Jasper National Park
Jasper National Park is one of the seven Canadian Rocky Mountain National Parks and is a hiker's paradise, with over 600 miles of trails. It's a spectacular wild area where bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, grizzly bears, mountain lions, wolves and wolverines roam free. There's plenty of great hikes for kids, but it's also best to stick to trails. After all, the bears and wolves live here - you're just a guest.
Hike onto Prehistoric Ice (Columbia Icefields) - The Athabasca, Stutfield and Dome glaciers at the Continental Divide are known collectively as the Columbia Icefield. The enormous field of prehistoric ice melts into rivers running to the Arctic, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans.
Take the Ice Explorer tour (mid-April to mid-October). The Ice Explorer is a huge bus with tank like rollers that goes right onto the glacier - safe and comfortable.
For a more up-close-and-personal experience,
even little kids can make the hike from the public parking lot up to the
ice on their own. Peer down into blue ice fissures – but use caution, people
have been known to fall into crevices.
Cathedral Mountain and The Spirals Pull over and walk out on the observation platform. You may well catch sight of an enormously long freight train threading through the mountain tunnels so that it seems broken into two or three pieces.
Drive up to Edith - That's Mt. Edith Cavell, south of Jasper. A winding road (about
40 minutes from Jasper) will bring you within sight of the Angel Glacier.
Leave your car and, in sturdy shoes, hike the trail right to the glacier, plenty of places for picnics.
Miette Hot Springs (Fiddle Valley) - These are the hottest hot springs in the Canadian Rockies. There are two hot pools here, plus a cool pool as well, all supervised by lifeguards, but accessible only in the warmer months. Bring a picnic and make a day of it, taking time to follow the "Pocahontas Trail"(a self-guided trek to the mining ghost town) or up to Ashlar Ridge for a spectacular view.
Go camping - There are ten campsites in the park, you can camp in wilderness areas, or close into Jasper. In the summer, make camping reservations well in advance.
