To, from and in Jasper

Icefields Parkway (Highway 93 North)

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Wall of Ice"

Icefields Parkway Photo - Icefields Parkway (Highway 93 North), Banff, Alberta

Quote:

We return the car to Lake Louise, uneventfully after braving Rockies' roads - a doddle in comparison to Scottish single track roads, but that's probably because we are out of winter now - automatic gear boxes and alien signage systems. Back to the public transport, we get on the Brewster coach for a ride along what is supposed to be one of the "most spectacular stretches of asphalt (I think they mean tarmac :-) in America", the Icefields Parkway.And spectacular it is.We have spent almost a week in the Rockies, having travelled from Calgary to Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise, Golden and Rogers Pass. We were seriously impressed by the mountains, the lakes, the crags, the ...Read More

We return the car to Lake Louise, uneventfully after braving Rockies' roads - a doddle in comparison to Scottish single track roads, but that's probably because we are out of winter now - automatic gear boxes and alien signage systems.

Back to the public transport, we get on the Brewster coach for a ride along what is supposed to be one of the "most spectacular stretches of asphalt (I think they mean tarmac :-) in America", the Icefields Parkway.

And spectacular it is.

We have spent almost a week in the Rockies, having travelled from Calgary to Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise, Golden and Rogers Pass. We were seriously impressed by the mountains, the lakes, the crags, the wilderness, the bears, the mountains again. But nothing so far prepared us for the staggering effect of these stunning 143 miles. Completed in 1940, it's an extremely popular scenic drive in the summer, with several thousand cars covering it every day. In the winter, it's a forbidding and difficult alpine road. In May, when we are traveling, the tarmac is clear but the mountains covered in snow and the road is not particularly crowded.

We considered hiring a car for this journey but decided against it, on the grounds of cost as well as having heads, eyes and hands free for looking and picture-taking. This proves a wise decision as it's still out of season for many of the more interesting stopping points where one might like to walk about and explore. Snow is everywhere and thus we are not losing much by going almost non-stop.

The road winds its way climbing steeply up and dramatically down through magnificent scenery. For a time, what seems like a wall of mountains, citadels of rock, castles of boulder, the more awe inspiring as it's covered in snow, rises to our left. Lakes appear and disappear, covered in ice and snow.

The bus is comfortable and less than half full, so we get plenty of room, though photo opportunities are limited. But maybe this is good, because it's better to just look and remember – I already want to come back in the summer!

The bus doesn't stop often, but there is a substantial break at the Saskatchewan River Crossing, a high and cold service station where we huddle with coffee – while the children demand, somewhat surrealy, ice-cream – looking at the blazing white fire of the Athabasca Glacier, one of the toes of the Columbia Icefield itself, a magnificent and forbidding tongue of packed snow flowing into a lunar, boulder-strewn landscape of a mountain valley.

Jasper welcomes us with brisk cold, blazing sunshine and blue skies, first time really since we arrived in the Rockies. It's unbelievably beautiful. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on April 1, 2011

Icefields Parkway (Highway 93 North)
Parallels Continental Divide
Banff, Alberta

Cheer!
Flag

Little Log House

Best Of IgoUgo

Hotel | "Great Little Log House"

Door from the living room to the bedroom Photo - Little Log House, Jasper National Park, Alberta

Quote:

We stayed a night in Jasper in May 2010. As it's hard to a find a couch to surf in a very popular tourist destinations,e specially those within national parks, we settled for a private room, or rather an apartment we found not far from the center of town. The suite offered by the owners of the Little Log House occupies a top floor of an old, wooden house in Jasper. The apartment has its own entrance up external set of stairs from the back of the property and there is a little porch/balcony outside the door (good for smokers as the inside is non-smoking, and in the summer also suitable for sitting outside as there is enough room for a table and a couple of chairs). The interior is simple bu...Read More

We stayed a night in Jasper in May 2010. As it's hard to a find a couch to surf in a very popular tourist destinations,e specially those within national parks, we settled for a private room, or rather an apartment we found not far from the center of town. The suite offered by the owners of the Little Log House occupies a top floor of an old, wooden house in Jasper. The apartment has its own entrance up external set of stairs from the back of the property and there is a little porch/balcony outside the door (good for smokers as the inside is non-smoking, and in the summer also suitable for sitting outside as there is enough room for a table and a couple of chairs).

