Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Kootenay – The Rockies Parks Explained

Prices and details checked: 26 October 2026 · Contains affiliate links

Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay sit next to each other along the Continental Divide, the line where rivers split between the Pacific and the Atlantic. Banff and Jasper are on the Alberta side, Yoho and Kootenay in British Columbia. Together with three provincial parks they form the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site. The longer guided tours also cross west into Glacier and Mount Revelstoke National Parks, which belong to the Columbia Mountains, and almost every tour spends a day in Kananaskis Country, a provincial area south of Banff.

Every national park in Canada requires a Parks Canada admission pass. On all the guided tours we cover, park passes are included.

Which tour visits which park

Based on the typical itineraries published by the operator in October 2026.

Banff National Park

Canada's first national park, founded in 1885 around the hot springs on Sulphur Mountain. It is the busiest park in the Rockies and the one with the most famous postcards: Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Peyto Lake and the southern half of the Icefields Parkway, the road that runs 232 km north from Lake Louise to Jasper.

On the tours, Banff is where you hike up from Lake Louise to the teahouse below the Plain of Six Glaciers, stop at Moraine Lake and soak in the hot springs. The 12-day tour adds Eiffel Lake above Moraine Lake and the steep climb to Bourgeau Lake and Harvey Pass.

Two things to know. Since 2023 the road to Moraine Lake has been closed to private cars; access is by Parks Canada shuttle, public transit or licensed tour operators, which is one practical advantage of a guided tour. And the area around Lake Louise and Moraine Lake is crowded in July and August, so the guides tend to hike early or pick routes away from the main viewpoints.

Jasper National Park

Jasper is the largest of the Rockies parks, but on these tours you only see its southern tip: the Columbia Icefield, where the Athabasca Glacier reaches down almost to the Icefields Parkway. The typical hike is Wilcox Pass, which climbs through meadows to a view down onto the glacier. Instead of hiking, you can book a guided walk on the ice.

None of the tours goes on to the town of Jasper, Maligne Lake or the northern part of the park. If those are on your list, plan extra days on your own. The town was also badly hit by a wildfire in July 2024; check the current situation if you plan to go.

Yoho National Park

Yoho is small, steep and, for many hikers, the highlight of the trip. The name comes from a Cree expression of awe. Takakkaw Falls drops from a glacier-fed stream in a single long plunge, one of the highest waterfalls in Canada. The Iceline Trail, which all four tours include, climbs from near the falls to a rocky bench below the Emerald Glacier with views across the Yoho Valley. Emerald Lake is the other classic stop.

Yoho is also home to the Burgess Shale, one of the most important fossil sites in the world, which can only be visited on guided hikes run by Parks Canada and its partners (not part of these tours). The Kicking Horse River, where the 9-day tour offers optional rafting, runs through the park.

Kootenay National Park

Kootenay is a long, narrow park following Highway 93 south from the Continental Divide towards Radium Hot Springs. It feels wilder and emptier than Banff, partly because large wildfires have shaped its forests over the past decades: on several trails you walk through young forest growing back among standing dead trunks.

The 7-day tour hikes to Stanley Glacier, into a hanging valley below steep limestone walls. The 9-day tour offers Floe Lake, a long day to a lake beneath a great rock wall, and the 12-day tour also does Stanley Glacier. The inn-based Banff tour skips Kootenay in favour of Glacier National Park.

Glacier and Mount Revelstoke National Parks

West of the Rockies, across the Columbia Valley near Golden, the landscape changes. Glacier National Park covers Rogers Pass in the Selkirk Mountains, which get far more snow than the Rockies. You hike through old-growth forest of cedar and hemlock before reaching open alpine terrain and glacier views; the Great Glacier Trail and Balu Pass are the typical hikes. Mount Revelstoke, visited only on the 12-day tour, is known for its subalpine meadows near the summit and the trail to Eva and Miller Lakes.

These parks are a good reason to choose the inn-based Banff tour or one of the longer 9- and 12-day tours: far fewer visitors, and a different kind of mountain.

Kananaskis Country

Kananaskis is not a national park but a group of Alberta provincial parks and recreation areas south of Canmore. The roads are partly unpaved, the trails are quieter, and it is a good place to see moose. On the tours you hike to Chester Lake or the Picklejar Lakes, and the hotel tour and 12-day tour finish with a short walk through Grotto Canyon near Canmore.

Wildlife and bears

Grizzly and black bears live in all of these parks, along with elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and, in the valleys of Kananaskis, moose. Hiking with a guided group is one of the safest ways to be in bear country: groups are noisy, and the guides know the current warnings. Parks Canada recommends carrying bear spray, making noise on the trail and never approaching wildlife. Some trails in Banff can be restricted to groups of at least four during periods of high bear activity, which a tour group meets easily.

Which tour for which parks?

If you want the classic names in one week, the 7-Day Rockies Camping Adventure covers Banff, the Icefield, Yoho and Kootenay. The Banff hotel tour swaps Kootenay for Glacier. The 12-day tour is the only one that reaches all six national parks. For when to go, see the best time for a Rockies tour.