Banff National Park Part 1: Banff Town, Lake Minnewanka, & the Johnston Canyon

WHERE: Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

WHEN: June 2016

HOW LONG FOR: 3 Days

From Jasper we drove to Banff via the Icefields Parkway, quite possibly the most beautiful road ever. We spent a bit longer in Banff, so I decided to split it into a couple of blog posts.

Banff Town

The town of Banff is lovely, and actually a lot bigger than I thought it would be. All of the roads are named after animals, which I think is awesome! To get a great view of the town, we hiked up Tunnel Mountain. It was a steep trail but the terrain wasn’t difficult and the path was really clear. It was definitely worth the effort – the summit had a gorgeous view of Banff to one side, and a stunning panorama of the Bow Valley on the other.

Johnston Canyon

The Johnston Canyon is a 30 minute drive from Banff. I thought it was the most impressive canyon we saw during our Roadtrip. We spent a couple of hours doing the easy hike to the Lower Falls, then the Upper Falls, and back to the parking lot.

Lake Minnewanka

We spent a morning at Lake Minnewanka, which was around a 15 minute drive from Banff. We walked the easy trail to the Stewart Canyon, but the lake itself was such a calming spot to sit and take in the awesomeness of Banff.

Food

The Silver Dragon This was honestly one of the best Chinese restaurants I’ve ever eaten at. We had dinner there twice. The beef ho fun and the ma po tofu were scrummy.
The Balkan Without a doubt the best Greek food I’ve eaten. The moussakka and crispy pork pitta (they make all their pitta bread fresh) were amazing. The service was also brilliant.
Evelyn’s Coffee Bar was a great spot for an afternoon cuppa and a sweet treat
Mary’s Popcorn MAPLE PECAN POPCORN? *drools*