Canadian Rockies in Winter: Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper

1. Day 1: Calgary to Banff

   Calgary International Airport or downtown Calgary to Banff

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Banff
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Calgary International Airport (YYC) and land by about 1 pm, or meet us at a central Calgary hotel if you came in the day before; exact times come with your final itinerary. Your See Sight Tours guide and driver meet you, and we head west on the Trans-Canada Highway, about 145 km and an hour and three quarters. The prairie gives way to the foothills, then the front ranges rise straight out of the plain at the mouth of the Bow Valley. We pass Canmore and enter Banff National Park, Canada's first national park, founded in 1885 and part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site. In December and January it is dark by about 4:30 pm, so after check-in we take a short walk along Banff Avenue under the lights, with Cascade Mountain filling the end of the street. Then a briefing on the week, the road and the layers you need, and a welcome dinner together in town. Banff is home for three nights, so you unpack once.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Calgary International Airport (YYC) or a central Calgary hotel
   • Orientation walk along Banff Avenue
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in Banff

   Activity: Land by about 1 pm to reach Banff before dark.

   

2. Day 2: Banff: frozen lakes, the gondola and the hot springs

   Banff to the Vermilion Lakes, Bow Falls, Surprise Corner and Sulphur Mountain

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Banff
   Day 2 details

   First light comes late in midwinter, about 8:30 am, so breakfast is unhurried. We drive five minutes to the Vermilion Lakes, where warm springs keep patches of water open and steaming in the cold while Mount Rundle takes the first sun. Then Bow Falls, half frozen below the Banff Springs hotel, and Surprise Corner for the view back up the river. Late morning we ride the Banff Gondola up Sulphur Mountain to the summit ridge at about 2,280 m and walk the boardwalk to Sanson Peak and its old weather station, with the town far below and the Bow Valley running west into the main ranges. Lunch is together in town. The afternoon is yours: ski at Mount Norquay, ten minutes away, visit the Whyte Museum, or rest. As the light goes we meet again for the Banff Upper Hot Springs, an outdoor pool of hot mineral water with snow along the deck and Mount Rundle across the valley. Dinner tonight is on your own.

   Included

   • Vermilion Lakes in the morning light
   • Bow Falls and Surprise Corner
   • Banff Gondola up Sulphur Mountain and the Sanson Peak boardwalk
   • Lunch in Banff
   • Banff Upper Hot Springs at dusk

   Optional experiences

   • Skiing at Mount Norquay (lift ticket and rental extra)
   • Dog sledding in the Bow Valley (extra, booked ahead)

   Easier option: Stay in the summit building at the top of the gondola instead of walking the boardwalk, which can be icy and windy.

   More active option: In the free afternoon, walk up Tunnel Mountain with your guide: about 4.5 km there and back and 260 m up, with ice cleats.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Banff; dinner on your own

   Activity: Bring a swimsuit for the hot springs; towels can be rented.

3. Day 3: Lake Louise: snowshoes, the frozen lake and a sleigh ride

   Banff west on the Trans-Canada Highway to Lake Louise and back

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Banff
   Day 3 details

   Johnston Canyon, the usual winter icewalk between Banff and Lake Louise, has been closed by Parks Canada since October 2026 for rock-slope repairs, with no reopening date, so this day is built around Lake Louise instead. We leave Banff at about 8:30 am and take the Trans-Canada Highway west, about 58 km and 45 minutes, to the lake at about 1,750 m. With a local guide and snowshoes on, we walk a forest trail near the lake for about two hours, around 3 km, learning how to move on deep snow and reading the tracks of hares and squirrels. Lunch is a sit-down meal at Lake Louise. Afterwards walk out onto the frozen lake below the Victoria Glacier, where a rink is usually cleared and skates can be rented. Mid-afternoon we take a horse-drawn sleigh ride along the lakeshore under blankets. We are back in Banff around dusk, with the evening free. In January, the Ice Magic Festival's sculptures may be on the lakeshore. If Johnston Canyon reopens before your trip, we stop there on the way and walk it instead of the snowshoe walk.

