I am planning for a trip to the banff and jasper area in july 2008. I will be staying 2 nights near Banff and 2 nights near Jasper. I have one extra night I could spend somewhere.

1) Is it better to go see Yoho or Waterton Lakes or anywhere else for that extra day? Which is more beautiful?

2) Is there any other place where the scenery might a bit different than banff and jasper?

3) I enjoy hiking and photography, so the main idea of the trip and the side trip would be taking a lot of photos. Also I know there are going to bea lot of tourists at that time. Any place less touristy would be good too.

Thanks for any help you could provide me.

If you have one extra night, unfortunately, you will spend most of your time driving if you want to see Waterton. I suggest if you want more mountain scenery that you spend that time in Yoho.

For different scenery, you could drive for 4 hours west to get to the Shuswap and Kamloops. Shuswap Lake is very pretty and set in (what I would call) low mountains. It tends to get what we call very hot and there are beaches you can relax at. For more on the Shuswap

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/44951/dcba4/

Overall, if you just have a day I would suggest staying in the general area, so you aren't driving a lot. If you love photography, the best time to get out as you probably know is first thing in the morning and into the evening. This is ideal for Banff as the crowds occur probably late morning into late afternoon.

Banff gets around 4 million tourists a year, so finding a place where there is nobody is fairly difficult unless you go into the back country. If you want an off-the-beaten path area that's less touristy, I would suggest Kananaskis Provincial Park. Same mountains, less people.

It's about 40 minutes drive southeast of Banff and gets far less crowds and it's where the locals go to relax and hike. I've been on trails where we've seen not one person in the middle of summer. Highway 40 gives you many photo ops and is a much more beautiful drive than the Trans Canada through Banff National Park. Please look at my Kananaskis page and feel free to e-mail if you have any questions.

Enjoy your time in our neck of the woods!

There is a small town just west of there called "Field." We stayed one night there a couple of years ago in a 1st floor apartment of a home. There isn't much in the way of comercial lodging in town. The town still had wooden sidewalks when we where there ten years ago.

There is probably the most awesome waterfall just a short drive from "downtown" Field; outside of what I have seen at Yosemite. I can't recall the name of the falls but I am sure somebody can come up with the name and how to get there.

We rode our motorcycles there for one night, then to Banff for the day, and then up to Jasper for two nights.

The falls are called Takakkaw Falls, and you take the Yoho Valley Road from the Trans Canada highway. It will be clearly marked with a sign.

Many premier hikes leave from the Takakkaw Falls area, namely The Iceline, which I think is one of the best hikes in Yoho.

Hi

Yes, Waterton is a bit far for the extra day. Why not try Radium Hot Springs in the Kootenay NP. Its a bit different with sights such as Sinclair Canyon (red cliffs) or Kootenay Valley with its Mitchell & Vermilion ranges. Also in the area are mineral springs called the Paint Pots which bubble up from small pools which stain the earth (ie paint pots). There are even cactus growing grassy plains! All these sights will give you the scenery which is 'a bit different' and your activities are well catered for with lots of hiking trails and photo ops. Forgot there is also Marble Canyon which is different again!

From Banff/Lake Louise you take the Banff-Windermere highway which will take you to all of the sights and you could stay in the village of Radium Hot Spring which has good accommodation options plus the benefit of relaxing in the hot spring pools. Highway 95 can then take you through Golden to the main highway heading towards Kamloops/Vancouver, if that's where you are heading.

Hope this helps,
John

thanks for your awe some replies guys. I am going to look into Kananaskis Provincial Parkand Kootney. I will be back with more questions once I am deeper in the planning mode. thanks again- u made my life easier.

IS highway 40 the same as the icefield's parkway?

No, Highway 40 is about 1/2 an hour west of Calgary, before you get to Canmore/Banff. It goes southwest, and Kananaskis borders Banff National Park. Let me know if you have any questions, I know the area well.

in my opinion, i would just put that extra night onto banff or jasper and do day trips from there. (personally, i'd pick 3 nights in jasper).
or, my second choice would be to stay in field and explore taka... (can't spell it) falls, moraine lake area before heading onto jasper.

Hi, We had 8 days in the Rockies last June and it was just fabulous. For most of the time we were accommodated in Banff but drove to Jasper along the Icefields Parkway and took the tour of the Columbia Icefield ( glacier) on the way reaching Jasper late afternoon for an overnight stay. We also stayed overnight at Canmore (our first night on arrival from Calgary)which is approx 30 minute drive to Banff.

As you are driving to Jasper I agree with Madamx that you are better to spend your extra day around Banff as there is so much to see and do.

My recommendation is to visit Johnson Canyon which is a 40 minute drive from Banff. An exciting canyon, rushing water, huge drop, magnificent timbered landscape and exciting hiking trails. The canyon has 2 stages, the lower and upper, we only did the lower and found it to be exciting, good paths and enough for our fitness. The upper hike was much longer and we thought too much for us.

There is also cabins at Johnson Canyon.

Suggest you have a look at photos on my page, possiblly might interest you.

Good Luck,
Mike