bruce johnson

Correction Adam. They only have fences along Hwy 1 E-W through the park. Hwy 1A runs parallel to this and has no fencing. Hwy 93 & 93A North from Lake Louise to Jasper doesn't have fencing. Hwy 16 E-W through Jasper doesn't have any fencing. Just avoid Hwy 1 and you'll see lots of wildlife from the roadsides. Despite hundreds of miles of backpacking and hiking in the parks, I've seen more large mammals along the roadsides than anywhere else!

Alberta's Rockies are my playground, I head there as many weekends as possible. They are also the reason I took up photography. All the areas around Banff are spectacualar. From Banff to Lake Louise, explore the "scenic route" along Hwy 1A rather than the multi-lane Hwy 1. If you're looking for the most scenic area without venturing far from the parking lot, I'd say Lake Louise area wins for most spectacular scenery in a small area.

 

From Lake Louise, you can head West into Yoho. If you're into backpacking, you can't beat Lake O'Hara in Yoho (book early!). Otherwise check out the roadside attractions and don't miss Emerald Lake.

 

Back at Lake Louise, head North on 93 into Jasper. There is so much to see and do along this roadway, I couldn't even begin to list them all. Get a guidebook.

 

Both Jasper and Yoho NPs are much less crowded than Banff, but no less scenic. To get even further from the crowds, Kananaskis to the Southeast is a wonderful place to explore. It's also much closer to Banff townsite than Jasper is.

 

One word of warning though. If you like to get the early morning light, you're going to have to get up awfully early in June when you're this far North (4:20am sunrise, 8:30pm sunset!). Also, I've had many June hiking trips where I've been unable to hike anywhere but the valleys because there's still too much snow at higher elevations.

 

Enjoy!