Atlas Obscura Itineraries

The Explorer’s Guide to Banff National Park

Sharp stone peaks, hulking glaciers, and iridescent blue lakes have long made Canada's first national park its most visited. Nearly the entire Rocky Mountain range in Canada is covered by a string of national parks smooshed together, so the wilderness here feels as vast as the northern country itself. That raw ruggedness is exactly what's been attracting people for hundreds of years, so the land is pocketed with nuggets of history. Many people are familiar with the icefields, hot springs, skiing, and hiking in Banff. But not as many are aware of the mummified merman, rare translucent cave creatures, a sunken ghost town that requires scuba diving to the bottom of a lake, or the old swinger restaurant that keeps the area colorful with quirky stories. From the town of Banff to the point where the road seamlessly passes into next-door Jasper National Park, here are the attention-grabbing sites and legendary tales of Banff National Park in Canada’s wild west.