By rail
Jasper station, on VIA Rail's Canadian
North America · Canada
Jasper, Canada
Wild Rockies, glaciers and dark skies
Getting there
By air
Edmonton (YEG), ~4 h by road
Best time to visit
June to September — summer
Don't miss
Maligne Lake
The Columbia Icefield
Athabasca Falls
Mount Edith Cavell
Things to do
The Columbia Icefield
A Maligne Lake cruise to Spirit Island
Stargazing
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Ethan Sahagun · CC BY 4.0
What to pack
Layers, hiking gear
A quieter corner
The Maligne Canyon ice walk in winter
Questions travellers ask
When is Jasper at its best?
June to September, in summer. In winter, the Maligne Canyon ice walk is the hidden gem.
Can I get to Jasper by train?
Yes — Jasper station is on VIA Rail's Canadian. By air, fly into Edmonton (YEG), about 4 h by road.
What's worth seeing in Jasper?
Cruise Maligne Lake to Spirit Island, visit the Columbia Icefield, Athabasca Falls and Mount Edith Cavell, then stay up for the stargazing.
What gear should I bring to Jasper?
Layers and hiking gear. Between outings, warm up in the mountain-town cafés.
About Jasper
- Mountains
- Forest
Where it is
Jasper National Park is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, in western Alberta, Canada, north of Banff along the Icefields Parkway. The town of Jasper sits in the Athabasca River valley at about 1,060 m.
History
The Nakoda, Cree, Secwépemc and Dane-zaa peoples have lived in these valleys since time immemorial, and the park takes its name from Jasper House, a fur-trading post of the early 19th century. It was set aside as a forest park in 1907, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway founded the town in 1911, and in 2024 a wildfire destroyed about a third of the town's buildings.
People
Jasper's residents work mostly in tourism, for Parks Canada or on the railway, and the town is a stop on the passenger lines to Vancouver and Prince Rupert. English is the main language, and Indigenous nations such as the Nakoda, Cree, Secwépemc and Dane-zaa keep close ties to the park's valleys.
Known for
- The Columbia Icefield and Athabasca Glacier
- Maligne Lake and Spirit Island
- Dark-sky stargazing
- Athabasca Falls and Maligne Canyon
- Elk, bears and bighorn sheep
Did you know?
Meltwater from the Columbia Icefield, on the park's southern edge, flows to three oceans: the Arctic, the Pacific and, by way of Hudson Bay, the Atlantic.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.