The Best National Park in all of North America (In my opinion)

Hello everyone, in this prompt, I will be discussing one of Canada’s best national parks, Banff National Park. However, instead of discussing my experience, I am going to tell you what to prepare for Bahnff, as well as the places and activities I would recommend visiting and trying.

What to Pack

In the summertime (when I visited), I recommend bringing a light jacket and full-length pants. Additionally, since the weather there is unpredictable, I recommend getting an umbrella or a poncho. Also, if you plan to visit the glaciers, be sure to bring gloves, a winter hat, and a very warm, bulky jacket, because believe me, even in the summer, those glaciers feel like winter in Canada.  Most importantly, do not forget your sunscreen, even though the place is a forest, you can still get sunburnt on the hiking trails. Speaking of hiking trails, I would recommend getting a hiking backpack to store things if you are planning to go on long hikes

Places to stay

There are many great hotels to stay at in Banff, it can range from private apartment rooms to straight up resorts, but in the entry, I will just give a couple of names.

Royal Canadian lodge

This is the hotel I stayed in, there they had amazing service, free bike rentals, and clean rooms, not to mention the breakfast buffet had tons of options such as roasted potatoes, coffee, bagels, fresh fruit and so much more

The Moose lodge

This is also a really good lodge that is near the Royal Canadian with a good Italian restaurant and service

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

A luxurious resort that sits right next to the famous Lake Louise, which allows for a great view of the lake from the hotel room. This hotel is one of Banff’s most famous; the hotel provides great service and allows its guests to have discounted prices on kayak rentals at Lake Louise, or if the guests are on the gold floor, they have access to complimentary kayaking.

Rimrock Resort Hotel

This hotel is the most famous in Banff National Park. It provides beautiful views of the mountains, as well as swimming pools, tons of amenities, and many other things.

Places I went to in Banff

Just to let you guys know, I will be very brief about the places that I went on my trip, but I have posted photos to show you just how breathtaking the places where, and would highly recommend going to those places to see them for yourself.

On the first day, my family and I went to Moraine Lake, which was just a beautiful place. The color of the lake surrounded by the mountains just hit differently. They also had a couple of hiking trails, but we only went on the one that led us to rapids that emptied into the lake.

Next, we took the Lake Louise Summer Gondola ride, which took us up to a very tall hill that allowed us to see the entire mountain range, as well as Lake Louise. The place even had a hiking trail. Once we took the ride down to the base of the hill, it was time for us to go to Lake Louise, which, to say, was better than Moraine Lake. My dad and I took a steep but short 20-minute hike up to a viewpoint that allowed us to get a birds-eye view of Lake Louis and the mountains behind it. After finishing the hiking trip, the family went on their first kayaking trip. For those who have not gone kayaking, it is an activity that I would say is underrated, especially when kayaking on a lake with water the color of a robin’s egg. We finished the kayaking trip, and that was the end of the day.

The next day we went to Icefields Parkway, on the ride there we got a nice scenic drive passing cliffs and a couple of lakes, after 2 hours of driving we arrived at our bus stop. We took a bus to the Athabasca glacier, where we got a chance to set foot on the ice and feel the freezing temperatures and view the blue glacier. We only stayed on the glacier for about half an hour, and then we took a ride to a sky bridge, which allowed us to take amazing pictures of the massive valley that we were able to see. After that, we drove to Peyeto Lake, where we took a short hike to a viewpoint of the lake and got some nice pictures.  We got back into the car and then drove to Bow Lake and got some nice pictures of the vast lake, and I even got to see a beaver dam. After the pictures, we got to the car and drove back to our lodge.

The next day, we headed straight for Emerald Lake, which was one of the best lakes in all of Banff National Park. We immediately headed straight for the kayaking rentals so that we could do one hour of kayaking on this vast lake. Once we had indulged in the beauty of the lake, we went to the lakeside restaurant and got some of the best margarita pizzas I've ever had. They were so good that we ordered two of them instead of one. Once we were full, we drove to the Takakka Falls, which is the second-tallest waterfall at Banff. We spent a long time enjoying the sounds of the fall and the cold wind blowing on our faces. Once we got back in our car, we drove to the destination of the day, which was the Johnston Canyon. The original plan was to take a short 1.2 km hike to the lower falls, but since we got extra time, my dad and I decided to go to the upper falls, which was arguably better than the lower falls. We then headed back to the hotel to rest and recharge.

The final day of the trip was less of an adventure, if I may say so myself. I had to convince my mom and dad so that we could use the complimentary bike rentals at the lodge, then my parents and I went biking around the place and eventually started biking on a trail that was parallel to the trans Trans-Canada Highway, and we learnt the trail leads straight to Lake Louise. At first, we biked five miles, but my dad said that the bike he was on made him unable to bike for long distances, so unfortunately, I could not bike to my heart's content. However, my dad did make plans to have the family go on one last Banff gondola ride of the trip which was which led us up to the top of Sulphur Mountain, giving us probably the best views of the whole trip. We took some photos and enjoyed some barbecue chicken sandwiches and street corn, and headed back down and went to bed.

Restaurants I would recommend going to at Banff National Park

Masala Authentic Indian Cuisine: A good Indian restaurant that gave tons of options and had good quality amazing quality.

Safron: Another good Indian Restaurant, this one I would say was better than Masala and had the same dishes as those at Masala.

El Toro Restaurant: Had some of the best Mexican food I've ever tasted in my life and gave a large quantity of it too. However, if you are planning to order a tropical drink, expect it not to at par with the proper drinks at restaurants here in America.

Beavertails- Queues de Castor: It had amazing gelato and a dessert called Beavertails, which is a fried dough that can be topped with chocolate spread, ice cream, and many other sweet toppings.