The Bow Valley Parkway to Banff | Canada

Bow Valley Parkway was the original highway that connected Lake Louise with Banff. Now it is a route to educate visitors about the region and to spot wildlife.

1) Johnston Canyon

On the Bow Valley Parkway lies Johnston Canyon. Johnston Canyon is a canyon where the Johnston Creek flows and is formed by erosion over thousands of years. There are a lot of waterfalls and pools to be spotted in this canyon. We planned on hiking the canyon but the weather changed our plans (thunderstorm).

2) The Sawback Burn

At the end (or the beginning, depends on where you start), you’ll notice a large burned area. These are the remnants of the Sawback burn of 1993. That fire was set on purpose in order to get new space for plants and wildlife. This is a great place to spot bears.

3) More stops

The Bow Valley Parkway has several stops along the way. We didn’t do them all because of our time schedule.

• Backswamp
• Mule Shoe
• Hillsdale Meadow
• Pilot Pond
• Moose Meadows (nothing to see, only a parking lot)
• Castle Cliffs
• Storm Mountain
• Internment Camp
• Baker Creek
• Morant’s Curve

4) Wapiti

We saw several cars on the side of the road with their signal lights on. We immediately knew there was an animal but didn’t know what. It turned out to be a Wapiti!

5) Wolf

We also spotted a wolf on this road, near Sawback! He crossed the street, looked at us and just went back into the forest.

6) Bears

And eventually 2 bears! The brown bear is 1 year old (so no mum nearby) and was just sitting in the bushes. We saw the cars and asked fellow tourists what it was. When they told us it was a bear, we waited until the cars moved to the spot where we could see him. But the black bear has a different story. Laure saw the bear crossing the street, into the bushes. We waited and he eventually showed himself to us!

Life of a Passion