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Bow Valley Parkway & Johnston Canyon- Banff NP, AB
Although there are faster ways to get from Banff to Lake Louise than the Bow Valley Parkway, its not always about the destination. This short scenic drive offers excellent wildlife spotting opportunities, views of the surrounding mountains, and access to the Johnston Canyon trailhead, one of the most popular hikes in the park. In fact, you may never even make it to Lake Louise. Although there are several stops along the parkway, the 8000 year old Johnston Canyon is perhaps the most popular. Here, a cantilevered trail winds through a lush limestone canyon, past several stunning waterfalls. An extension of the trail ascends to a serene alpine meadow studded with…
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Banff Springs Golf Club- Banff, AB
Banff Springs Golf Club is without a doubt one of the most beautiful courses in the world. Opened in 1911 as a nine hole track designed by Bill Thompson, an apprentice of Old Tom Morris at St. Andrews, it was expanded by Donald Ross in 1924 to eighteen holes. Just a few years later, with a virtually unlimited budget from Canadian Pacific Railway, Stanley Thompson redesigned the course, which boasted of being the most expensive ever built when it opened in 1928. Although the original clubhouse is now a German restaurant, and a few holes have been reordered, today’s course is still essentially Thompson’s design. A somewhat short, difficult track,…
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Fairmont Banff Springs- Banff, AB
Some hotels are so fabulous, they are destinations in themselves. Unique properties with outstanding architecture and character, that you would happily travel to the ends of the earth to explore. Fairmont Banff Springs is one of these properties; fortunately, it is also located in one of the most beautiful parks on the planet, which provides even more incentive to book a stay. Banff Springs is a product of the golden age of railroad travel, one of several luxury hotels constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway across the Rocky and Selkirk Mountains to increase ridership numbers on western routes. Hopeful to draw European tourists to Canada, CPR’s general manager William Cornelius…
