With its lush greens forests, majestic snowcapped peaks, sparking blue glaciers, and alpine meadows with wildflowers; it is no wonder that Banff National Park is Canada's most popular park. It is also one of the countries largest parks at 6,640 square kilometers allowing for a wealth of visitor experiences.

You will be surprised at how accessible and easy this wilderness is. Most of the Banff National Park splendor is poured within reach of the Trans Canada Highway and is connected to the Ice fields Parkway. Therefore, in order to travel from Banff National Park is very easy. Calgary is less than two hours away and Edmonton is just a few more hours a way. Plus, in order to get to Vancouver, you will need less than a day to get there.

Banff National Park includes a large number of rocks and mountains, so it is a magnet for hikers, climbers, and mountaineers, and just hundreds of common tourists because there are many hikers in the park. In the Alpine Sunshine Meadows; people often do all of those activities. With an average elevation of 2200 meters, the meadows straddle the Continental Divide and is the boarder between Alberta and British Columbia, so that Banff National Park gives you a valuable chance to take in the views of some of the highest peals and neighboring areas.

For mountain bikers, there are the fire roads or the jeep track with scenery that will overwhelm you. There is much access and seemingly endless back country on day rides or there is another option of choosing some panniers and riding some extended bike trails and camping in the Rockies. All of this guided or you can do it on your own; the choice is yours.

The many climbing trails are for skilled and experienced mountaineers at Banff National Park but they are easily accessible too. Aside from the challenges offered, the crags will give you a chance to see some of the park's wild and remote sections. You might wish to start with Castle or Cascade Mountain or maybe Mount Rundal near the Banff town site. In the Lake Louise area, please check out Mount Fairview. Once you have experienced the easy access ones, you can hone your skills and travel deeper into the park to bag some bigger peaks. The park recently celebrated the Swiss Guides Centennial, the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Pacific Railway, CPR, having introduced professional mountain guides from Switzerland to the Canadian Rockies.

In the winter you can ski on track set trails in Banff National Park. Or Lake Louise or you can choose to do some ski touring in the back country; back country skiing ranges from some short loops to some multi day hut to some hut traverses. That is the best way to see the park in winter. You can snowshoe just about anywhere in Banff by following the tracks of the winter animals like the wolf or the deer or head up to one of the accessible hangouts. Winter camping huts and back country lodging are also available for the snow shoe and ski lover. Certainly, you should not forget that Banff National Park is home to rare and vanishing species like the grizzly bears, moose, caribou, wolves, horny marmots, pikets, ground squirrels, and to a host of birds including from bald eagles to the endangered harlequin ducks. Please enjoy a Banff vacation.