It was June of 2016 when we visited Banff National Park, I hadn’t personally known anyone to travel there yet (though the destination has really gained a lot of attention in recent years), and the story of how we ended up there is unexpected. Have you seen the show Boundless on Esquire Network? No? Well you should really go back and watch it (premiered in 2013, 3 seasons)! The series follows elite athletes and ultra-marathoners Simon Donato and Paul Trebilcock (Turbo), and in later seasons adds Rory Bosio and Hunter McIntyre to the cast. It is a thrilling depiction of what its like to compete in the biggest races in the world. Any who, my husband and I fell in love with the show, and I followed the cast members on Instagram thereafter.
Simon Donato lived in Canmore at the time, and I fell in love with Canmore/Banff solely from his posts – long story short, we decided to hop on a plane and visit Banff National Park on a whim. The best part is I wrote Simon on Instagram before our trip to ask for recommendations, and he wrote back!! I thank him greatly for writing back, because as expected, his recommendations were ON POINT! I am going to share our favorite experiences with you below, but keep in mind the park has become much busier in recent years, with more lodges and restaurants opening up to accommodate the increased tourism.
Where to stay
We chose to stay in Canmore at the Stoneridge Mountain Resort. The Resort was beautiful, the location was convenient and we had zero complaints! If we went back now, I would likely search for an Airbnb to really root us into the community.
Canmore is an adorable mountain town, just outside of Banff National Park. Great food, breweries, and activities right in town and outside of the park itself!
This Airbnb in downtown Canmore looks pretty fantastic to me! Did you stay in another hotel or Airbnb in Canmore / Banff? Drop the recommendation below for other travelers!
Getting around
You’ll likely fly into Calgary – where you must rent a car! Definitely rent your car there and drive out to Canmore / Banff National Park. That car is your lifeline to everything Banff has to offer! We flew in and out of Calgary – on the way in we got our car and drove right to Canmore. After spending 3 nights in Canmore we drove to Calgary and spent a night there exploring that beautiful city for the night before flying back home the next day!
Park entry fees are listed below – as of January 2018 youth (17 and under) are free to enter!
| Adult (18 to 16 years old) | $ 9.80 |
| Senior (65 years and over) | $ 8.30 |
| Youth (17 and under) | $ free |
| Family/Group (up to 7 people arriving in a single vehicle) | $ 19.60 |
What to do
Hiking, mountain-biking, kayaking, stand-up paddling, canoeing, trail-running, are just a few things at your fingertips in the park. If you want to experience Banff National Park on a less-active level, many great sights are accessible by vehicle, so you’re sure to have a great time regardless of how you plan to navigate the area!
Lake Louise
If you’ve heard of Banff, you have likely seen countless images of the iconic Lake Louise. It is truly just as beautiful as it appears in photos – those mountains reflecting off the pristine glacial water is breathtaking. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to rent a canoe and paddle across the lake, and back in 2016 so few people were visiting Lake Louise that we were the ONLY people on the water at the time!
Climb Mouth Edith
In true Carissa and Adam fashion, our trip wouldn’t be complete without a bit summit to kick things off (and as always, ending with Carissa crippling the rest of her way through vacation with knee pain). Simon had highly recommended this climb, so we looked no farther and committed ourselves to it! This is quite the smoker – 11.3 kmk with 1,207m in elevation gain, you will pass through lush mountain forest and up into the icey summit. I didn’t dress appropriately, as another layer would have been appreciated, but hey – you get to learn from my mistakes! Wear full pants and bring layers to add as you approach the summit.
Morraine Lake
Another glacial water paradise not to miss! Canoes are also available for rent here, but we decided to walk the perimeter of the lake this time instead. We dipped our toes into the water and traced its borders until we couldn’t go any farther. It was magnificent.
Drive the Icefields Parkway
After several incredibly active days, I was desperate for a long drive with lots of sight-seeing along the way. The trusty Icefields Parkway called to my heart that day – so we spent the entire day driving the 230km mountain road from Banff National Park all the way to Jasper National Park. There are countless stops along the way – and be sure to keep an eye out for wildlife, we saw mountain goats, grizzly bears and much more during this exploration!
Canmore Nordic Center
I personally couldn’t go to Canmore without trying to teach myself how to mountain bike. It didn’t go well, per say, but we had fun! We drove up to the Canmore Nordic Center and rented our bikes from Trail Sports for $40 for 2 hours. Two hours was enough for a novice mountain biker like myself – if you want it for a whole day it’s $60 for the rental!
Johnston Canyon
On one of our more active days we decided to pop into Johnston Canyon located within Banff National Park. There are essentially two separate hikes you can do here – a 1.1km hike to the lower falls, or a 2.6km hike to upper falls. We did both, and personally recommend upper falls more if you are up for it! There we a good amount of people at lower falls, obstructing the view and making it less enjoyable. We also wandered around off-trail (photo above) which made for great fun, too!
Where to eat / drink
In Canmore
In Banff
Have the absolute time of your life!! If you find new and awesome things to do in Banff – drop them below in the comments section for other travelers to reference!!
A Blonde Escapes 
Glad you had a great experience in our ‘backyard’! Great pictures.
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Thank you! I am very jealous this is your backyard, I plan to come back out soon!
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