We took a lovely ten day road trip in Alberta in July with my sister and brother-in-law. 
We started in Calgary and worked our way up to Jasper via Lake Louise then headed back to Calgary via Banff and attended the Calgary Stampede.
We were in Alberta once before, when we took road trip up through the U.S. heading through Montana into Alberta then across to British Columbia and back home via the Washington, Oregon and California coasts. We didn’t make it up to Jasper and pretty much did drive by of Lake Louise and Banff, so this trip was fun as we were able to spend more time in each location and really see the sights.
Flying into Calgary was easy for us though we had to leave from LAX (cue horror music) but it was a breezy 3 hour non-stop flight. My sister and brother-in-law flew from Pittsburgh and had to deal with delays so arrived much later than us. We planned to stay in Calgary the night we arrived for that very reason so it worked out well. Chuck rented a car using his amazing Hertz discount (and that was a whole story as they didn’t have the car we wanted so we had to explain that we needed something big enough for four people and luggage as they kept trying to push us into a small SUV that definitely would NOT hold all of us. We ended up in a VW Taos which was okay but barely. Sure wouldn’t buy one! And we saved the people ahead of us big time as they had left a wallet and passport on the counter which we caught but the Hertz people didn’t) so we drove to the hotel only to discover it was the wrong hotel. Oops! Once we corrected that error, we had a relaxing evening and were ready to hit the road the following morning. Our plan was to drive from Calgary to Lake Louise and spend one night there, then proceed up to Banff. While at Lake Louise we stayed at the Mountaineer Lodge which was a great location as it had easy bus access to Lake Louise (parking there can be a bear in the summer). It was a nice place – comfortable, clean rooms and decent wifi and a lovely staff and a free breakfast. The last time we were in Lake Louise it was pouring rain. Happily that time the weather gods obliged and while the first day was cloudy and cold, the second day was lovely. We took many photos, walked part of the way around the lake then snuck into the Fairmont and fantasized about staying there ( we did have lunch there at Louiza which was lovely and had great views and didn’t require reservations). We also saw our first wildlife (a groundhog). On day two, we took a bus up to Moraine Lake, which was spectacular (and the bus stop to the lake was an easy walk from the lodge). We hiked a bit at Moraine Lake (Chuck went further than the rest of us on a mad quest for what turned out to be a nonexistent waterfall) and enjoyed the beauty views. Lots of people and you have to go by bus – my sister had wisely made reservations there and back (in the summer to really, really need reservations in advance) and we stuck with our times. Many folks winged it and stayed past their departure times, but based on the lines for return to Lake Louise, we were wise to be on time. We spent about 3 hours there which was a good amount of time (unless you were a monster hiker or wanted to go to the top of the rockpile, the line for which reminded me of pics from Mt Everest). We all wore waterproof shoes which was wise as it was quite soggy and muddy on the trail. We also rode the Lake Louise Gondola which was especially great because while going up (and down) we saw grizzlies!
We left Lake Louise after seeing Moraine Lake and headed to Jasper, which was, as the crow flies, a 3 or 4 hour drive on the Icefields Parkway. We took more time as there were all sorts of beautiful viewpoints along the way so it took us more like 6 hours. We knew we were coming back on the same route so didn’t feel the need to stop everywhere. One funny thing: I had to go to the bathroom like a son of a gun and there seemed to be no rest stops. it seemed like people in Alberta never had to go potty. About four hours into it, we realized that all of these little cabins we saw along the highway were, in fact, very nice “vault toilets.” As I jumped out of the car to take care of business I turned around and saw our first (unnamed) waterfall! So it was a total win-win. And once we saw these first ones, we realized that they were spaced quite regularly along the Icefields Parkway. We breezed through Banff National Park (we were stopping there on the way back to Calgary) and as we entered Jasper National Park began to see the devastation from the 2024 forest fires that raged through the area in 2024.
We stayed at the fabulous Pyramid Lake Lodge for three nights which gave us lots of time to explore the area. The hiking was great, the wildlife sightings spectacular. I never got tired of looking out at the lake. We even went kayaking once and saw a loon! The lodge isn’t in the town of Jasper and was largely unaffected by the fire. Going into town though, really brought the devastation home. A third of the town was burned and many locals still live in trailers. It was nice to stay in one place for e few days and just relax and Pyramid Lake Lodge was the perfect place to do just that. We did do some additional sightseeing, visiting the spectaclular Athabaska Falls.
We hit the road again heading to Banff, once again traveling on the Icefields Parkway. We stopped to see several sights, including the Athabasca Glacier. We meant to see Peyto Lake but ended up seeing only the parking lot and the vault toilet in the parking lot. It was so insanely crowded that we felt grateful to get out of the parking lot alive and continued down the road a ways and discovered beautiful, peaceful and uncrowded Herbert Lake. We also saw some wildlife overpasses (makes me wonder why it’s taken LA so long to build just one). We had decided not to stay in Banff which is crazy busy and crowded in the summer, instead opting to stay in nearby Canmore. We rented a condo there for three nights which gave us a nice jumping off point to explore Banff National Park. The condo was nice but – and this is part of the new reality of climate change – not too many places have central air conditioning. The condo didn’t, but they had put in the free standing ones which definitely helped (the temps were in the mid 80s while we were there) but it’s something to keep in mine when traveling up there in the summer. Talking to folks, we realized we were lucky – some recent summer temps have topped 100F! The neatest thing we did in Banff was to ride the Banff Gondola – totally worth it for the amazing views! We stayed for lunch at the Northern Lights Alpine Kitchen which was an indulgent treat with amazing views and pretty good food (it’s a prix fixe buffet so bring an appetite). We visited Maligne Lake and saw some hoodoos (not quite as grand as Zion) and revisited (for us) Johnston Canyon, hiking to the lower falls. We passed on the line to take a pic in the cave.
Then it was on the road again for the last leg of the trip, returning to Calgary for the rodeo. I had no idea how huge the Calgary Stampede is – it’s a rodeo, a stock show, a festival, concerts and just a general big old party attended by a ton of people. My only previous experience was years ago at the Pendleton Rodeo. It was a very tame affair compared to Calgary. Chuck bought the tickets and by some miracle we had seats in the shade, thank goodness, as temps on the day we attended were in the upper 80s. The rodeo itself ran about 3 or 3 1/2 hours with the usual: bronco riding, roping, bull riding and goofy comedic breaks. One of the sponsors was a chiropractic clinic which made a lot of sense given how all the riders were really getting thrashed around. I forgot my phone s Chuck was the official picture taker and did a masterful job of catching the action. We didn’t buy a cowboy hat or boots (many people did) and avoided the pickle pizza. All in all, a very loud and busy day. We came away really loving Alberta – it’s really a beautiful place full of very nice people (and an extraordinary number of young Australians and New Zealanders – they can come and stay for two years on work visas). Looking forward to exploring the eastern provinces in the future. 🙂