Five years ago we met my parents in Banff National Park, and I’ve been wanting to go back and explore the more low-key Jasper National Park area ever since.

When Brian was planning the route for our motorcycle trip from Wyoming to Alaska, I realized it was the perfect time to return to Jasper National Park. I asked him to route our return to Wyoming via Jasper, Alberta, so we could spend a couple days hiking and stretching out before our final push to get home.

We found a great AirBnB in downtown Jasper and spent two days hiking in Jasper National Park. With only a couple days to explore, we ended up covering a lot of ground. We spent our first day creating a loop hike from several intersecting trails we accessed from downtown Jasper, and we spent our second day hiking two very different trails we accessed along the Icefields Parkway.

Hiking from Downtown Jasper

We had great weather for our first day of hiking and decided to make the most of it by piecing together a 15 mile / 24 km day hike that incorporated eight different trails.

We started from downtown Jasper and caught the Red Squirrel Trail over to the Old Fort Point Loop. Following the AllTrails recommendation, we opted to hike the loop in a clockwise direction and initially had the trail entirely to ourselves. This was definitely the optimal way to complete this hike as it places the viewpoints at the end of the loop, which is a nice reward after navigating several miles of wooded trail.

While the views looking out over Jasper and the surrounding mountain range were stunning, I was even more enamored by a herd of Bighorn sheep we spotted just off the trail.

I was really glad Brian had the camera and could capture their antics from a safe distance. It was quite entertaining watching the juveniles headbutt one another from the top of a large rock, attempting to claim king of the hill while the stately – and much bigger horned – adults ignored their disputes.

From the Old Fort Point Loop we caught the Lac Beauvert Loop to the Maligne Canyon Trail along the Athabasca River, which took us into the surrounding lakes district via the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.

This was a really beautiful area and quite different from the Old Fort Point Loop, which offered elevation and panoramic views. These trails were wooded with occasional openings alongside various lakes and rivers with the mountains sometimes visible in the background.

We took the Lake Edith and Lake Annette Trails to see those respective lakes and found some people picnicking as well as others canoeing and kayaking on their calm waters.

We returned to the Athabasca River, crossed the H.J. Moberly Bridge, and caught the Bighorn/Lakes Trail back to the Jasper Discovery Trail and into downtown.

While the Bighorn trail did not serve up any of its namesake wildlife, we did come across several noisy ground squirrels who were very happy for us to return to town and away from their territory.

Valley of the Five Lakes Trail

The following morning we took the motorcycle south to the Valley of the Five Lakes trailhead. The national park map recommended hiking this loop in a counterclockwise direction via the smaller of two loop trails, which worked out well for us given the direction of the morning sun.

The five lakes were of varying sizes and colors, ranging from royal blue to emerald green. There were lots of people on the trail heading in both directions, and it was difficult to really enjoy the viewpoints with everyone vying for a spot.

It’s a relatively short and easy trail at 2.9 miles / 4.6 km and 216 feet / 66 m of gain so I probably should have anticipated it would be popular. I’d recommend going early to enjoy this one without throngs of people.

Parker Ridge Trail

The standout hike of our time in Jasper National Park was ascending the Parker Ridge Trail and hiking out to the viewpoint of the Saskatchewan Glacier. The trailhead is a bit further south on the Icefields Parkway and has ample parking and vault toilets.

Upon arrival, we encountered a number of younger people in high spirits who were returning to the trailhead with snowboards and skis as well as several others who were without appropriate outerwear or footwear and complaining that they hadn’t been able to make it far due to all of the snow. We made sure our ice trekkers and hiking poles were near at hand before we set out.

No sooner had we passed the tree line then the gravel trail turned to thick mud and slush. It was not exceptionally fun to climb as we were sliding backward with each step, but once we completed the first few switchbacks we came to snow, which was easier to navigate with our trekkers.

This section of the climb had beautiful views, but I had a really hard time enjoying it because so many other people were not even attempting to follow trail and instead climbing right over ‘do not tread’ signs to try and make their way straight up the side of the mountain. These signs had notes about vegetation recovery and the importance of staying on the trail, yet an infuriating number of people paid them no heed.

I never know what to do in these situations – I am not the trail police and don’t usually feel comfortable saying something, but it’s frustrating to see others behaving this way when we are taking so much care to routinely check Gaia and ensure we’re following the right path.

Happily, once we reached the trail summit, we were back on very obvious dirt trail. We continued to follow this relatively flat section of trail to its endpoint where we had stunning views of Saskatchewan Glacier.

While you can see the glacier well before the turnaround point, I recommend going all the way to the trail end and then making your way back toward the glacier in order to see it from all angles.

The Parker Ridge Trail clocked in at 3.5 miles /5.6 km with 820 feet / 250 m gain. It’s a decent ascent, especially in all of the mud, slush, and snow so I would recommend checking trail reports in advance and making sure you have the right gear to complete it in a safe and fun manner. We were there at the end of June and there was still plenty of snow to contend with – however, the views were well worth it.

I’m so glad we were able to make it to Jasper National Park and experience this laidback alternative to nearby Banff National Park. The weather was great, and I really enjoyed spending these days outdoors before our motorcycle ride from Alberta back to Wyoming.