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DSCF5592 | Jasper National Park | Wereldreizigers.nl

Jasper National Park | 10x the most beautiful places + tips

Na Banff– and a little detour for Glacier- and Yoho National Park, we ended up in Jasper National Park, the second most popular national park in Canada. Like Banff, it is a beautiful area with lakes, waterfalls, mountains and glaciers, where you can take the most beautiful walks. Or as we did, can drive around. In this blog you can read everything about the park and of course, our tips!


Our journey through the United States and Canada

This article is part of a large one-year tour the United States en Canada, with a Dutch 4×4 camper that we shipped ourselves… It is a bucket list worthy and an once in a lifetime experience that will never be forgotten.

Jasper National Park | 10x the most beautiful places + tips 26

We wrote almost 100 articles about this ultimate tour. Visit our North America page for more information.



Our advice for camper rental:
Camper trips through Canada from Travelhome

Are you thinking of following our footsteps and renting a camper with friends, your partner or with your whole family? Then be sure to take a look Travelhome Van in ANWB.

Choose from curated package tours or have a tailor-made trip put together. In any case, one thing is certain: it will happen bucket list-worthy trip will never be forgotten.

Pros:
  • Large selection, low prices
  • Custom Made
  • Expert advice from specialists
  • Affiliated with ANVR / SGR / Calamity Fund
  • Full quote with no hidden costs
View offer
Want to support us? We earn a small commission if you make a purchase via our link(s), at no additional cost to you. Win win!

About Jasper National Park of Canada

  • Location and size: Jasper is the largest national park in the province of Alberta, covering some 11.000 square kilometers. It is west of the large city of Edmonton and north of Banff National Park.
  • Short history: In 1930 it was declared a national park and added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The area was inhabited by the indigenous tribes called Nakoda, Cree, Secwépemc and Dane-zaa.
  • Named: The park is named after Jasper Haws, a fur trader who worked for the North West Company. In 1815 he was given a trading post at Brûlé Lake, which became known as Jasper's House. The trading post was moved in 1830 to Athabasca River, north of what is now Jasper Lake hot, in the national park.

Things to do and places of interest

1.Columbia Icefield

The Columbia Icefield is a place where several glaciers are connected, with outstanding mountain peaks. Together, these are larger than one glacier, but smaller than ice caps.

On Google Maps, the difference between the Columbia Icefield (location here) and other surrounding glaciers can be clearly seen. Athabasca Glacier is one of six glaciers that make up the Columbia Icefield. There is also the Castleguard Glacier, the Columbia Glacier, Dome Glacier, Stutfield Glacier and Saskatchewan Glacier.

DSCF5607 | Jasper National Park | Wereldreizigers.nl
Athabasca Glacier | Tips for Jasper National Park

The Athabasca Glacier is the most accessible for tourists. You can walk to it, but you can't get on the ice because it can be dangerous. With a tour, for which they have special tour buses, it is possible.

Stutfield Glacier | Tips for Jasper National Park
Stutfield Glacier | Tips for Jasper National Park
Stutfield Glacier | Tips for Jasper National Park
Stutfield Glacier | Tips for Jasper National Park


2. Athabasca Falls

The Athabasca Falls (location here) are waterfalls in the river of the same name. The falls are 24 meters high and 46 meters wide. Not particularly high or wide, and they are not very powerful either. What the waterfalls can do is wear down beautiful ravines and potholes in the rocks. This can be clearly seen in the photos.

Athabasca Falls | Tips for Jasper National Park
Athabasca Falls | Tips for Jasper National Park
Athabasca Falls | Tips for Jasper National Park
Athabasca Falls | Tips for Jasper National Park
Athabasca Falls | Tips for Jasper National Park
Athabasca Falls | Tips for Jasper National Park
Athabasca Falls | Tips for Jasper National Park
Athabasca Falls | Tips for Jasper National Park

3. Malignant Lake

To get to Maligne Lake (location here), you will have to drive through the town of Jasper. From the main road you drive in XNUMX minutes, up to an hour to Maligne Lake and on the way you pass by Medicine Lake, which is also a nice place to stop.

Medicine Lake
Medicine Lake | Tips for Jasper National Park
On the way to Maligne Lake
On the way to Maligne Lake | Tips for Jasper National Park

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Maligne Lake has beautiful blue water and from the lake you can see incredibly high and steep mountain peaks and glaciers. A boat tour is a popular activity on this lake. A tour costs about 65 CAD (50 euros) per person.

We thought that was a bit pricey and took a short walk along the lake, which also resulted in beautiful pictures.

Maligne Lake | Tips for Jasper National Park
Maligne Lake | Tips for Jasper National Park
The blue waters of Maligne Lake | Tips for Jasper National Park
The blue waters of Maligne Lake | Tips for Jasper National Park
A bird at Maligne Lake | Tips for Jasper National Park
A bird at Maligne Lake | Tips for Jasper National Park

4. Sunwapta Falls

The water of the Sunwapta Falls (location here), comes from the Athabasca Glacier. The waterfall is 18 meters high and 9,1 meters wide. The name means turbulent water. Most of the water falls in the spring and summer, of course because of the melting glacier. There is an upper and lower section. Both are a short walk away from a parking lot near the falls.

5. Edith Cavell Meadows

During the Edith Cavell Meadows walk (location here), you will see high cliffs, a glacier, a glacial lake and wild flowers. While sitting by the glacier, we occasionally saw some ice fall into the lake.

