Calgary and the Rockies

You will be visiting one of the most scenic areas of the world. It will be busy.

Rest assured the main roads are all paved and while there are some turns, they are all high speed highways.

You are going to a spectacular area, not a remote backwater.

As an ex-calgarian I like to recommend trips to the east and south of Calgary. To the South, Watertown Lakes National Park abuts the US border and is lovely and tends to be less crowded than the Parks along the Number One Highway, as it does not get through traffic. Has stunning mountains and lake views. Also canoe rentals and stunning hikes up into the high valleys. Waterton has a grand old hotel as well as smaller hotels and inns as well as camping. Be prepared for deer wandering through the town, just remember they are wild animals not for petting

Another worthwhile trip is to the Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller, east of Calgary.. interesting Badlands and coal mining area and the incredible dinosaurs on display in the museum. Also interesting, if the kids are into dinosaurs, is Dinosaur Provincial Park. Again Badlands and dinosaurs.

Anyway back to the mountains. To get to Waterton from Calgary it’s best to take the number 22 highway south through Longview, nice road, usually not too busy, through the foothills, with great views to the mountains. A nice stop is Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Provincial park where in the past Buffalo were driven over a cliff and then processed. Great views and photographic opportunities. Waterton is linked to Glacier National Park, it’s called the Peace Park and I think it is one of the most interesting and beautiful parks in the Canadian Rockies. I will never forget driving out of the Park and stopping to watch a huge male grizzly vacuuming up berries prepping for hibernation. There is, I hope it is still there, a small herd of Buffalo in a paddock outside the Park.
Near to Waterton is the Crowsnest Valley with remains of the coal mining industry and stories of rum runners during prohibition. Look for Frank Slide where a good part of Turtle Mountain buried the town of Frank under tons of limestone. Lots of old wooden houses, real Old West, Canadian style!

The drive between Canmore-Banff and Jasper is absolutely breathtaking, with so many places to explore.
Roads are excellent .. they are highways not gravel roads as Bob said. Calgary on the other hand is a city and not near the mountains so it would be wasting time driving back and forth trying to experience the Rockies.
Consider the Royal Tyrell museum (dinosaurs) near Drumheller when in Calgary.

Random notes in no particular order:

Expect an hour+ of driving each way to do daytrips to Banff or Kananaskis, but still may be cheaper than the cost of hotels in the region in the summer. You're not going to be getting into any twisty roads or switchbacks unless you're heading way into the back country for some serious hiking.

Radium is a 3 hour drive so quite a distance for one night. The idea about Waterton instead of Banff is worth considering, it's beautiful down there as well. Going the opposite direction from the mountains and into the Badlands to the Tyrell Museum is something I always recommend as a daytrip from Calgary.

In my opinion, the drive from Lake Louise to Jasper along the Icefield Parkway is one of the most spectacular drives in the world. There are plenty of turnoff with short hikes along the way. Parking shouldn't be an issue. If you like canoeing, you'll likely find better places near Jasper than Banff.

Lake Louise will be crazy busy, Yoho will be quieter, but I don't know much about it as we're usually driving through without stopping. To see stunning lakes I'd consider Peyto Lake over Lake Louise if you don't mind a bit of a hike. It's remote though and doesn't have any infrastructure like Lake Louise.

For some wildlife near Banff, drive the loop around Lake Minnewanka, it's rare that we don't see big horn sheep hanging around near the road. It's only about a 20 minute loop right outside of the Banff townsite.

Some great advice above. I’m another ex-Calgarian. I suggest looking at Canmore as a place to stay. It’s easy to get from there both to Banff (17 km to park gates) and Kananaskis, either via the main road, Highway 40, or via a beautiful upper road, Spray Lakes Road, that goes past the Canmore Nordic Centre (great summer mountain biking) and through some beautiful parts of Kananaskis Park, with trailheads all along the way (Chester Lake is a nice one). It is, however, unpaved but not horrifically twisty. Great experience I think. If your budget is abundant and you’d like an off the tourist track adventure, Mount Engadine Lodge is along the way, with very nice lodging, food and hikes. It’s easily accessible by car but a long way to anything else.