The interior is simple but very comfortable, consisting of a bedroom with a double bed and a living room with a fold-out sofa, two comfy armchairs and a coffee table. The bathroom was also fine, with a claw-footed bath, tiled and clean. The kitchen/diner was the most basic, but still adequate, with a table and four chairs and a small counter with a toaster, kettle, tea and coffee supplies and a microwave. Sadly, no cooker of any kind so not ideal for those looking for a longer stay and self catering. All three rooms were walk-through without a hall, but it didn't bother us as it meant there was more space. I thought the interior was very nice, cosy but simple and fresh rather than twee: blues, yellows and wood in the decor without frills but altogether rather nice.

The hostess was very friendly and helpful, with a great rapport with the kids and to the point with us.

The view of the mountains from the window was fabulous (though I am sure you can get better for the money) and altogether we felt we got excellent value accommodation. We paid 75 CAD (around 50 GBP at the time of travel) and despite abysmal exchange rate it was still a good bargain for what we got – you would be hard pushed to get one family room in the UK for this amount. Children under 7 are free and an extra adult (above the standard occupancy of 2) is 15 CAD, but we were not charged for the Older Child which was a nice touch. In the summer (June-September) the rate goes up to 110 CAD per night, which is significantly more but still quite good for what's on offer.

Altogether an excellent choice and highly recommended for a stay in Jasper (unless you have to cook, of course). Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 1, 2011

Little Log House
712 Patricia Street, Jasper
Jasper National Park, Alberta
1-780-852-4548

Cheer!
Flag

Jasper Tramway

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Jasper is lovely, and so is its cable car"

Jasper Tramway, views Photo - Jasper Tramway, Jasper National Park, Alberta

Quote:

We like Jasper much more than Banff – and Banff was pretty good - for reasons not entirely clear to me. If I come back to the Rockies I would like to come back to this area (or Yoho) rather than the Banff part. Possibly it was simply the weather, or maybe the ski-culture that dominates the Banff area is hard to stomach for non-skiers? I am tempted to stay longer, but an end of our Canrail pass is near so we better get going. The train to Kamloops leaves tomorrow, so we totter to our accommodation.In the morning before the train departs we manage the Jasper Tramway.The Tramway is located a few miles out of town, but there is a shuttle bus that takes us from the main touristy dra...Read More

We like Jasper much more than Banff – and Banff was pretty good - for reasons not entirely clear to me. If I come back to the Rockies I would like to come back to this area (or Yoho) rather than the Banff part. Possibly it was simply the weather, or maybe the ski-culture that dominates the Banff area is hard to stomach for non-skiers? I am tempted to stay longer, but an end of our Canrail pass is near so we better get going. The train to Kamloops leaves tomorrow, so we totter to our accommodation.

In the morning before the train departs we manage the Jasper Tramway.

The Tramway is located a few miles out of town, but there is a shuttle bus that takes us from the main touristy drag to the bottom terminal. Soon we are boarding the car that will take us on a seven minute trip from the relative warmth and lush foliage surrounding the lower terminal – at 1,304m higher than many mountains in the UK – to the true Alpine heights of the upper terminal, sitting on the Whistler mountain almost thousand meters higher at the elevation of 2,277 meters.

Jasper Tramway is the longest and highest guided aerial tramway in Canada and each car is manned by an operative cum guide, who provides a running commentary on the views and landscape features.

At the top, it's winter again, and no walking paths are accessible being still deep under thick snow cover. The terminal is a modest structure, much less of a huge concrete pile than the Banff Sulphur Mountain one. The mountains surround us, and although we can't see the plant life of Alpine tundra – still under snow – we can see far and wide towards numerous mountain ranges, with the Jasper town below us, glacial lakes blue-green, jewel-like on the valley floors and the towering peaks beyond. The sun is blazing despite the cold and the views are magnificent.

