Time for the annual July 4th roadtrip recap! In our first year of dating, my boyfriend and I rented a campervan and drove around Yellowstone and Grand Teton and we’ve taken some sort of roadtrip every year since. In 2022, we cruised around Alaska in a Ford Bronco with a rooftop tent and this year we opted for upgraded accomodations in a fully built-out Ford Transit campervan. Our destination: Banff, Alberta.

Before I dive in, I want to put a huge astericks next to all of my photos. The Banff area was gorgeous and there were limitless breathtaking sights to be had BUT it was one of the most crowded national parks I’ve visited. So for full transparency, just assume that all of the parking lots were madhouses and that every point of interest was swarming with people.

That said, we still had an amazing time. ;)

We flew into Calgary and headed to our Airbnb near 17th Ave which is a lively district with lots of restaurants, shops and nightlife. We enjoyed some amazing BBQ at Comery Block Barbecue.

The next morning, we picked up our van and started the 1.5 hour drive into Banff National Park.

Icefields Parkway

We weren’t able to reserve campsites for the entire week becuase July is one of the busiest times of the year but we decided to try our luck with first-come-first-serve sites.

There’s no cell service along the Icefields Parkway but we were given a map when we entered the national park so we used that to navigate most of the trip. Pretty easy considering it’s just one road out and back.

We drove north past Banff and jumped out at various outlooks along the way. After topping off our gas at the Saskatchewan River Crossing (one of the few gas stations on the parkway) we continued on to Athabasca Glacier in the Columbia Icefields.

We did the short hiked to the base of the glacier followed by dinner at Altitude Restaurant in the Glacier View Lodge. A huge bonus was the access to cell service around the lodge.

We spent the night at the Icefields RV Camping lot with amazing views of the glaciers out our window.

Japser

The next morning, we had quick a coffee at the van and continued north up the parkway to Sunwapta Falls.

And then to Athabasca Falls.

We arrived at Valley of the Five Lakes trailhead before the crowds so we were able to score a parking spot but because the trail was pretty easy it was also heavily trafficked.

After the hike, we drove on to the northern-most point of our trip, Japser. We walked around the small downtown and enjoyed sandwiches and an iconic beaver tail.

The weather was a little moody so we drove back down the parkway to do another hike at Wilcox Pass. It was a fun trail that takes you up into the snow. Here we had our first wildlife sighting – a bighorn sheep.

As we continued south, we stopped at the Peyto Lake overlook to take in the bluest water I’ve ever seen.

We were trying to find a good spot to stop for the night, so on the advice of a ranger we drove down to Mosquito Creek Campground. The campsites were all full but we parked in the overflow parking lot. The perks of having a van with everything you need!

Lake Louise

Parking at Lake Louise is extremely limited and private vehicles are not allowed on the road to Morraine Lake. We weren’t able to score shuttle passes to Lake Louise in the reservation system but they release additional passes 48 hours before the day. So we tried to snag them through the last minute system…annnnnd they were gone within seconds.

We had pretty much given up hope but when we woke up at Mosquito Creek and we realized we were only a 20-minute drive to Lake Louise. So far, it seemed like most people were late-risers and it was lightly raining so we thought, “Why not give it a shot?” And by some miracle we got in!

We immediately began the hike up to the tea house. It was a sloppy trail with lots of horse poop but getting to the top was so worth it. We were able to get a table outside and enjoyed tea and sandwiches. By the time we left, it was PACKED.

We hiked back down to the lake and becuase Y.O.L.O. we rented a canoe. Expensive but also so worth it. The rain stopped and the sun came out. It was perfect.

After exploring Lake Louise we finally went into the town of Banff. We had dinner at Three Bears Brewery and it just so happend to be Canada Day so there was a parade in town.

Banff

We had reserved a campsite at Two Jack Main Campground for the last three nights of the trip. It’s one of the largest campgrounds in the area and we were prepared to be bumper-to-bumper with other campers but to our surprise it was massive and the sites were fairly spread out.

We even had some visitors on our first night!

The next day, we once again enjoyed coffee at the van (is there anything better than hot coffee at a campsite on a brisk morning?!) and drove up to Boom Lake for a 6.5-mile out-and-back hike. It wasn’t busy at 8 a.m. and we saw some signs of bear (a.k.a. poop) but no actual bear.

We refueled in Banff with gormet pizza at Bear Street Tavern and then headed up the mountain to Banff Hot Springs, which I would highly recommend NOT visiting. It was filthy and packed to the brim with bodies. I didn’t think children were allowed in water that hot but what do I know.

We returned to civilized society by grabbing a drink on the patio at the Fairmont Banff Springs. A gorgeous castle-like hotel with one of the best patios in Canada.

We ended the day by checking out Minnewanka Lake which was really close to our campground. We were taken aback by how impressive it was. It was surrounded by mountains and we saw a few different herds of mountain goats.

Yoho National Park

It was rainy and cold on our final full day in the parks. We used the time to drive to Yoho National Park to see Takakkaw Falls which one of the tallest falls in all of Canada.

Our last meal in Banff was at the iconic Grizzly House where they offer unique fondue with exotic meats. We went local with the elk, bison, venison and beef.

Of course, we also had to do one last hike to Summit Peak overlooking the town.

The next morning we grabbed pancakes with authentic maple syrup and made our way back to Calgary. Calgary was also crazy busy because of The Calgary Stampede, the world’s largest outdoor rodeo and festival. It was great people watching!

And that, my friends, concludes our week cruising around Banff. It was definitely a bucket-list trip and if you’ve been considering a trip to Banff I’d encourage you to do the entire Icefield Parkway as well. It’s worth it!