Banff National Park, Alberta Canada

Happy Independence Day!

We left Calgary this morning and drove towards Banff.  The scenery in this part of Canada was lovely.  Here is a slideshow of our drive through Calgary and northward towards Banff.


We arrived at the Banff NationalPark Entrance Pay station and paid our fee to enter the park. 

Banff is a beautiful little town just inside Banff National Park.  We stopped at the visitors center in Banff and collected some information about the park then walked around the city a bit.

We continued north from Banff deeper into the park.  

We spotted a Black Bear and Elk along our route. 

Our first stop was along Rt. 1A where we hiked a short 1km to McNair Pond.

From McNair Pond we drove to Louise Lake.  Louise Lake is a beautiful turquoise color.  The color is caused from rock sediment that is dissolved in the melting glacial waters that feed the lake.  We also saw the Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise, where George’s grandparents stayed when they were here.

We left Lake Lousie and continued north.  The scenery is beautiful at Banff.

We pulled into Waterfowl campground along the shores of the Waterfowl Lake.  Waterfowl Lake is another turquoise lake, a telltale sign that it too is fed by melting glaciers.

The next morning we left Waterfowl Campground and headed south towards Calgary.  As we drove down Rt. 1 we saw beautiful scenery of glaciers, glacial lakes and the Canadian Rockies.  

Prior to exiting the park we drove the LakeMinnewanka scenic loop past Lake Minnewanka and Two Jack Lake where we spotted some mountain goats taking a walk down the middle of the road.

We drove back through Calgary and passed by the world’s largest Teepee.  We stopped about 60 miles from the North Dakota Border to rest for the night before continuing south into the US.