It's hard to compare such things, but as with the whole town itself, I like the Jasper cable car better than the Banff one. Not because of the car itself – the Tramway has large cabins with standing room in which the passengers are squashed together a bit like on a city bus – but because both the views and the station at the top are better. At the end of the day, there isn't probably much in it: both cable cars are pretty good and despite the price, very much worth doing.

We paid 30 CAD per adult and 15 CAD per child (the Younger One was free as under five).
Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 1, 2011

Jasper Tramway
Whistler's Mountain
Jasper National Park, Alberta

Cheer!
Flag

From Jasper to Kamloops onboard The Canadian

Best Of IgoUgo

Story/Tip

On the way between Jasper and Kamloops Photo - British Columbia, Canada

Quote:

We board The Canadian for the last stretch of our cross-continent journey on a bautiful spring day in Jasper. We are going to Kamloops, nine hour away in British Columbia. The train ride from Jasper to Kamloops is another highly scenic stretch. The route climbs up quickly to the Yellowhead Pass, which is not only the the border between Alberta and British Columbia but also mark the change of time from the Mountain to the Pacific zone. The Pass, at 1,110 m, is one of the lowest points on the Great Divide. From then on it's all, at least figuratively, west and downhill. In reality, it's actually more south then west. Jasper marked the northernmost point of our whole Canadian route, quite sur...Read More

We board The Canadian for the last stretch of our cross-continent journey on a bautiful spring day in Jasper. We are going to Kamloops, nine hour away in British Columbia.

The train ride from Jasper to Kamloops is another highly scenic stretch. The route climbs up quickly to the Yellowhead Pass, which is not only the the border between Alberta and British Columbia but also mark the change of time from the Mountain to the Pacific zone. The Pass, at 1,110 m, is one of the lowest points on the Great Divide. From then on it's all, at least figuratively, west and downhill. In reality, it's actually more south then west. Jasper marked the northernmost point of our whole Canadian route, quite surprisingly as both Cote Nord in Quebec and Sioux Lookout in north-western Onatrio actually felt much more northern.

The character of the train itself is different now. We left The Canadian at Saskatoon as our route took us to Calgary and the train goes via Edmonton ; we rejoined it in Jasper having missed the Saskatoon – Edmonton – Jasper sections. It's much more of a day excursion train now, with three seating carriages instead of one it had when we travelled on it between Toronto and Saskatoon. Many people in the economy class joined the train in Edmonton or Jasper, while those who have been travelling coach since the beginning are tired and a bit worse for wear, after three nights and two days on board. It is also more crowded, and there isn't enough room in the Dome observation car for all that want to sit there. Most of the time we stay in our seats, where large panoramic windows give plenty of visibility – as long as you are on the right side of the train.

The train does continue west for about fifty miles from Jasper, past more of the Rocky Mountain magnificence, and it passes close to the highest mountain in the Rockies - 3,954 meters (over 13,000 feet) - Mount Robson. It's an easily recognizable, imposing dome of rock, high enough to create its own weather system. The top is frequently veiled in the cloud but appears for us, somewhat ghostly, from behind the mist.

We pass small mountain settlements, often not more than logging and fishing camps, of which Valemont is the most significant – with barely 1,000 population. Valemont marks the meeting point of the Rocky, Caribou, Monashee and Selkirk mountains.

The views are still pretty good, with Pyramid Falls near Blue River particularly impressive but only briefly visible to the side of the track and many lakes and streams between the railway and the towering mountains.

For the last section of the journey to Kamloops the train follows the course of the Thompson River, and there is much marshy wetland. I am certain I spotted a moose in one of the watery glades, but as it remained pretty immobile, it was hard to be sure.

