By Linda Tancs

The humble roots of Canada’s first national park originated in the fall of 1883, when three Canadian Pacific Railway construction workers discovered a cave containing hot springs on the eastern slopes of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. From that inauspicious backdrop has blossomed over 2500 square miles of valleys, mountains, glaciers, forests, meadows and rivers now comprising Banff National Park in the province of Alberta in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The park sports three ecoregions: montane (3% of the park area), subalpine (53% of the park area) and alpine (44% of the park area) and a vast array of wildllife, including bears and elk. Hire a local guide to learn the most about this area’s natural wonders and cultural treasures. If you go it alone, watch out for our four-footed friends; they most certainly will feel entitled to the right of way.

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