Lake Louise and Banff: Lake Minnewanka, Johnston Canyon, Cave and Basin

From Calgary we drove into the mountains and stayed at Lake Louise.

Beautiful Bow River on the way from Calgary to Lake Louise

Amazing freeway infrastructure, completely fenced with these huge wildlife-only overpasses.

View from our hotel

We hired bikes from Wilson Mountain Sports, which is really close to the Tramline trail. This is me pulling two kids and all of our gear up the Tramline trail to Lake Louise.

Great trail, we were the only ones on it.  Had to sing the whole time to avoid surprising bears.  Much nicer way to get to Lake Louise than driving and fighting the crowds for a park.

Lake Louise

We came back down the Tramline, then took the Bow River loop.  It wasn't really suitable for the bike trailer.  I felt bad for dragging the kids over lots of tree roots and a very bump path.

The next day the weather in Lake Louise was terrible so we drove over to Banff and went for a cruise on Lake Minnewanka.  It was nice enough, but not super interesting.

Mountains near Banff

View from the boat on Lake Minnewanka

The next day we drove back to Banff to see Johnston Canyon in Banff National Park.

Great views, but pretty crowded on the narrow walkways

Just enough time left in the day to see the Cave and Basin National Historic Site, the birthplace of Canada's National Parks.  There's an interesting museum and a small cave with a sulfurous pool.

Cave and Basin