Alberta, Canada, is a state known for its farmland. The most famous annual event here is the Calgary Stampede rodeo each summer. But most visitors come for something other than bucking broncs. They want to see the mountains.

An easy hour-long drive from the Calgary airport — or about seven hours from the U.S. border, if you take the scenic route — the Canadian Rockies are vastly different from the American Rockies and often described as more impressive.

The reason seems to be in their sheer faces.

“They’re steep and sheer and young-seeming,” said one tourist. “I don’t know if they are young, but they’re jagged and raw looking, and that’s impressive.”

The peaks, combined with the mountain lakes of Banff and Jasper National Parks, are a major draw for visitors from all over the world. But this year, the outbreak of the swine flu virus in Alberta cut way down on tourism.

According to a recent story in the Calgary Herald, tourism from Japan is down nearly 40 percent this summer. American visitation is slightly up, but by less than one percentage point.

But there haven’t been any reported cases of swine flu within the parks themselves, and the fewer amount of tourists makes it much easier to visit. Some highlights:

 

Banff and surroundings

If you’re a mountain town connoisseur, you’ve probably heard of Banff, and maybe even visited here once or twice. This was my third visit and perhaps my most enjoyable. The difference this time?

Camping and staying away from the tourist-congested downtown area.

We camped at Two Jack Lake, located about six miles east of Banff (not an easy bike ride, but an enjoyable one). The campground was nearly empty when we stayed on a Sunday night, and the peaceful setting amid the pine trees was very private and enjoyable. After a tough bike ride into town, we even took a dip in the lake. It was freezing but very refreshing.

One in-town highlight that shouldn’t be missed is the Whyte Museum, a collection of art and history with continually changing exhibits. This is one of the best small museums in North America, in my opinion.

Admission is $8 (Canadian currency) for adults and well worth it. The current exhibit is about some of the people who were early settlers in the Banff area and who worked to preserve its culture and history. Their stories are fascinating and exceptionally well-preserved with archival artifacts as well as video and audio interviews conducted before they passed away.

Another not-to-be-missed experience is hiking or cycling along the Bow River, which cuts through the valley where Banff is located and is filled with beautiful icy blue water. Take a drive to the Banff Springs Resort, a historic famous hotel, and watch the waters spill over Bow Falls and down toward the town of Canmore, just a few kilometers from Banff.

Fishing regulations in Alberta are strict, so you probably won’t be able to enjoy catching a native trout, but rafting excursions along the Bow are popular and recommended. You can also take out a boat in Lake Minnewanka, located near Two Jack Lake.

 

Lake Louise and Moraine Lake

Considered the most beautiful lake in Banff National Park — so beautiful it is named after British royalty — Lake Louise is indeed a lovely spot to see. The lake gets its name from Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, a daughter of Queen Victoria. Even in a slumping tourist season, though, the lake will be crowded with tourists from many, many different countries.

A popular hike here is to the Tea House, which is modeled after the Swiss Alpine chalets popular with hikers. When Lake Louise was first developed as a tourist destination in the early 1900s, Swiss guides were imported to teach tourists the real mountain ways. Some of their photos still hang on the walls of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, rumored to be the most expensive hotel in Alberta.

It’s interesting to note that the Swiss mountain men all lived very long lives, dying in their 80s or 90s. Must be all that outdoor exercise … or maybe the Swiss chocolate?

About seven miles from Lake Louise and off the same access road is Moraine Lake, an even deeper blue body of water surrounded by avalanche moraine. An easy and scenic hike along this lakeshore concludes in a tumbling waterfall. You can rent a canoe to take out on the lake for $40 (Canadian currency). Just don’t be like some German teens we saw whose canoe ended up stuck on a log. They towed the log halfway across the lake with them before they were able to get it untangled.

 

Athabasca Glacier in Jasper

If your travels take you north of Banff and into Jasper National Park, the most pivotal destination is the Athabasca Glacier, one of few opportunities tourists have to walk right up to the border of a receding glacier.

Brewster Tours, the primary park concessionaire, will offer you the chance to take a bus and then a special snow vehicle up onto the glacier face. But if you’ve ever walked around on tightly packed snow before, you already know what that’s like.

Perhaps a more interesting experience is to take a short but steep hike to the glacier edge. As you approach the parking lot where the hike begins, you’ll see signs noting where the glacier was as early as 1920. As you get closer to the glacier, the years get more recent.

Shocking, however, is the contrast between the short distances of glacial melt through the first half of the 20th century, and the speeded-up receding that has been taking place throughout the 1980s, ’90s and continuing today.

As you walk to the ice, the wind coming down the mountain pass and off the glacier is ferocious. You’ll also hear and see the melting ice forming a stream and then a rushing river as it leaves the glacier behind.

The expectation by geologists is that the Athabasca glacier will disappear sometime in the next century. Go see it now, before it’s gone.

Jasper Park also includes many scenic lakes and the quaint town of Jasper, which is less pretentious than Banff.

If you make it all the way to the town, be sure to take the drive out to Maligne Lake, about 20 miles but worth the distance. A lovely lodge there was once the stopping point for tourist Marilyn Monroe.

Leah Etling is on an extended road trip around the western U.S. and Canada. Email her at etling@hotmail.com.