Our September 2023 road trip would begin in Calgary and taking a rental car down for 3 nights in Glacier National Park, then back up for 4 nights in Banff, then up the Icefield Parkway to Jasper for another 3 nights before making our way back to Calgary and home. There was so much within this trip that we go into more detail on individual blog posts for each major portion of the trip (GNP, Banff, Icefield Parkway and Jasper). This is just an overview/itinerary post to highlight how we strung it all together.
Glacier National Park, from the Going to the Sun Rd
August 29, 2023
Day 1
Arrive in Calgary, drive to East Glacier Park, MT
August 29, 2023
August 30, 2023
Day 2
Iceberg Lake Hike
August 30, 2023
August 31, 2023
Day 3
Highline Trail Hike, Going to the Sun Rd & Two Medicine Lake.
August 31, 2023
September 1, 2019
Day 4
Grinnell Glacier Hike, drive to Canmore, AB
September 1, 2019
September 2, 2023
Day 5
Lake Minnewanka Cruise, Downtown Banff, Banff Gondola & Sky Bistro
September 2, 2023
September 3, 2023
Day 6
Sunrise at Moraine Lake, out and about in Canmore, AB
September 3, 2023
September 4, 2023
Day 7
Johnston Canyon/Ink Pots Hike, Emerald Lake & Takakkaw Falls
September 4, 2023
September 5, 2023
Day 8
Lake Louise, northbound trip up the Icefield Parkway, Jasper then Hinton
September 5, 2023
September 6, 2023
Day 9
Rest Day
September 6, 2023
September 7, 2023
Day 10
Maligne Lake, Maligne Canyon and Valley of Five Lakes Hike
September 7, 2023
September 8, 2023
Day 11
Southbound trip down the Icefield Parkway, Athabasca Glacier wall then on to Calgary
September 8, 2023
September 9, 2023
Day 12
Wake up in Calgary, morning flight home
September 9, 2023
How we do it…
We have a Google Doc that serves are our ‘Trip Bible’, prepared over the months before the trip that breaks down the days, where we’re staying, important info (ex. Reservation numbers) and embedded Google Map links where necessary (remember to download a map of the area for offline use!)
We tend to start our days early; less crowds, less issues with parking and often better pictures
We are pretty comfortable spending 3 or more hours a day in the car; we accept it as part of the roadtrip but also we are treated to views while in the car, so it is still part of the experience
One of our first stops is a grocery store as we try to cook as much as possible, especially for breakfast and lunch as both are likely to be eaten on the road or at the destination. We tend to stay at places w/ kitchens to accommodate this (typically an AirBnB)
We have certain ‘jobs’ each of us focuses on – John drives and obsesses about gear (that we have what we need, its packed and accessible), while Corinne tends to focus on food (food motivated, and she’s more likely to make things tasty and make sure there is enough of it – John can forget to eat)
Glacier National Park (Days 1-4)
Our first leg of the trip, we arrived to our home base for the next several days – East Glacier Park – in the early mid afternoon, after about a 4 hour drive from Calgary.
It was less than ideal weather for the first day and a half, with very low clouds and bouts of rain.
We actually switched up our original itinerary based on the weather, moving the Grinnell Glacier Hike to the last day (day 4) when the forecast called for clear skies (it promised the best views). Gotta be ready to amend your plans – or even disregard them entirely!
Overall, we were able to do 3 hikes Iceberg Lake, Highline Trail (at least in part) and Grinnell Glacier. Additionally, we were able to drive the Going to the Sun Rd and visit Two Medicine Lake.
Arriving in the late afternoon, we were still sore from our Grinnell Glacier Hike earlier in the morning. We would be staying in Canmore for the next four nights, just 15 minutes east of Banff.
There is so much to do and see in Banff. We didn’t check all the boxes, but were able to do a bunch:
Cruise on Lake Minnewanka
Visit Downtown Banff
Banff Gondola/Sunset at Sky Bistro
Sunrise at Lake Moraine
Explored Canmore/Live Music
Johnston Canyon/Ink Pots hike
Emerald Lake
Takakkaw Falls
Lake Louise (fogged in)
Lake Minnewanka
Skybistro Sunset
Lake Moraine Sunrise
Emerald Lake
You can find details on this leg of the trip on our Banff blog post!
Next up, northbound on the Icefield Parkway to Jasper!
Icefield Parkway (Part 1/Day 8)
We knew we would be splitting this experience over 2 days – once on the way up, and the second on the way back down on our last full day of trip (Day 11)
It’s about a 3 hour drive up the Icefield Parkway, from Lake Louise to Jasper – and that would be non-stop. You are going to want to stop, either at specific landmarks or sometimes just off the side of the road when the combination of terrain and sky combines to form a vista you just have to capture.
That said, the drive up north on this day had pretty poor visibility for the first few hours, but it gradually got better as the morning progressed. On the way up, we did make some stops:
Waterfowl Lake
Mistaya Canyon
Parker Ridge Viewpoint
Athabasca Glacier (just from the roadside, we would do the glacier/skywalk tour on the way back south)
Next up, we slow down the pace a bit as we stay in Jasper for the next 3 nights.
Jasper National Park (Day 8 – 11)
Our home base would be actually in Hinton, about 45 minutes north of Jasper, for this last leg of the trip.
We really slowed things down during our stay up in Jasper. On Day 9, John actually had a job interview that ate up the morning and after that we just spent the afternoon experiencing the drive from Hinton to Jasper and some of the immediate area.
Day 10 was our only really ‘destination’ day:
Medicine Lake
Maligne Lake
Maligne Canyon
Valley of Five Lakes (hike)
Medicine Lake
Maligne Lake
Maligne Canyon
Valley of Five Lakes
There were also some fun dining experiences to be had while visiting Jasper. All the details are in our Jasper Blog post.
The next day (Day 11) had a pre-dawn wake-up and we started back down the Icefield Parkway.
Icefield Parkway (Part 2/Day 11)
Gifted practically clear skies/full sun for our journey back down the Parkway, and we made the most of it.
With a booked tour for the Athabasca Glacier at 10am, we wanted to get an early start to make sure we could make some stops along the way. We started down the Icefield Parkway around 7:30am, and we wouldn’t clear our last stop (Bow Lake) till 2:30pm. You can see why people say you can easily spend 8 hours on the Icefield Parkway.
Our stops on Day 11 (this doesn’t include all the random stops we made along the way:
Horseshoe Lake
Athabasca River Falls
Athabasca Glacier Tour & Skywalk
Waterfowl Lake (again)
Peyto Lake
Bow Lake
Horseshoe Lake
Athabasca River Falls
Athabasca Glacier
Peyto Lake
Again, we consolidated all the Icefield Parkway experiences as a single blog post, in order (traveling northbound). Check it out for details!
From here, we continued back through Banff and on to Calgary for a stay in a hotel downtown ahead of our flight home the next day (Day 12).
Overall, this is was one of our most favorite trips!