   Included

   • Guided snowshoe walk near Lake Louise with a local guide, snowshoes and poles provided (the Johnston Canyon icewalk instead, if Parks Canada reopens the canyon before your trip)
   • Lunch at Lake Louise
   • Time on the frozen lake below the Victoria Glacier
   • Horse-drawn sleigh ride along the Lake Louise shore

   Optional experiences

   • Skate rental at Lake Louise

   Easier option: Skip the snowshoe walk and walk the flat lakeshore path with your See Sight Tours guide, then wait in the warm with a hot drink.

   Free time: Evening free in Banff

   Activity: About 3 km on snowshoes with gentle climbs; no experience is needed, and the guide shows you how to walk in them before we start.

4. Day 4: The Icefields Parkway in winter

   Banff to Lake Louise, then north on the Icefields Parkway past Bow Lake and the Columbia Icefield to Jasper

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Jasper
   Day 4 details

   The Icefields Parkway runs about 232 km from Lake Louise to Jasper along the Continental Divide, and in winter it is empty: no fuel, food or phone signal between the two, and Parks Canada can close it for avalanche control. So we leave Banff at first light and drive the whole road in daylight, about 288 km and four to four and a half hours of driving, a little over our usual cap. It is the only road north and nothing on it is open for an overnight in winter, so stops break it up instead. Some pull-outs are not plowed and some stretches are avalanche no-stopping zones, so your guide picks the stops on the day from those that are clear: usually Bow Lake under snow below Bow Summit, at 2,088 m the highest point on the road, then the Columbia Icefield, where the Athabasca Glacier comes down almost to the highway, and Athabasca Falls, frozen into blue columns. The Ice Explorer does not run in winter, so we look from below. Hot drinks and snacks are on board, and lunch is a late sit-down meal in Jasper at about 2 pm.

   Included

   • The Icefields Parkway with your guide, driven in daylight
   • Bow Lake
   • The Columbia Icefield and the Athabasca Glacier from the roadside viewpoints
   • Athabasca Falls
   • Late sit-down lunch in Jasper

   Free time: Evening free in Jasper

   Activity: If Parks Canada closes the parkway, we wait in Lake Louise for it to reopen; if it stays closed, we stay a fourth night in Banff and drive to Jasper on day 5. Watch for bighorn sheep, mountain goats and elk on the northern stretch.

   

5. Day 5: Jasper: Jasper Lake and the dark sky

   Jasper east on Highway 16 to Jasper Lake and back, then a dark-sky site near Jasper

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Jasper
   Day 5 details

   Jasper is smaller and quieter than Banff, and after the July 2024 wildfire it is still rebuilding, with burned slopes along some roads. Maligne Canyon, the classic Jasper icewalk, is reported closed for the whole 2026-27 winter, icewalks included, so we do not plan on it. Instead your See Sight Tours guide takes us east on Highway 16 down the Athabasca valley, about 40 minutes, to Jasper Lake, where the wind often sweeps snow off the ice and the mountains rise on both sides of the valley. We walk the shore, and on the way we watch the slopes where bighorn sheep and elk often come close to the road in winter. We are back in town for lunch together, and the afternoon is free. Jasper National Park has been a Dark Sky Preserve since 2011, and in midwinter it is dark by about 5 pm. After dinner on your own, a local astronomy guide sets up telescopes away from the town's lights to show you the winter sky. If Maligne Canyon reopens before your trip, its icewalk replaces the morning.

   Included

   • Morning outing east to Jasper Lake with your See Sight Tours guide, watching for bighorn sheep and elk on the way (the Maligne Canyon icewalk instead, if Parks Canada reopens the canyon before your trip)
   • Lunch in Jasper
   • Dark-sky evening with an astronomy guide and telescopes

   Optional experiences

   • Skiing at Marmot Basin, about 30 minutes from town (lift ticket and rental extra)

   Easier option: Watch from the warm minibus at Jasper Lake instead of walking the shore.

   More active option: In the free afternoon, a snowshoe walk with your See Sight Tours guide on a trail near town, snowshoes provided.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Jasper; dinner on your own

   Activity: About 1 to 2 km on the snowy lakeshore, with cleats if it is icy; we stay off the lake ice. On a cloudy night the astronomy evening moves indoors or to another night; the Northern Lights are sometimes seen here, but we do not promise them.

6. Day 6: South on the parkway to Lake Louise

   Jasper south on the Icefields Parkway past Sunwapta Falls and the Columbia Icefield to Lake Louise

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Lake Louise
   Day 6 details

   Driving the parkway south shows you a different road: the Sunwapta valley opens ahead, and Mount Andromeda and the edge of the Columbia Icefield fill the windscreen as we climb to Sunwapta Pass, 2,035 m, the boundary between Jasper and Banff parks. It is about 233 km and three and a half to four hours of driving, again all in daylight. Where the pull-outs are plowed and outside the avalanche no-stopping zones, we stop at Sunwapta Falls, for a second look at the Athabasca Glacier in morning light, and at the Weeping Wall, a cliff of frozen waterfalls where ice climbers often work. We reach Lake Louise for a sit-down lunch at about 1:30 pm. The rest of the afternoon is free: skate on the lake, walk the lakeshore, or sit by a fire. Around 4:30 pm the last light turns the Victoria Glacier pink. The farewell dinner is together in Lake Louise, where winter evenings are quiet and choices few. If the parkway is closed, we leave Jasper east on Highway 16, which stays open, for a night in Edmonton.

   Included

   • The Icefields Parkway southbound with your guide
   • Sunwapta Falls and the Weeping Wall, where the pull-outs are plowed
   • The Athabasca Glacier from the Columbia Icefield viewpoints
   • Lunch at Lake Louise
   • Farewell dinner at Lake Louise

   Optional experiences

   • Skate rental at Lake Louise

   Free time: Afternoon free at Lake Louise

   Activity: If the Edmonton route is needed, day 7 becomes about 300 km and three hours to Calgary airport without the Grotto Canyon icewalk, so the flight advice stays the same.

   

7. Day 7: Grotto Canyon icewalk and back to Calgary

   Lake Louise east on the Trans-Canada Highway past Banff and Canmore to Grotto Canyon, then Calgary International Airport and downtown Calgary

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 7 details

   Sunrise is not until about 8:30 am in midwinter, so if you like, walk down to the lakeshore before breakfast and watch the first light reach the peaks above the frozen lake. We leave Lake Louise at about 8:45 am and take the Trans-Canada Highway east past Banff and Canmore, about 95 km and an hour and a quarter, to Grotto Canyon in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, outside the national park. With a local guide and ice cleats, we walk up the frozen creek into a narrow limestone canyon to a frozen waterfall where ice climbers often work, passing Indigenous rock paintings on the canyon wall. It is about 4 km there and back, mostly level, and takes about two hours. Then it is about 105 km out of the mountains to Calgary International Airport, arriving by about 1:30 pm, and your guide sees you to the terminal. Anyone staying on is taken on into downtown Calgary, about 20 km more. Winter snow can slow the highway, so book a flight leaving after about 4:30 pm.

   Included

   • Grotto Canyon icewalk with a local guide, ice cleats provided
   • Drop-off at Calgary International Airport (YYC), or a central Calgary hotel if you are staying on

   Easier option: Walk only the first part of the canyon, to the rock paintings, then wait in the warm minibus.

   Free time: Early morning free at Lake Louise

   Activity: About 4 km on packed snow and ice, mostly level. Lunch today is on your own; the airport has places to eat. Book a flight leaving after about 4:30 pm.

   

Wildlife and weather: From December to February expect daytime highs around -5 C and nights around -15 C in Banff and Jasper, with cold snaps to -30 C and the occasional mild chinook. Daylight runs from about eight hours in December to about eleven to twelve in March. The lakes, waterfalls and canyons are usually frozen through the season. Elk, bighorn sheep and mountain goats are often seen near the roads in winter; bears are hibernating.

• Banff3 nights
• Jasper2 nights
• Lake Louise1 night