Banff & Jasper National Park Photography, Photos, Pictures

Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885, in the Canadian Rockies. The Canadian Pacific Railway was instrumental in Banff's early years, building the Banff Springs Hotel and Chateau Lake Louise. The park is located 70-110 miles (110-180km) west of Calgary in the province of Alberta. Yoho and Kootenay National parks lie to the west and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park borders on the southwest. The park is composed of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and icefields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine landscapes. The Icefields Parkway extends from Lake Louise, connecting to Jasper National Park in the north. Wildlife in the park include elk, caribou, moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, mountain goat, bighorn sheep, grizzly bear, black bear, beaver, Rocky Mountain pika, hoary marmot, gray wolf, mountain lion, and wolverine.

Jasper National Park is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies. It is located to the north of Banff and west of the city of Edmonton. Mount Robson lies to the west. The park includes the glaciers of the Columbia Icefield, hot springs, lakes, waterfalls, and mountains. The park was established in 1907 as Jasper Forest Park, and was granted national park status in 1930. In 1984, Banff and Jasper were declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Canadian Rockies are composed of sedimentary rock, including shale, sandstone, limestone, and quartzite, that originated as deposits in a shallow inland sea. The mountains were formed 80Ð120 million years ago, as a product of thrust faults.

The premier locations for photographing Banff and Jasper National Parks include Lake Louise and Moraine Lake at sunrise, the rugged peaks of the remote Tonquin Valley, and the Columbia Icefields. Many of the most famous viewpoints are accessible from the highways and parkways that cut across the parks, but most of the backcountry locations require overnight backpacking and camping skills.