Edith Cavell Meadows | Tips for Jasper National Park
Edith Cavell Meadows | Tips for Jasper National Park
Edith Cavell Meadows | Tips for Jasper National Park
Edith Cavell Meadows | Tips for Jasper National Park
Edith Cavell Meadows | Tips for Jasper National Park
Edith Cavell Meadows | Tips for Jasper National Park

We had prepared ourselves for a brisk walk and put on our walking shoes. The walk was brisk, but short. At least to get to the glacier and the lake. The entire round takes you to even greater heights, is 8,5 kilometers and is therefore very tough. Because we could already see the glacier well after the first short hike, we stuck with it… Especially because our legs were still sore from the hike a few days before!

Also read: Hiking to the Illecillewaet Glacier in Glacier National Park | Roadtrip Canada (43)

The trail doesn't take you all the way to the glacial lake and that's for a reason. If the ice melts, there is a chance that large pieces will come down. You can still see this dangerous ice on the tops and top right in the photo below. As the warnings indicate, it can land on you or in the water, causing the water level to rise rapidly. Signs or not, people found it necessary to stand on the edge…

Chris at Edith Cavell Meadows | Tips for Jasper National Park
Chris at Edith Cavell Meadows | Tips for Jasper National Park
Warnings | Tips for Jasper National Park
Warnings | Tips for Jasper National Park

6. The town of Jasper

North of the national park is the town of Jasper. A tourist town. It is the base for your stay and other practical matters, but it is above all very cozy with its shops, bars and restaurants.

7. Icefields Parkway

With Icefields Parkway drive through the national park. Along this road you will find all the sights and it is a very nice drive.

Icefields Parkway | Tips for Jasper National Park
Icefields Parkway | Tips for Jasper National Park

We drove by road, because we initially drove from Glacier National Park to the town of Jasper. We were treated for more than three hours with beautiful views of glaciers, mountains, lakes and wildlife. And that before we had the chance to really visit the park.

Icefields Parkway | Tips for Jasper National Park
Icefields Parkway | Tips for Jasper National Park
Bow Lake| Tips for Jasper National Park
Bow Lake| Tips for Jasper National Park
Bow Lake | Tips for Jasper National Park
Bow Lake | Tips for Jasper National Park

Also read: Taking bears and other wildlife into account (tips) | Roadtrip Canada (42)

Practical information and tips

1. How to get there / travel providers

The best way to discover Jasper National Park is of course with your own (rental) camper. We shipped our camper to America ourselves for this trip, but that is of course not the 'normal' way. It is best to rent a camper for trips of 2 to 10 weeks via Travel home from ANWB. They are the experts in the Netherlands in the field of camper trips in America and Canada and are also known for offering very good prices.

Our advice for camper rental:
Camper trips through Canada from Travelhome

Are you thinking of following our footsteps and renting a camper with friends, your partner or with your whole family? Then be sure to take a look Travelhome Van in ANWB.

Choose from curated package tours or have a tailor-made trip put together. In any case, one thing is certain: it will happen bucket list-worthy trip will never be forgotten.

Pros:
  • Large selection, low prices
  • Custom Made
  • Expert advice from specialists
  • Affiliated with ANVR / SGR / Calamity Fund
  • Full quote with no hidden costs
View offer
Want to support us? We earn a small commission if you make a purchase via our link(s), at no additional cost to you. Win win!

2. Camping

The town of Jasper has two very large campsites, of which Whistlers Campground (Location here) is the largest with no less than 781 places! Wapiti Campground is opposite. Both campgrounds are not far from the national park boundary and are owned by Parks Canada.

Whistlers Campground is very pretty, with spacious pitches among the trees. Also the facilities are very good and brand new. We paid less than 30 CAD (23 euros) for our place with no hook-ups and no heating license.

We were there in the month of August, when it can be very busy. Both campsites were fully booked, with the exception of one night… If you plan to camp there during this period, book a place in good time via this website.

Fortunately, Whistlers Campground has a so-called Overflow camp ground (Location here), 20 minutes away. There are still many places here to be able to offer everyone a place. You pay about 17 CAD (13 euros) by means of self-registration for one night. There are pit toilets, but no showers or other facilities.

3. Groceries and refueling

Because Banff and Jasper National Parks border each other, there are not many options in the parks for cheap gas or grocery shopping. The prices at gas stations and supermarkets here are shockingly high. It is wise to consider in advance where you will (or need to) refuel and where you will do your shopping.

In the town of Jasper north of the national park, you can refuel for an affordable price. There are no petrol stations within the boundaries of the National Park.

In the town of Jasper you will find a number of small supermarkets, which are quite pricey. Unfortunately, you won't find a larger(er) and more affordable one. Our advice is therefore to stock up in the supermarkets before you are in the vicinity of the national parks.

Closing comments

Jasper is very big! You can choose to drive around for one or two days and stop at different places, but you can also (for as long as you want) take adventurous walks and/or relax at the beautiful lakes. Because it is very popular among tourists, it is wise to prepare your visit.

In any case, we really enjoyed it!

Plan your vacation to Canada here


Our journey through the United States and Canada

This article is part of a large one-year tour the United States en Canada, with a Dutch 4×4 camper that we shipped ourselves… It is a bucket list worthy and an once in a lifetime experience that will never be forgotten.

Jasper National Park | 10x the most beautiful places + tips 27

We wrote almost 100 articles about this ultimate tour. Visit our North America page for more information.


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Malou Thomassen

From an early age I have been fascinated by distant travels and other cultures. I've seen many countries, but I'm certainly not done! At this age (32) I often think about how to further organize my life. When I travel, I quickly let go of that and can fully enjoy the here and now!

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