Province of Alberta Travel Forum

I live in MA. I'm traveling roundtrip from Calgary to Jasper in Aug. 2008. Where should I spend the most time to enjoy the Rockies? How long should I plan for my trip?Any information on hostels in the area would be appreciated. How far in advance should I book rooms? Do you reccommend flying into Calgary or Edmuncton?
All the photos I've seen have been helpful. I'm really looking forward to this trip.

Well if you fly into Edmonton, the drive to Jasper will be about 4 hours (362km).
The drive from Calgary to Banff is 1.5 hours.

To get from the Banff area to Jasper you can drive the Columbia Icefields Parkway aka Highway 93. It starts at Lake Louise and is about 273 km to Jasper.

It is a wonderful drive and far more exciting than the one from Edmonton to Banff.

you don't give us a lot of information as far as your interests etc. so this will be general unless you tell us more about what you like to do. solitute, hiking, nightlife, shopping, etc. i'm assuming you'll be renting a car.
i would fly into calgary. rent a car and drive to banff. spend 2-3 nights there. then drive the columbia icefields parkway to jasper and spend 3 nights. then i'd return to lake louise for 2 nights and explore that area and yoho national park.
the hostels in banff, jasper and lake louise all get good reviews. book as soon as you can. they fill up fast and all accommodations are expensive in that area. camping is a great way to see the area if you could swing that.