This was our first trip to the Canadian Rockies and we found this to be a fantastic area to visit. In a week, we had just hit the highlights and we were ready to explore in more detail. Unfortunately we had to go home. I will try to write more detailed activity entries for some of these, but here is a quick list of things to do.

- Shop on Banff Ave. for both touristy and nice items.
- Ride the gondola
- See Bow Falls and the Hoodoos. Many people miss these beauties right on the edge of town.
- Visit the Banff Springs Hotel, even if you can’t afford to stay there.
- Visit Lake Minnewanka and hike or take the boat ride for nice mountain views.
- Hike Stony Squaw for an uncrowded trail with nice views of Banff and the valley.
- Visit Johnston Canyon for spectacular waterfalls through a deep, narrow canyon.
- Visit Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. They are crowded, but the view is worth it.
- Drive the Icefields Parkway.
- Visit Jasper and Yoho National Parks.

Quick Tips:

Banff is a National Park and is mostly wilderness, so the most important suggestion is to get away from the town of Banff and the most crowded areas. There are many places where a short hike leads to wonderful sights. Ask for a day hiking brochure and map at the visitor center in Banff, but be sure to heed any trail closings due to weather or bears.

Make the short drive over the continental divide into British Columbia to visit Yoho National Park. While there hike around Emerald Lake for spectacular views without the Lake Louise crowds, and drive the treacherous road to the breathtaking Takakkaw Falls.

Restaurants in Banff are generally very good. Pick up more than one restaurant guide for a good perspective. Reservations are recommended at many restaurants and we found several where we would not have gotten seated without a reservation. One excellent restaurant that was not heavily advertised was the Waldhaus restaurant. It is a German restaurant run by the Banff Springs Hotel, but it is situated away from the hotel next to a large meadow near the Bow Falls. We had an outstanding meal in a very nice setting.

Best Way To Get Around:

If you stay at the Rocky Mountain Resort you will definitely need a car, since the resort is at least 2km from everything in town. If you stay in the town itself, a car is still recommended, but you can walk to all the shopping and most of the dining. You can also take bus tours to many of the major sights, including the Icefields, Sulphur Mountain Gondola, Lake Louise, etc. These bus trips struck us as expensive and often did not include the price of the major attraction, such as the gondola ride or the SnoCoach ride on the glacier. If you have a car, driving yourself is the clear choice.

The roads are well designed and in excellent shape. Much of your traveling will be on Trans Canada Highway 1, the major coast-to-coast Canadian highway. Just remember that your are driving in the mountains so there will be hills and curves, so drive cautiously. The only road where we encountered any excitement was the Yoho Valley Road from Canada 1 into the Takakkaw Falls. In the first fourth of the 14km trip we encountered some of the tightest switchback turns we have ever seen.

Winter here would offer great cross country skiing and world class downhill skiing at the nearby resorts of Banff/Mt. Norquay, Sunshine Village, and Lake Louise.

Best Things About the Resort:
The best thing about this timeshare is clearly its location in Banff National Park. The units, although quite small, make a good jumping off point for the park. The resort also appears to be well-managed.

Resort Experience:
The Rocky Mountain Resort and Confereence Center is set about 2lm from downtown Banff. It is easy to access from the main highway (TransCanada Highway 1). The resort is fairly large, but there is not much else close around. This makes for a quiet and beutiful setting. It is just a short drive into the town of Banff.

Most of the units are arranged in "quads" with each building consisting of four units on the gound floor and four units above. The units themselves are very small. The information provided in advance states that the size is limited by National Park restrictions. Our one-bedroom unit was cramped for two adults. We could not imagine having another person, even a chld, staying with us.

The mini-kitchen included a dishwasher, a full-sized refrigerator, a microwave, and a stove top (but not an oven). We have seen smaller kitchens in other timeshares. The small table had three chairs, but it would have been tight with three people at the table. Our only complaint about the kitchen was the tiny four-cup coffee maker. A full sized one would not have taken much space.

The living room had a sofa bed and a TV, but no other chair. The room was so small that you needed to squeeze between the wall and the sofa to get into the room.

The bedroom was where we really felt the smallness of the unit. There was room for a small night stand on only one side of the bed. There was no dresser and no drawers for storage of clothes. A small closet had a few shelves on one side that provided the only clothes storage. The queen size bed was quite comfortable, but it was a tight fit just to walk around the bed.

The unit was clean, but there were some places that looked like they needed painting or sprucing up. Fortunately, we spent very little time in the unit and had a great time touring the beautiful Canadian Rockies.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Fair
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Very Good

At the top you are greeted by an observation building with two restaurants and plenty of outside observation points. If it is cool or windy, good views are still available from within the building. The views from the observation deck are fantastic and provide a good perspective of how Banff and the Bow River fit in amongst the mountains. Postpone the trip if the weather is cloudy.

From the top a trail of boardwalk and steps leads to another peak, offering views to the other side of the mountain. Although this is a completely fenced-in route and looks short, it is a full kilometer each way and includes a fair amount of climbing up stairs. And at an elevation of about 7000 feet there was a fair amount of panting and wheezing. But the view up here is worth the walk.

We took the option of hiking down from the observation station to the gondola base. Even downhill, this is a hefty hike. Sturdy shoes and water are recommended and be sure to allow well over an hour for the trip down. Another option is to hike up and take a free gondola ride down. On our hike down we encountered many people hiking up. Some were really struggling. We also saw several who gave up and turned around. If you are in shape, have proper equipment (shoes, water etc.), and are used to hiking at altitude, then it is a nice climb. Don't try it just to save the gondola fee.