Canmore will be less busy than Banff, but definitely not empty. It’s a beautiful town, used to be a coal mining town but is now second-home town for Calgarians. One fun thing is to rent bikes and ride along the mostly-flat bike trail between Canmore and Banff. The scenery is great the whole way. You can have lunch in Banff and ride back, or you could leave your car in Banff before the ride and take the frequent commuter bus back to your starting point in Canmore.

Even though Lake Louise and Lake Moraine will be swamped, you really should see it while you’re here. The Park and Ride is pretty painless, it’s a big parking lot and the buses are frequent. It’s a human zoo but the lakes are indeed that special.

Another option is to book a private room at the Lake Louise International Hostel (if available.) It’s a very special place and puts you in the heart of the mountains. They have private off-street parking and then you can just take a quick shuttle up the hill to the Lakes. They have a very respectable cafeteria, laundry, a pool table and games room, a movie/video games room and other teenagers for your kids to hang out with. We love it there.

I agree that if you’re going for the mountains, there is no reason to stay an hour away in Calgary. The drive is easy but boring twice/day.

We did a wonderful four day Canadian Rockies tour from Vancouver by bus in 2016 with Key West Tours. Cost was about $700 US per person.

I suggest not staying in Calgary doing day trips, since you will waste much time backtracking.

We visited this area in 2018 and it was spectacular!

Definitely make time for the Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper. We took a guided small group hike on a glacier, called an ‘Icewalk’. It was amazing and unique experience, I totally recommend it. I felt it was a much better experience than just riding the large snow coach vehicle onto the glacier like other tourists were doing. There were teens in our group, but I don’t know what the minimum age requirement was (for your 13 year old).

Even though Banff has the beautiful lakes, we liked Jasper better. It seemed more laid back and less hectic. We found that B & B’s were easier to find in Jasper than hotels, and more affordable. But some don’t allow children/teens. Everything seemed to book up FAST. I agree with the recommendations to stay in Canmore to visit Banff. We actually stayed in a very basic, small, independent hotel just outside of Canmore for a fraction of the price of lodging in Banff. To visit Lake Louise, Lake Moraine, and Johnston Falls, we used a hop on, hop off bus which worked well. The stops were timed and they didn’t run late. It took parking/car worries off the table.

Not sure what month you’re looking at, but we went late June and things were crowded, but not prohibitively so. The downside is that some high altitude trails are still inaccessible. I think July and August are more popular so larger crowds. And possible smoke from forest fires by August, but that’s impossible to predict.

Your time is much better spent IN the mountains rather than driving back and forth from Calgary.

I also agree that you should spend your time in the mountains instead of Calgary. Do you only have 5 nights total for this trip? If so I would suggest splitting your time between Banff National Park and Jasper. Another option if you cannot find accommodation in Jasper might be to drive through to Revelstoke instead which is a lovely drive too.

Personally, despite it's beauty I would not waste a day on the crowds at Lake Louise. There are so many hikes that are not busy, and will give you a much better feel. As Allan mentioned both Minnewanka and Peyto Lake are lovely.

Canmore can be a cheaper option for hotels, but not always. If you give dates, I could take a look at some of our favourite spots. But you do want to get looking, depending on dates they will fill up quickly.

Here's another vote for Jasper. We stayed at Tekarra Lodge, https://www.tekarralodge.com/, which is right on the Athabasca River. They have self-catering cabins which would be perfect for your family. Walking distance to the town, excellent restaurant (or they'll prep a meal for you and leave it in your cabin for you to cook yourself). From the Lodge we saw big horn sheep and moose. After Jasper Banff was a disappointment. We were there at the end of May/beginning of June and it was already crowded and Lake Louise - especially by the tea house - a zoo. Much prefer Peyto Lake, Maligne Canyon and the Icefields Parkway.