It gets dark a couple of hours before we arrive, and it's close to midnight when we disembark at Kamloops North – one of those train stations, located like airports, on the very periphery of a city, which kind of defies one of the main points of travelling by train which is to arrive and depart in the centre. We manage to organise a cab and soon we are on the way to our Kamloops host.

Read Less

Cheer!
Flag

Rail journeys from Jasper

Best Of IgoUgo

Story/Tip

Jasper railway Photo - Jasper National Park, Alberta

Quote:

Jasper's little heritage train station sees a veritable onslaught of trains, at least by Canadian standards, in the summer high season. Seeing the magnificence of the Rockies by train is certainly an attractive option and considering that the whole area was originally opened to visitors thanks to the development of the railways, and that tourism goes back hundred and fifty years around here, a time honoured one. The main train service that passes through Jasper is the flagship service of the ViaRail Canada, the passenger operation of Canada National – or rather, what's left of it – The Canadian. This long-distance train runs three times a week between Toronto and Vancouver all year round. ...Read More

Jasper's little heritage train station sees a veritable onslaught of trains, at least by Canadian standards, in the summer high season. Seeing the magnificence of the Rockies by train is certainly an attractive option and considering that the whole area was originally opened to visitors thanks to the development of the railways, and that tourism goes back hundred and fifty years around here, a time honoured one.

The main train service that passes through Jasper is the flagship service of the ViaRail Canada, the passenger operation of Canada National – or rather, what's left of it – The Canadian. This long-distance train runs three times a week between Toronto and Vancouver all year round. The train going west leaves Jasper at 1.30pm, to arrive at Valemount at 4.07 (Pacific Time), Blue River 6.27pm, Clearwater 8.44pm and Kamloops North at 11.09pm. This is a great ride through a very picturesque part of the Rockies – taking in Mount Robson – and one of the best ways to taste the railways-in-the-Rockies experience. The other way round might be even better, as the train leaves Kamloops at 6.35 in the morning, so the whole ride is pretty much in the daylight – unless you are travelling in the depths of the winter – and in fact you can go most of the way to Edmonton in the daylight, if you fancy seeing some of the prairies too.

In addition to The Canadian, Jasper is also a stop on some of the Rocky Mountaineer excursion routes, namely the Whistler – Quesnel – Jasper trip and the Vancouver – Kamloops – Jasper trip. These are "attraction" trains, with no pretence to be a means of travel for any other purpose than pure tourism, and have to be seen as train tours. The trains stop overnight, and hotel accommodation is included. This has a major advantage (no loss of sightseeing opportunities), but makes the whole package massively more expensive than just taking a Via Rail train. Frankly, if I considered taking one of the Rocky Mountaineer packages, I would go for one that incorporates Banff and Calgary, as there is no Via Rail trains on that route at all. Of two that call at Jasper, the Whistler one is both more attractive and cheaper, starting at around 800 CAD for two days on the train and one night accommodation. Comparable Via Rail ticket costs around 150 CAD – this would leave you with more than enough for any hotel stays. Even in a sleeper class, which also includes meals, Via Rail is less then 500 CAD.

A less known but potentially fascinating alternative or extension is a Via Rail train to Prince George and Prince Rupert. This also runs three times a week, but unlike The Canadian, doesn't offer a sleeper accommodation, instead having an overnight layover in Prince George. This route takes you at first through some very attractive stretches of the Rockies, including the Yellowhead Pass and Mount Robson, to then continue through pretty wild country towards the north of BC. In the summer, it's possible to catch a daytime BC Ferries boat in Prince Rupert and come back down the glorious Inside Passage to Port Hardy at the northern top of Vancouver island. Prices on this route start at around 120 CAD, which makes it excellent value (but you need to include a accommodation in Prince George). It is also possible to take a shorter trip from Jasper and stop and turn round - provided you have some form of transport ready, or accommodation to wait for the return train next day – at one of many stops between Jasper and Prince George. Most of them are request stops and need advance notification.
Read Less

Cheer!
Flag

IgoUgo

Jasper National Park Journals

Upload Photos