Welcome to our American Visitors!
WELCOME AMERICAN VISITORS!!
Hello to all you Americans! We welcome you to the Canadian Rockies! If you have never been to Jasper & Banff, you may want to consider making the Canadian Rockies your next destination.
Yes, many do say that Banff and Jasper National Parks are Canada's equivalents to Yellowstone - and so you know what that means - people from all over the world come to experience the parks!
But there is so much more to see than just the ever-popular Banff and Jasper National Parks. Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks, together with Hamber, Mount Robson and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Parks are recognized as The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
JUST HOW BIG ARE THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN PARKS?
With 5 million acres protected for future generations, the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks are one of the world's largest protected areas.
If you'd like a size comparison to understand what kind of area you are dealing with, Yellowstone National Park encompasses 2.2 million acres.
Approximately 4 million visitors come every year to explore these mountain parks and to enjoy the great outdoors and all they have to offer.
In recent years golfing and fishing in the Rockies have become very popular as people gaze into the stunning mountain backdrops, often glistening with snow.
WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO COME? AND WHAT CAN WE DO?
The summer months are of course the most popular time of year to come and visit the parks. The warm weather allows you to really enjoy the great outdoors and the blue-green mountain lakes really are a sight.
If possible, schedule your time around school vacations and once you are here - visit the sights early in the day to "beat the crowds." This applies especially to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake - two spectacular mountain jewels you won't want to miss.
Go on a hike and take advantage of nature's own display of colour - in June and July the mountain meadows explode with wildflowers leaving you in awe. The scenery really is beautiful but most American visitors are surprised by the Canadian Rockies themselves.
Very rugged and "rocky", they are quite different from the American Rockies to the south. Glaciation really changed the look of the mountains and valleys, and this is most evident when travelling up the Icefeilds Parkway, considered to be one of the most scenic highways in the world. The treeline is also lower on the Canadian Rockies as a result of the cooler temperatures here in Canada.
Wildlife is abundant as bears, wolves, elk, moose, deer, cougars, to name a few, make their home in the lush valleys of the Canadian Rockies.
