Banff National Park

The town of Banff, with its hot springs, is the only township in the park. The Icefields Parkway, which winds for 230 km (143 mi.) through the 3000-4000 m (10,000-13,000 ft) high mountains, connects Banff with the numerous sights and Jasper National Park to the north. The highlights of this impressive journey along the Parkway are the world-famous Lake Louise, in whose ice-cold waters under a deep-blue sky are reflected the surrounding mountains, the aristocratic-looking Canadian Pacific Hotel "Château Lake Louise", and the huge Columbia Icefield.

At any time of the year this national park offers good facilities for sport and leisure: there are mountain tours on foot and on horseback, "back-packing" (a licence being required for trips lasting several days), golf courses and tennis courts, "river rafting" on the Bow River or peaceful canoe trips on one of the beautiful lakes.

Typical of this section of the Rocky Mountains, there are marked seasonal differences depending on the height. The town of Banff itself, one of the lowest places in the national park, lies about 1400 m (4600 ft) above sea-level.

Winters are generally long and minimum temperatures below -30°C (-22°F) are not uncommon. In January the average maximum temperatures are -7°C (19°F), the minima being -16°C (3°F). The relatively cool summers are short, although brief periods when the temperature rises as high as 30°C (86°F) are not unknown. In July and August average daily maxima of more than 20°C (68°F) and minima of some 7°C (45°F) are attained.

In the long valleys in the lee of the high mountain chains annual rainfall amounts are very small, being only 380 mm (15 in.), while in the continental water-shed region they may measure more than 1250 mm (50 in.). The best months for travelling are July and August, but in view of the crowds of tourists at that time it may be better to go earlier in the year or in September.

Man settled in the great valleys 11,000 years ago, as is shown by excavations made at Vermilion Lakes near Banff. When the first Europeans arrived Stoney and Kootenay Indians as well as members of the Blackfoot tribes already lived and hunted here.

Banff's first "tourist" was undoubtedly Sir George Simpson who in 1841, when Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, accompanied by an Indian guide on one of his inspection trips crossed the Bow River to what is now the town of Banff and passed over the Rocky Mountains along a pass since named after him. After that fur-hunters roved through the present national park.

In 1883 the Canadian Pacific Railway reached Banff, then prosaically known simply as "Siding 29", and Lake Louise. In the same year railroad workers seeking minerals stumbled across the hot sulphur springs at Cave & Basin Springs, where initially the railroad workers and subsequently rheumatism sufferers from all over the world came to seek relief. Disputes as to ownership of the springs led in 1885 to the establishment of the Hot Springs Reserve at the foot of Sulphur Mountain. Two years later Rocky Mountains Park was laid out, from which sprang the Banff National Park in 1930.

The opening of the railroad brought settlers and tourists to the mountain valley. In 1888 the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) opened the Banff Springs Hotel, followed by the Château Lake Louise in 1890. In 1899 the CPR hired Swiss mountain guides to take tourists up the peaks in the park. By the turn of the century Banff was able to boast more than eight luxury hotels.

As the CPR had a monopoly of entrance to the park it was 1911 before the increasingly popular motor car could bring people in. Then from 1920 until 1940, roads were built to Lake Louise, Radium Hot Springs and Jasper. Around 1930 a start was made on building the first ski huts. Today there are excellent ski slopes to be found on Mount Norquay in Banff, in Sunshine Village 17 km (11 mi.) west of Banff and on the slopes of Mount Whitehorn near Lake Louise.Finds of minerals - copper, coal, zinc and lead - in Bow River Valley led to the establishment, albeit short-lived, of mining camps. From 1881 to 1886 the mining town of Silver City existed at the foot of Castle Mountain, but when the copper supply became exhausted it quickly disappeared. Then coal was found 6 km (4 mi.) east of Banff, but the mine closed down around the turn of the century. A further example of a short-lived coal town is Bankhead 6 km (4 mi.) north of Banff. Coal was mined here for a few years after 1905; the remains of the settlement can still be seen today.

In the 1930s the authorities put a stop to the mining of minerals and commercial tree-felling in the park. Up to 1915 railroad workers and at times more than 10,000 miners seriously decimated the original giant herds of wild animals, including elk, mountain sheep, caribou and mountain goats, so hunting was banned and rangers employed. Today, however, the authorities try to interfere as little as possible in the natural way of things.

The folding and lifting of the Rocky Mountains took place over a period lasting from the Mesozoic into the Tertiary (roughly 60 million years ago). Under intense pressure from the west the massive layers of sediment, several thousand metres deep in places, were broken up and folded. Several parallel fractures occurred, whole strata were forced eastwards and semi-vertical layers of chalk and sandstone were formed. The main ridge of the mountains which form the western part of the National Park are made up of such layers of sediment which had been forced up and distorted; however, this region is only slightly folded compared with the Front Range which breaks off steeply to the east. The formation of the surfaces as seen today occurred mainly during the Ice Ages, the last push ending about 10,000 years ago. At that time great masses of ice filled the valleys, creating wide valley-floors, slopes, passes and sharp ridges. Wind, water, frost and ice still continue the work of the Ice Age glaciers.

The broad valleys and lower mountain slopes up to about 1500 m (5000 ft) display typical montane vegetation consisting of open forest - studded with grassy areas - of Douglas pine, silver fir, lodgepole pine and the aspen trees which turn such a beautiful gold in autumn. Steep, dry southern slopes are often carpeted with grass. Above this and up as far as the tree line at about 2200 m (7200 ft) is the sub-Alpine zone. No aspen trees will be found there. Characteristic of the lower slopes are self-contained coniferous forests of spruce and lodgepole pine. In the lower regions where there is considerable snowfall and a vegetation period of one to three months the pine trees gradually disappear. In summer the sub-Alpine mountain meadows are covered with carpets of flowers. The area of bent and distorted trees near the tree line is followed by the Alpine zone. Typical of the vegetation here, reminiscent of the Arctic tundra, are the shrubland, small bushes, heather, mountain flowers and grass, gradually to be replaced in the extreme environmental conditions by the well-suited mosses and lichens before naked rock, rubble and ice finally take over.

There are still more than fifty species of mammals to be found in the national parks of this rocky region. Large wild animals are most likely to be spotted in the early morning and the evening. Elk predominate in the damp meadows of the valleys, while forest caribou, roe-deer, wapiti deer and mule deer frequent the thicker woods and meadows. Mountain goats and thick-horned sheep are found on the higher mountain slopes.

The park is also home to grizzly bears. Normally they do not come near roads and towns. When walking in the "backcountry", however, it is wise to keep an eye open for them and for the more common black bear. The latter prefer wooded areas and thick undergrowth on the flat valley floors and sunny south-facing slopes, while grizzlies keep to the Alpine regions in summer but seek food lower down in spring and autumn. Under normal circumstances there is little likelihood of meeting a bear face to face. That said, grizzlies have been known to come right down to Moraine Lake, on one of the busiest walking paths, in the middle of the day with large groups of people around. These animals have poor sight but can smell or hear approaching humans long before they see them. Bears can be surprisingly quick, so on no account approach one. The park administration offices have leaflets on correct behaviour in "bearland". Feeding the bears is strictly prohibited, as this can spoil their natural way of life and make them less shy of people. During long walks and at camp sites, therefore, a close watch should be kept on foodstuffs and cosmetics, and they should be kept either in special bear-proof containers or securely packed in air-tight boxes in the boot of the car. For waste extra bear-proof rubbish-bins are provided. Scratch marks clearly caused by bears' claws should be a warning to take due care. For their own protection, bears found begging or looking for scraps in the vicinity of human habitation are taken into custody.