Jasper Facts

Jasper National Park forms the northernmost component of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks system, and is the largest, wildest and most forbidding of all the parks. With spectacularly jagged mountains, unusual geological formations and a history of adventure and conflict, it is the wild sister of its sibling, Banff. While Banff has been recognized as an international luxury destination for over a century, Jasper has been known for its harsh terrain, strange landforms and abundant wildlife.

The townsite of Jasper, in a valley carved by the Athabasca River, is located at the junction of the Icefield Parkway and Yellowhead Highway, and huddles against the eastern face of the Princess Lakes Bench...

...'s earliest incarnation, in the 1840s, sounded less than inviting. It was described by a visiting painter as "composed of two rooms of about 14 and 15 feet square. One of them is used by all comers and goers, Indians, voyageurs and traders, men, women, and children being huddled together indiscriminately."

An inauspicious beginning. But that's hardly the Jasper of today. Established as a park in 1907, in the intervening 160 years Jasper has expanded from such humble beginnings to become Canada's largest mountain park, with crowds flocking there for its hiking, biking, climbing, horseback riding, and rafting. Visitors will also be able to find shopping and fine dining in Jasper, but such urbane...