traverses through a European-esque plateau and ends at a small and pretty lake–with the option to go further to Dolomite Peak.

Note: The mosquitos were vicious when we hiked this in mid-July.

After your hike, drive a little further north, stop at the viewpoint for Bow Glacier Lake and if your legs aren’t exhausted, hike to Bow Glacier Falls–though you can see a glimpse of them from the highway.

Next, stop at Peyto Lake overlook and instead of taking in the gorgeous renowned overlook from the fenced area, hike 5-10 minutes further uphill to an open area of rocks where you will likely have the view to yourself.

Canada National Park Road Trip Stop 4: Jasper National Park

Hike Valley of the Five Lakes, Drive the Maligne Lake road, and camp at Whistlers Campground. Jasper is one of the most spectacular parks in the Canadian Rockies and absolutely worth the detour. It’s known for its towering peaks, turquoise lakes, and incredible hiking, from scenic day trails to epic routes like the Skyline Trail that traverses alpine ridges above treeline. You can explore Maligne Lake and its Spirit Island, ride the Jasper SkyTram for panoramic views, and relax in Miette Hot Springs after a day of adventure. Jasper’s vast wilderness, abundant wildlife, and dramatic scenery make it a must‑visit stop on any national parks road trip.

Canada National Park Road Trip Stop 5: Lake Louise Area

Lake Louise was likely our favorite spot in the whole national park region. The colors, the glaciers, the mountains, and the lakes—they’re just so jaw-droppingly beautiful. Lake Louise contains more hikes than you’ll be able to fit in so here were our favorites.

We combined all three hikes around Lake Louise– Lake Agnus Tea House, Devil’s Thumb, and Plain of Six Glaciers. It was awesome and Jiraiya even did it with us!

Two other must do hikes here are: 1) Lake Agnes and Lake Louise. Whatever you or your kids’ skill level, you’ll be able to find a gorgeous route to enjoy. 2) Consolation Lakes. This easy stroll is perfect if you have little kids. The view at the end is breathtaking but be prepared for lots of mosquitos. Take bear spray, this supposedly has the highest amount of bear sightings in Banff (though we didn’t see one). Hike Consolation early in the morning because the hike starts from Moraine Lake, perhaps the most beautiful lake in the world, and it gets crowded fast. Plus, both lakes will have better lighting for photos in the morning. 3) Though we did not get the chance to hike it, we really wanted to hike the Valley of the Ten Peaks to Eiffel lake which is 7 miles round trip and has 1200 feet of elevation gain!

Lake Louise has three options for camping 1) You can reserve a campsite at Lake Louise campground 6 months in advance on the dot (it fills up super fast).  I wouldn’t recommend this though because the campground was mediocre.  You still had to walk/bike into Lake Louise village and take a shuttle if you wanted to go hike anywhere. 2) There is an overflow lot that charges $15 for people to camp there. 3) There are decent pullouts on the highway between Lake Louise and Banff that we slept at a few times.  This is really the best way to go since we’d always get up early anyway to get a parking spot at trailheads** On the way to Banff: Take the scenic Bow Valley Parkway the runs parallel to the major Highway 1.  This is where the Johnston Canyon hike is, containing the famous Johnston Cave photo opportunity that lies just off the main trail.

Canada National Park Road Trip Stop 6: Banff Town

We didn’t spend much time in the town of Banff–way too touristy for us.  However, we did stop at Widflower Bakery twice to get their amazingly delicious bread (and WiFi).  It was a great resource for us that Lake Louise visitor center offers a free shuttle to and from the visitor center and Banff every hour. We did however hike The East End of Rundle and let me just say, this is a massive leg burner! But the views are rad! Check here first to see if it open.

Canada National Park Road Trip Stop 7: Kootenay National Park

Due to wildfires, we were only able to make one stop at Olive Lake to do the very short hike to find a geocache when driving through Kootenay. While still a beautiful forest, I wouldn’t dedicate too much time here since it pales in comparison with the other national parks.

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