I would skip Calgary and spend most of your time in the Banff National Park area. We stayed in Banff as a base and were able to enjoy the Bow River, Bow Falls, and Cascade of Time Gardens, as well as seeing a gorgeous sunset on Vermilion Lakes with the mountain reflected in the water. We saw elk right in downtown Banff. You can drive the Bow Valley Parkway on 1A and hike at the Johnston Canyon Lower Falls. It is also definitely worth it to reserve a timed spot at the Park and Ride at Lake Louise and see both Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. They are iconic for a reason. You could also rent a canoe on Lake Louise. Then you could take a day to drive from Banff on the Ice Fields Parkway up to the Columbia Icefields. We especially enjoyed the hike to Mistaya Canyon on the way. You could also hike to Peyto Lake. On our trip we drove further to Jasper for 2 nights, but now we wish we had just turned around after the Columbia Icefields and kept our lodging in Banff longer. The Canadian Rockies are beautiful and no matter what you choose to do it will be memorable.

Both Banff and the Kananaskis are easy day trips from Calgary. We do it all the time. However, if your focus is the Rocky Mountains, then I agree with the suggestions to stay in Banff or Canmore.

Radium is a 3ish-hour drive from Calgary. We used to often go for the weekend, but I agree that 1 night is too short. Radium is a beautiful hot springs--built right against rock cliffs--and it has a cooler swimming pool that kids enjoy, too. It is very common to see big horned sheep around, even right in the town. There WILL be some twisty roads (but paved) between Banff and Radium, but most of it is relatively straight. Some other places to visit near Radium include the town of Invermere (really cute town, with a lake and beaches), and Fairmont Hot Springs (which were my favourite as a kid). On the way to Radium, you would pass Castle Mountain (spectacular!! My fave! Note: you would pass this on the way to Lake Louise, also.), and the Paint Pots (an easy hike).

The drive between Banff and Jasper is very long--longer than you'd think by looking on a map. Yes, it's on paved roads, but there are high passes and slow areas, and there are sights to see and stop at along the way. So, plan on spending at least 5-6 hours on that drive, if you choose that option. If you want to start in Jasper, from where would you be arriving into Jasper? Edmonton? That's a bit of a drive, too--much longer than Calgary to Banff (i.e. 4-5 hours). Personally, I wouldn't choose that if I had only 5 days in total. Also, Jasper is quieter than Banff, and there are some beautiful areas nearby, but the town itself and the surrounding mountains are nowhere near as pretty as in Banff.

If you go to Yoho, I suggest going to Takakaw Falls. They're spectacular. Be aware that the road from the highway has twisty sections, though.

A relatively inexpensive but decent place to stay in Canmore with a family would be the Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge. https://canmoreskilodge.com It's got apartment/loft suites large enough for families. It's nothing fancy, but it's comfortable.

In Banff, I like Hidden Ridge Resort. It's actually a little bit outside of the main townsite, on Tunnel Mountain. It also has apartment/loft suites, has a couple of large outdoor hot tubs, and you are highly likely to see deer or elk munching on the grass around there. https://banffhiddenridge.com

Another option we like is to stay at Johnson's Canyon. They have cabins that are a bit rustic, but give you a good amount of space: https://www.johnstoncanyon.com

Our son and his wife frequently rent a condo via Air BnB in Dead Man's Flats or in Canmore, so that's another option for a family.

Be aware that, in the past, both Lake Louise and Johnston's Canyon have been crazy busy in the summer--so much so, that we gave up even trying to go. We enjoyed visiting both during Covid. I'm not sure if all the tour buses have returned yet, so it might not be as bad this summer, but I, personally would avoid those places. (Although I've seen them before. I know that, for some people, Lake Louise is a "must see.") My choice would be Banff area and Radium for a good taster of what the Rockies have to offer.

Be aware that there are two seasons around here, especially in the mountains: winter and construction. You almost certainly WILL be slowed down by construction on the highways.

Following! Hoping to do this area summer of 2024. Lots of good information here.

Thank you for all of this helpful information. I haven't had a chance to follow up all the ideas yet, let alone figure out an itinerary, but I appreciate the suggestions for various drives and stops. It's also reassuring to hear that, while crowded, the Icefield Parkway probably wouldn't be so crowded that we couldn't find parking at the stops along the way.

Or that we could probably have a less crowded experience going to Waterton Lakes. The hostels also look like an interesting experience, including the wilderness hostels, although I'm not looking early enough for the private rooms.