Banff & Lake Louise

Banff 🥾 is a great starting point for exploring the Canadian Rockies. In our research, we found many articles about visiting during Summer, between mid-June to September. However, we couldn’t find much info about visiting Banff and the Icefields Parkway in the month of May (it was considered late-late Spring). We read that some attractions may still be closed in early May. The trails may still have snow/ice, and are not suitable for hiking.

We didn’t have much of a choice as our time in Canada was limited. We still looked forward to enjoying whatever the Canadian Rockies have to offer. In fact, we felt that visiting the Canadian Rockies in May was perfect for us.

If you are visiting Banff and the Icefields Parkway in the month of May, then this post is gonna be useful for you. We spent 7 days driving and visiting Banff, Icefields Parkway, Jasper, Kamloops, Whistler from 4 to 10 May. There were plenty of things to do in early May, and most places weren’t crowded! We would recommend visiting in mid-May if you also want to avoid the peak crowd. The attendant at our car rental kiosk commented that he had more car pick-up this week compared to the week before, and that was a clear indication that the Summer crowd was starting.

We flew from Montréal to Calgary via WestJet (not an airline we would recommend), picked up our rental car at Calgary Airport, and drove to Banff. By the time we reached The Dorothy Motel 5❄️, it was almost 11pm.

We highly recommend you spend at least 3 days in Banff to sightsee, hike, and cycle. It is a nice (small) town with views of mountains surrounding it. The town centre is easy to explore on foot, has a good variety of eateries and shops. Retail tax is only 5% in Banff, so it might be a good place to do some last minute shopping there too. The weather was nice and cool, and we had plenty of sun too (remember to put on sunscreen).

🍬Fun Fact: Many of the road names in Banff are inspired by Animals, branching out from the main Banff Ave. See if you can find them all!

This post and the next post about the Icefields Parkway, we will be sharing tips and resources, including a comprehensive map of places we liked, that you can use for your trip to the Canadian Rockies (eg. where can you find free parking 🅿️?).

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You need to purchase the Banff National Park Pass when visiting Banff. The pass also includes access to Icefields Parkway and Jasper National Park. We bought our pass at the Banff Visitor Centre. It took less than 5mins, and we could clarify our Banff itinerary with the staff there. There are free physical maps there too! If you are visiting Banff during peak season (June to September), then you might want to consider buying the pass online to skip the peak crowd.

There are bears in Canadian parks (I saw a small bear a short distance from the roadside while driving), and bear spray is the most effective protection against potential bear aggressions. But we completely forgot to buy it. Thankfully, most of the trails we did are well established and had other hikers too. If you intend to hike less popular and ulu(?) trails, do buy bear spray for protection.

#1 Bow Valley Parkway 🚴🏻‍♀️ 🚴🏼‍♂️

We began our first day in Banff renting a bicycle to cycle to Johnston Canyon via the Bow Valley Parkway. We drove from The Dorothy Motel to Banff Station where we parked for free, and walked to the Town Centre to rent our bikes.

The Bow Valley Parkway (~17km) is closed to vehicles from 1 May to 25 June, and 1 Sep to 1 Oct for cyclists. This is part of a 3-year pilot program (2022-2024) based on public feedback to allow more cyclists to use the parkway safely.

If you do not want to cycle, you can still drive to Vermilion Lake (the road here is open) and Johnston Canyon for the views. While at Johnston Canyon, you can hike to both Lower and Upper Falls too!

We have experienced cycling over 50+km before. The route from Banff Centre to Johnston Canyon Falls was ~25km one way, mostly flat, with a peak elevation of 189m. So instead of spending extra money for an e-bike, we thought we could rent a normal bike to cycle there and back.

We were wrong.

When we reached Johnston Canyon, we only walked to the Lower Falls and didn’t hike up to the Upper Falls. We needed to reserve energy to cycle 25km back. The route was safe and wide, but it wasn’t as easy as we expected.

Firstly, it was a cold, windy and sunny day (remember sunscreen!), we got dehydrated faster, making us feel more tired. We ran out of water by the time we reached Johnston Canyon, and had to refill our bottles with tap water in the restroom (it is safe for drinking). There were only basic facilities along the route, and the only water point we could find was at Johnston Canyon.

Secondly, while the route elevation was not high, the slopes were steep, and we ended up pushing our bikes up at some slopes because it was not worth getting our legs cramped for this.

