Canadian Rockies: from rugged hikes to upscale resorts

Canada’s stretch of the Rocky Mountains is an outdoor paradise with something for everyone: upscale resorts surrounded by jagged mountains, isolated hikes offering an escape from urban life and crystal-blue water that dares you to feel the chill.

The mountains straddle the border of British Columbia and Alberta, with two of its best-known destinations, Banff National Park and Lake Louise, in Alberta.

My family and I flew into Calgary, rented cars and spent a week exploring the wonders around Banff, setting up base camp in Canmore, about 97km west of Calgary. Our accommodations were at the midway point between luxury and roughing it. Cabins at Banff Gate Mountain Resort have a full kitchen and electricity, but no air conditioning. That worked fine on summer nights when temperatures dipped into the 10-15 C. Late afternoon sun beating in got the cabins toasty.

That’s not a problem, though, in a place where there’s plenty to do besides sit indoors.

Here are some highlights:

JOIN THE THRONGS AT LAKE LOUISE

Banff is the most popular of the area’s cluster of national parks — which also includes Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay — and Banff’s crown jewel is the glacial-fed Lake Louise. The lake is exquisite, as evidenced by selfies snapped along its shoreline walking paths, capturing smiling families with snow-covered mountains in the background. If being on the water is your preferred way to experience the lake, canoe rentals are available through Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, a decidedly more chic hotel than where we stayed.

If crowds aren’t your thing, plan to get to Lake Louise as early as possible. We didn’t venture that way until noon, and parking lots were packed.

Crowds are likely to be bigger than usual this year, because admission to Canada’s national parks is free in observance of the nation’s 150th birthday.

HEAR THE ROAR OF TAKAKKAW FALLS

For a more rugged experience, we left the masses of Banff behind, bound for Takakkaw Falls in Yoho. Heading west into British Columbia (and the Pacific time zone) you pick up an hour, so that may have helped us beat the crowd a bit, too.