By Toni Owen
About Banff National Park
Banff National Park is a World Heritage Site that attracts five million visitors a year to its peaks, valleys, rivers, lakes, caves and hot springs. It is open year round.
How to get there
Cascade Mountain on the way to Banff on the Trans-Canada.
The Trans-Canada Highway runs through the park. The gates are two hours west of Calgary International Airport by car or shuttle bus.
Banff accommodations and amenities
Banff has world-class hotels and five-star restaurants (http://www.rimrockresort.com/eden.html) as well as campsites and cafes. You'll find original art, exclusive fashions and fossils; t-shirts and stuffed bears; concerts at the Banff Centre; art and history at the Whyte Museum; preserved wildlife at the Banff Park Museum; and native history at the Luxton.
Landmarks
Visitors must get a park permit.
The Upper Hot Springs on Sulphur Mountain are open year round. The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise are tourist attractions. You can walk on the ancient Columbia Icefield on the Icefield Highway.
For the fit and unfit
There are three ski areas, backcountry and heli-skiing, climbing, caving, kayaking, rafting and a 27-hole golf course, plus two gondolas, horseback riding (info@timberlinetours.ca) and the Vermilion Lakes and the Bow Valley Parkway (Highway 1A) scenic drives.
Warning
Wildlife is abundant in the park, especially bear, deer and elk in the townsite. Do not approach or feed them. They are not tame and may attack if they feel threatened.
About the Author:
Toni Owen started writing in 1975. Owen is a journalist published in "Newsweek" and the "San Francisco Chronicle." She was an editor in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Banff, Alberta. Owen has a master's degree in English education and won the national C. Everett Koop Award.
Photo Credits:
TS Owen photos
