Wild Rockies and the Icefields Parkway
Jasper is Banff's wilder, quieter neighbour to the north, and the drive between them on the Icefields Parkway is one of the world's great road trips, passing Peyto Lake and the Athabasca Glacier of the Columbia Icefield. The park itself is huge, with Maligne Canyon's deep limestone gorge, Maligne Lake and the tiny Spirit Island, and a tramway up Whistlers Mountain. Elk, bighorn sheep, bears and caribou roam here, and the park is a designated dark-sky preserve, so the stars on a clear night are remarkable.