Banff National Park Canada

Legendary

Established in 1885, the park's glaciers and icefields are some of the largest in the Rockies.

Photo by Bernard Spragg. NZ

In 1883, three Canadian Pacific Railway workers stumbled into a cave near a hot spring, climbed down on a rope, and found a pool of steaming water deep in the Alberta wilderness. 

That accidental discovery triggered a land dispute, a federal investigation, and ultimately the creation of Canada's first national park. Banff was established in 1885, beating Yosemite's federal designation by seven years.

The Canadian Pacific Railway didn't just find Banff, it built its early popularity. The railway brought wealthy tourists west by the trainload and constructed the Banff Springs Hotel in 1888, a castle-like resort that still dominates the townsite today. Without the railway, Banff would have stayed a remote wilderness for decades longer.

The park covers 6,641 square kilometers of the Canadian Rockies, with turquoise glacier-fed lakes, dense pine forests, and peaks that top 3,000 meters. The Columbia Icefield, the largest uninterrupted glacier in the Rockies, sits along the boundary of Banff and neighboring Jasper National Park, covering roughly 325 square kilometers.

Elk wander through the town of Banff itself, often stopping traffic on main streets without any apparent concern.

Canoe across the famously turquoise Lake Louise or hike the Plain of Six Glaciers trail above it. Drive the Icefields Parkway, one of the most scenic roads in the world, to spot grizzly bears, mountain goats, and waterfalls tumbling off cliff faces. Soak in the Banff Upper Hot Springs, the same waters that started it all back in 1883.