Canadian Rockies Pt 3: Jasper National Park and the Icefields Parkway
Jasper National Park
JASPER is a cool name and this national park lives up to the cool name!
Most of the features of Jasper are off of the Icefields Parkway, which is such a gorgeous drive! More info on Wiki
Only spent a couple days in Jasper, as I was nearing the end of my road trip in the Rockies.
Check out some of the cool stuff I saw:
Icefields Parkway
Most of my time was spent driving up and down the Icefields Parkway, and really, that alone is a spectacular attraction. The environment ranges from crazy glacier passes, to mountains abloom with purple flowers, and gobs of delicious glacier fed rivers and lakes.
Some serious glaciers!
There are plenty of different colored flowers along the way…
Peyto Lake
OK, technically, this is in Banff National Park. If you read my Banff blog, you may remember me opting to put it in my Jasper post because the short walk to see this view is on the Icefields Parkway, so I’m including it here.
If I remember, there is a decent walk to get to this vista, and it was very crowded. Definitely a hot spot!
More blue Gatorade! DELICIOUS!
Coleman Creek
This is some random spot I pulled over to take a walk and check out the river.
The color was fascinating…Gatorade needs to make a drink this color…
Back on the Icefields Parkway….
Drove through this area a couple times and pulled over to walk around and admire the views. Each time it did not disappoint!
Come on now…Canada…
Some rich reds, and magenta or violet flowers seemed plentiful in this area:
Ahhh when the sun goes down, the colors just get sooo cool!
After dinner, I decided to head back on the road and check out the scenery around sunset.
Pulled over in some spot for reflection photos:
And why not some long exposures on the Icefields!?
The next morning, I was back on the road, nice and early. This may be my favorite snap of the day:
Sunwapta Falls
When I stopped at Sunwapta Falls, I had some time on my hands. I decided to go for a little trail run along the river trail. Felt so good to get out and stretch the legs! Beautiful area.
More views from the river side:
Maligne Lake Scenic Drive
Ok, my final destination was good ole Maligne Lake. Maligne Lake is the largest natural lake in the Canadian Rockies. It gets a ton of hype and may be the most quintessential spot in Jasper.
The Scenic Drive to get there is really cool also!
And, I finally arrived…
Maligne Lake
Maligne Lake has such a rich turquoise color!
Maligne Lake Cruise to Spirit Island
This is the tourist upsell spot, but I did not even hesitate. I wanted on that boat ASAP!
Get me out onto those turquoise waters and I gotta see Spirit Island.
I got lucky with a really cool tour guide, and I completely forget their name. They filled in nice little info about the lake, and answered our questions about Spirit Island.
Spirit Island
Arriving at Spirit Island was super cool, a spiritual experience! Naw, I’m messing, but it was a beaut. And we got to walk by ourselves for a while on a nice little trail with various views of the iconic feature.
Like everyone else, I took a gazillion snaps…
My last night in Jasper was a bit sad—the end of the road trip! So, I took my time, slow and steadiy made my way back down the Icefields.
I’ll be back some day I said!
And that concludes my 3 part series on the Canadian Rockies!!!
If I was forced to rank these 3 Canadian Rockies National Parks: Yoho, Banff and Jasper, I would have to go:
But they all have such unique charm! LOVED THEM ALL!
I would love to visit again during wintertime.
Would love to do some boarding…
maybe hit up Whistler!?
And, who am I kiddin’, I just want some o that POU-TIINE!!!
Here’s a couple other random Canadian snaps from the road: