If you haven’t start planning yet, stop reading the blog and
try to find a place to stay first.
You might have now realized how difficult it is to find a
good accommodation in Jasper without breaking a bank. You might find some
suggestions to check out Hinton to save some greens. What people don’t realize
is it’s an additional one-hour drive to reach Jasper town, so you will be
wasting 2-hours daily of your precious vacation time in commute plus your green
credentials.
My recommendation is to stay in Jasper town situated at the
midpoint of the park. And now let me tell you how I found my stay right in
Jasper town just a month before our arrival date. And yes I don’t like spending
500$ / night on hotels.
The reason they don’t leverage leading websites is to save
on the extravagant cut charged by these companies. They helped us out find a place to stay right in the town.
Unfortunately, admission to National Parks is not free. You
are required to purchase tickets to explore them. As you will enter Jasper
National Park you cross Park Gates you can buy your ticket here, or you will
need to purchase at Visitor center.
Depending on your days of visit choose the best-suited pass
for yourself. Discovery pass is good for one year and is valid at all National
Parks in Canada.
Things to do:
We can divide Jasper National Park into four areas and start
exploring from the east end of the Jasper National Park.
Day 1
We first decided to explore the biggest highlight of the
area:
Maligne Valley
Interestingly Maligne translates to wicked and probably the
name was given due to the river’s treacherous path to reach Athabasca river. Maligne Valley is a beautiful drive surrounded by river,
lush greenery and mountains, also known for wildlife spotting. It is an
approximately 1.45 hours drive from Miette Hot Springs and an hour drive from
Jasper Town.
We decided to first
explore the beautiful and the largest natural lake (Maligne Lake) of Canadian
Rockies. One can spend an entire day exploring this magnificent Valley. You can
go hiking, canoeing in the lake, or relax on the lakeside.
Maligne Lake
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| (The beauty of Maligne Lake is undefinable ) |
Second largest glacier-fed lake in the world, which makes
water bit chilly for swimming. Its majestic azure blue color of water
surrounded by snow peaked mountains will make you fell in love with the lake.
Do you want to explore the lake more closely?
Yes, take a ride on the cruise and enjoy the lake more closely. No, you
want to be on your own. What about canoeing through the lake.
After spending some time at different viewpoints of the
lake, we decided to go for a hike. We headed for Mary Schaffer Loop, one of the
most recommended loops for hiking near Maligne Lake. It's an easy 3.2 km loop
which starts near the lake. The loop is partly walking alongside the lake and
enjoying the view just by yourself and then leading to the woods in the forest,
bringing you close to trees and fresh air. Even if you don't want to complete
the full loop hike, I would suggest you walk along the lakeside to get a view
away from the public to enjoy the beauty of the lake.
You have multiple other hiking options e.g., trail to Opal
Hills.
Do you want to see
Moose?
Moose lake loop is considered the best spot for spotting
moose. It is a 2.7 km easy loop which will take you into the forest to a
tranquil moose lake. Its believed that moose quite often come near the lake,
especially during early morning or late evenings.
There is no guarantee
that you will spot one, predicting wildlife activity is a bit challenging job.
We decided to go for a hike on the Moose loop next day early
morning. Early in the morning, we tried to reach the lake before it gets hot.
But, we managed to reach the lake only by 9 am. Unfortunately, we couldn’t spot
one.
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| (Moose Lake, unfortunately there was no Moose) |
Are we Late?
Then we saw the Park Canada Guide there, we learned more
about the area and animals through them. We inquire about Moose spotting on the
day? Unfortunately, they did not notice much activity on that day. They told us
many factors impact wildlife movements, the foggy and smoky weather could be
the reason for not spotting one or so much noise created by us humans.
Though, it did not go in vain. They let us hold Moose
Antlers. God they are heavy. Holding those antlers definitely made the day of
my poor husband, as he so much wanted to see a moose. Anyways. We will make
more fun of him later.
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| (My husband was finally excited after holding the Moose Antlers) |
So, lets head towards our next stop Medicine Lake.
Medicine Lake
The next stop was the viewpoint of Medicine Lake. It is just
off the road and not too many signs. Just pull over your car and enjoy the
beautiful site. The unusual feature of the lake that it has no visible channel
of drainage. It is a glacier-fed lake during summer, while in winters lake
disappears leaving behind muddy flat with the scattered pool of water.
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| (Medicine Lake) |
After reaching the viewpoint, park your car and explore the
area. You can learn about the history of Medicine Lake and enjoy the view from
the top.
If you follow the steep path
towards the lake, you will reach the lake. Reach down and closely enjoy the
beauty of the lake.
After exploring the lake head to the Canyon.
Maligne Canyon
They have three parking spots, the first one at first bridge
(most of the people start from here) and others at fifth and sixth bridge.