A visit to Lake Louise is a necessary part of any visit to the Banff area. Depending on your expectations, you might find this a pleasure or a minor hassle. The first thing that struck us was that, other than the lake and Chateau, there was not much in Lake Louise. The village is separate from the lake and contains a couple of motels, restaurants, and gas stations.

Lake Louise itself is beautiful. It is located up the mountain at the base of a glacier. The glacier-tinted water and the mountainous background make for a picturesque setting. The grand old hotel, the Chateau Lake Louise, sits at the near end of the lake and makes a great picture itself. During our visit (June 2003) construction of a new wing on the hotel spoiled some of the views. Try, if you can, to avoid the crowds. Check out the hotel interior while you are there. The hordes of people come by the busload and swarm over the near end of the lake. Take the path on the right of the lake for a walk that will get you away from some of the crowd and give some nice views back at the Château. For a better view and to really get away from the crowd, take the hike up to Fairview. The hike requires some climbing on a well-maintained hiking trail. From the viewpoint you can retrace your steps (the easier way) or continue down a steep section of trail to a rugged path along the lake and back to the start point. We felt that this chance to get away from the crowds and to get a different viewpoint made the visit to Lake Louise enjoyable.

About 12 km from Lake Louise is Moraine Lake. This lake, even further up the mountains, is also very pretty, with numerous mountain peaks rising in the background. Although hardly deserted, this lake is less crowded than Lake Louise. The best viewpoint is atop the rockpile, which forms a natural dam at the bottom of the lake. The path up the rockpile is well constructed and most people, including children, should have no trouble making the short hike.

Also in the Lake Louise area is the "gondola" at Lake Louise Ski Area. The ski area is across the valley from the village and lake and offers some nice views. At the ski area you will go to the bottom of one of the ski lifts where you will have a choice of riding a chairlift or an old gondola car that they put on for the summer tourists. Take the chair, unless it is cold or you are traveling with young children. At the top you will need to walk to a nice viewpoint and then further down to an interpretative center. Call in advance for the schedule, if you want to take a guided hike. These trips leave at only a few times and some last two hours.

Plan ahead if you want to take some of the more extensive hikes. Consider quick scenic stops along the route Bow Lake, with the unusual Num-ti-jah Lodge, and Bow Summit for the origin of the Bow River. After crossing Route 11, the only real highway that intersects the parkway, you might be ready for a pit stop. The Crossings is the only truly commercial stop on the parkway and includes a motel, a cafeteria, a gift shop, and gas. The next food is 45km farther along. After awhile the road will make a big, looping turn to the left before turning right and starting to climb. In the middle of the climb, a pullout on the right side of the road is worth a stop. This stop allows a nice view back down the North Saskatchewan Valley and a view of Panther Falls on the nearby mountainside.

Shortly you will go over the mountain pass and enter Jasper National Park. The park pass that you have for Banff works here as well. The Icefields Center is next. This is where the Athabasca Glacier extends down fairly close to the road. Now you have a choice. You can take a ride in a modified bus called a SnoCoach (about C$26 for adults), which will take you well up onto the glacier. The tour leaders are very informative, and you will get a chance to walk around in a limited section of the glacier. The alternate way to get to the glacier is to park across the road by the glacial lake and hike up onto the end of the glacier. The SnoCoach takes you much farther up the glacier, but the hike is cheaper. We took the SnoCoach and found it informative and enjoyable. The many tour busses start arriving around 10am, so an early start will get you on the glacier before the thousands of others.

Leaving the Icefields Center, you will pass more interesting scenery. The next "must-see" stop is Athabasca Falls on the left. Unlike the long, skinny Panther Falls, Athabasca is a high-volume falls that has worn its way through the solid rock. A short paved walk with some stairs leads to several overlooks.

Shortly after the falls you will come to the town of Jasper. We made only a quick lunch stop here but found the town pleasant and less commercial than Banff.

Just after you pass into British Columbia, be alert for the pull-off for the spiral tunnels. In order to ease the extremely steep railroad climb over the divide, the tracks go into the mountain, loop around inside the mountain, and emerge above. If you happen to be there when a long train is passing, you might be able to see the front of the train emerge from the tunnel as the rear is still entering the tunnel.

As the highway levels off, look for the exit to Yoho Valley Road and Takakkaw Falls. The falls are a must-see stop, assuming that you survive the road in. In the first few kilometers are some of the most impossible switchbacks (hairpin turns) that I have ever seen. On two of them a car must drive into the oncoming lane, near the cliff edge, in order to make the turn; RV’s and busses cannot make the turn without backing up, close to the cliff, several times. If my wife had still been breathing, it would have been fun to stop and watch people attempt to drive this road.

When we arrived at the Takakkaw Falls, we were amazed at two things. The first was the large number of people who had actually driven on that road to get there. The large parking lot was full and the overflow lot was mostly full. The second amazing thing was the falls. Takakkaw Falls is the most spectacular falls I have ever seen. In late June there was a very large volume of water plummeting down a sheer cliff wall for the full height of a mountain. The falls can be seen from several viewpoints along a paved walkway requiring very slight to moderate climbing, depending on how close you want to get. Be sure to check out the view down the valley while you are there. By the way, the drive out is no better than the drive in.

Back on the highway, check out the visitor center at Field and then head to the exit for Emerald Lake. Shortly after exiting, make a quick stop at Natural Bridge and see where rushing water has burrowed its way through solid rock. A short drive further you arrive at Emerald Lake. Though not as spectacular as Lake Louise, this is still worth a visit and is much less crowded. Take an informative and beautiful walk to the end of the lake. Then double back or continue for a longer and more isolated and rustic trip back. There is a restaurant near the lake by the parking lot and a nice lodge with rooms and dining in a woodsy lake setting.