Thirdly, the view along the parkway was so beautiful, we would rather spend less effort pedalling, and more “effort” enjoying the view!

In hindsight, we would prefer the cycling experience to be more relaxed since we were on a vacation, and generally lack sleep. It was not worth the “exercise”, and using an e-bike would have made the experience so much better. Rent an e-bike instead, then come back and thank us later. 😂

Altogether, we rented our bikes for almost 7 hours as we stopped frequently to enjoy the views, break for picnics (bring food/snacks and plenty of water), and took plenty of pictures. The rental place charges a full day rate after the first 3-hrs, so we took our time with it.

We created a comprehensive Google map of the places we visited (more than the 4 places we share in this post) and sights along the cycling route that you should check out. We also include useful notes about each place too.

#2 Lake Minnewanka + Two Jack Lake

We still had time to explore the Lakes around Banff after returning the bicycles at 5+pm. The sun sets at 9pm, so there was enough daylight for more sightseeing 🥳.

Lake Minnewanka is a beautiful lake that overlooks Mount Inglismaldie. When we visited, the lake was still partially frozen, with a layer of ice on the surface. You have to see it for yourself, no pics or words can describe the picturesque scene before us.

It was really windy, and it was nice just walking around the coast admiring the view while sipping hot chocolate from our cup.

Two Jack Lake is a (smaller) lake next to Lake Minnewanka, this area looks like a good campsite. We saw someone camping and paddle boarding on the lake. The first picture of this post was taken at Two Jack Lake.

The lakes are a short drive distance from Banff. Visiting the lakes was a good way to wind down after the day cycling we did. And when we headed back to Banff, we had the ultimate comfort dish for dinner - Ramen 🤤. Details on our Banff and Icefields Parkway Map.

#3 Tunnel Mountain Hike

This is a must-do hike in Banff 🥾. You will be rewarded with a spectacular view of Banff at the top, and see Mount Rundle on the other side too. Remember to bring sunglasses and a cap for the hike!

The trail is short but of moderate difficulty. We took about 35mins to reach the top from the parking lot. The trail is mostly gravel and stones, and some parts can be steep. The hike down is much easier. In total, we spent just over 2hrs there.

We saw a number of families with young children of school going age, so the climb up should be doable for kids. Elderly persons may find this trail tough because of the steep parts, but if you take your time with your hiking poles, it is definitely doable.

Bring along snacks (we brought breakfast) and water, you will want to spend some time enjoying the breathtaking view and cool breeze when you reach the top. Maybe while seated on Canada Park’s famous red Adirondack chairs too!

We could see a train passing through Banff Station when we were at the top. It was a really really long train, stretching over a couple of km. Try and see if you can count the cars that form the train.

#4 Lake Louise

Lake Louise is probably the most popular Lake near Banff. It might be a good idea to stay here and go for a day hike. We didn’t plan for this as we were expecting the trails to be icy still. But when we were at Lake Louise, some of the trails were accessible.

The lake was still frozen (it thaws in June) when we visited, and weather was overcast too, but that did not cover up the beauty of Lake Louise. We had a squirrel come out to greet us while strolling along Lake Louise. 😂

Take note that the nearest public restroom is at the public parking lot. The restroom at Fairmont Château is for guests only.

There were 2 parking areas (only one has restrooms) at Lake Louise, and we were expecting to pay CAD $21 for parking. But when we arrived, we couldn’t find where and how to pay. We suspect that parking is only chargeable during peak summer season. Please let us know if we got this wrong. 😅

We read that it is difficult to park at Lake Louise, and that most lots are taken up early in the morning. We reached at 930am, it looked 25% full. When we left at 11am, the car park looked 75% full. This is in early May. We suspect that it will be a very different situation in a couple of weeks when peak season crowds come.

Another popular lake, Moraine Lake, was still closed when we visited Lake Louise. We hope to visit this place next time.

Google has many reviews of people complaining about driving to and parking at Lake Louise & Moraine Lake during peak season. The staff at Banff Visitor Centre highly recommends taking public transport or booking a tour to visit these lakes.

One common frustration we experience while driving overseas - finding appropriate places to park. While Google is quite effective with giving us directions to the points of interest, it is not always clear where we can park. We have included free parking places on the map. You can use Google for directions to these car parks, they are not too far from the attractions.

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