Maligne Canyon is the deepest canyon in the park, dropping
to a depth of more than 50meters at some points. Six bridges built across the
canyon allow hikers of all abilities to explore the area.
If you do not want to hike then you can explore first, fifth
and sixth bridge which are closer to the parking point.
The hike from the first upto the fifth bridge is quite
famous and almost 4.4Kms long (return). Due to number of steps and uneven
terrain, it could be quite exhausting especially if you have had an active day.
I ended up returning from the third bridge, though my husband, who never gets
tired, went till the end, clicked some great pics and completed the trail. We
then drove to fifth bridge and its definitely a good sport for a few clicks.
It was already a quite hectic day. So we headed back to the town
to retire with some drinks and food and call it a day.
Day 2
Today we headed to explore the remaining two major
attractions of the park, Edith Cavell and the area around the town. To begin
the day, we decided to first relax in the hot spring before heading towards
exploring the park.
Miette Hot Springs
After a long and tiresome last day, we wanted to relax.
Nothing could be better than Miette Hot Spring, to explore. On the way, there are numerous viewpoints overlooking mountains and turquoise lakes. You can pull over your car anywhere to enjoy the beauty. Its a one-hour drive from Jasper Town or
Hinton. Access to Miette Hot Spring is unfortunately not included in Park
entrance fees. It cost $6 per person per
entry, to access locker and the pools of hot springs. If you require towels or
swimsuits, it's available at an extra cost.
After reaching it was time to put on our swimsuit, take a
quick shower and head to pools. They have two pools of hot springs water
designed with different depth points. The temperature of water 40°C to relax your body. We found a spot
facing towards the mountains and took a dip in the water.
If you want to touch the source of the Miette Hot spring,
take a stroll through the remains of the old aqua court.
You can also capture some interesting clicks from the area.
Some Clicks on the way to Jasper Town from Miette Hot Springs:
Pyramid Lake
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| (Pyramid Lake) |
It’s a 12-minute drive from the town and one hour from
Miette Hot Springs. We first drove till the end of the road and park the car. As
soon as we got out of the car we saw an elk on the other side of the road. What
a start of the day. Slowly people gathered near by to get some pictures of the elk.
There are various ways to enjoy the Patricia Lake. They are
some hikes in the area which can give you views from the top. Some people love
to canoe to explore the area. There is a nice viewpoint from where you can sit
and enjoy the beauty.
We decided to hike the Pyramid Bench trail but, on the
trail, we got lost and unknowingly headed to Cottonwood Creek Loop. It's a
5.1km return loop. We continued
following the trail and could feel the silence of the woods, which gave us
peace from the hustle and bustle life of the city. As we kept on walking and
exploring the forest, it suddenly offered an exceptional view of the lake from
the top. We sat there to relax and enjoy the beauty by ourselves. We followed
the trail back to reach the parking lot.
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| (While Hiking on Lake Pyramid Trails) |
You don't want to hike, still interested in view?
Instead of going on the entire trail, head towards trail 2
from the parking lot. It is one kilometer up the hill, and you will have the
view to relish.
The best part is that my husband thought we are done, and he
was ready to drive away. It took some convincing to stop and explore one of the
highlights of the area, Pyramid Island. The Island is surrounded by the lake
and mountains on all sides. It also has some picnic area.
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| (Pyramid Island) |
After exploring Lake Pyramid, we headed back to the town. On
the way we took a quick stop at Patricia Lake viewpoint. In the end, we headed
to explore the area of Fairmont Lodge.
While returning from Patricia Lake guess what?
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| (No Caption Required) |
Its an elk again and this time elk did a traffic jam. Everyone
has parked the car on the roads and trying to capture a glimpse of the elk
wandering on the road. Till elk was on the road not even a single person left
the spot but just spend time admiring the elk activities.
Old fort point loop is another recommended trail in the
town. It’s a 3.8 km return steep trail which offers excellent town and valley
views. We headed for this trail but going further we saw that the trail was
closed due to bear activity in the area. This is also the ending point for
river rafting activities on Athabasca River.
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| (Relaxing by the side of River Athabasca) |
Lake Beauvert
Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge is situated on Lake Beauvert.
After reaching the lodge park your car in the public parking and head towards
the lodge. You can explore the area on foot. Walk towards the lake and enjoy
the view of the lake and the lodge. Inside the lodge you can explore their
cafeterias and shops.
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| (Lake Beauvert) |
On the way back, you can also explore Mildred Lake, Annette
Lake and Lake Edith. Lake Annette and Lake Edith also have picnic area. There
are also some trails if you are interested.
Last but not the least Mount Edith Cavell. Unfortunately,
during our visit this area was closed for maintenance. If open, one can easily
spend 2-3 hours exploring the area.
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