Canadian Rockies Road Trip Itinerary: Glacier, Banff, Yoho & Jasper in 15 Days

There are road trips, and then there are road trips that completely change how you think mountains should look.

The Canadian Rockies has been on our bucket list for years. Between the turquoise lakes, towering glaciers, endless wildlife, and some of the best hiking in North America, we knew this would be one of those trips we’d remember forever.

Instead of staying in hotels, we built this trip around campgrounds inside the national parks. We wanted to fully embrace the scenery and nature. The goal was to experience the parks rather than simply drive through them. It wasn’t the fastest itinerary — but that wasn’t the goal.

It took us around 7 months to plan the trip between booking the van, securing campsites, and shuttle tickets before we found out Eric would be starting a new job — exactly 9 days before we were scheduled to start the trip. While we were thankful for the new job opportunity, we were a little disappointed that came with the news our 2026 Canadian Trip would need to be cancelled.

To be honest, we knew this was a possibility the entire 7 months of planning so we decided to only book things that allowed refunds.

We are looking to replan the trip for 2027, but in the mean time, we wanted to share the adventure we planned!

Trip Overview

Length: 15 Days

Places to Visit

Glacier National Park (Montana)
Kootenay National Park
Banff National Park
Yoho National Park
Icefields Parkway
Jasper National Park

Day 1: Arrive

We allocated this day to arrive in Calgary and pick up our Camper Van we rented through Outdoorsy.

We orginally decided to fly into Calgary for the Banff to Jasper trip. It wasn’t until we realized how close Glacier National Park is from Calgary we decided to add it onto the beginning of the trip! Since Calgary is a major airport, it was easier for us to fly here versus the airports in Montana.

Days 2-5: Glacier National Park

We had planned to spend several days exploring Glacier National Park in Montana.

Some highlights included:

Going-to-the-Sun Road
Hidden Lake
Highline Trail
Grinnell Glacier
Many Glacier
Lake McDonald
Lake McDonald Sunset Cruise

We had planned to stay at Johnson’s of St. Mary for two nights for exploring the East Side of Glacier. Then we booked a campsite at Fish Creek Campground for better access to the West Side of Glacier.

Splitting our stay this way made us to only cross Going-to-the-Sun Road once and allowed us to spend the entire day traveling it. We had planned to make multiple stops at all the scenic highlights, taking in the views every few feet.

Day 6: Banff Arrival

After leaving Glacier, we were going to make the drive back north into Banff National Park. This was mostly a transition day. Sometimes the best itineraries include a slower day.

We were planning to drive Highway 93 (Kootenay Highway) and stopping to hike in the park where we saw scenic overlooks.

Day 7: Sunshine Meadows

We were planning to take the chair lift up to Sunshine Meadows and spend the day hiking in an alpine meadow.

Day 8: Banff

This day was going to be spent seeing some of the scenic sights around town and doing some light hiking before having dinner in in town:

Lake Minnewanka
Two Jack Lake
Bow Falls
Surprise Corner
Johnston Canyon

Day 9: Moraine Lake & Lake Louise

This was one of the days we looked forward to most. We had booked a 6:30 AM shuttle to Moraine Lake for a full day of hiking.

Starting before sunrise gives you the best chance to avoid crowds and experience these lakes in the calm morning light.

Highlights include:

Moraine Lake
Shuttle to Lake Louise
Lake Louise shoreline
Optional hiking trails depending on energy

We booked our shuttle through Parks Canada.

Day 10: Yoho National Park

Yoho often gets overshadowed by Banff, but it deserves far more attention.

Stops include:

Takakkaw Falls
Iceline Trail
Little Yoho Valley

If you’re only choosing one hike in Yoho, the Iceline Trail is hard to beat. It covers majority of the park and can be done in several ways making it ideal for a customizable itinerary.

Day 11: Icefields Parkway (South)

This drive is frequently ranked among the most scenic highways in the world. Rather than driving straight through, we planned to stop often. Most people say you could easily spend at least 4 days here, so we tried to allocate a fair amount of time without rushing too much.

Some of the highlights include:

Herbert Lake
Hector Lake
Crowfoot Glacier
Bow Lake
Peyto Lake
Waterfowl Lakes
Chephren Lake
Mistaya Canyon
Saskatchewan River Crossing

This day was about pulling over whenever the mountains call to you.

Day 12: Icefields Parkway (North)

Continuing north toward Jasper.

Stops include:

Weeping Wall
Nigel Pass
Panther Falls
Parker Ridge
Wilcox Pass
Athabasca Glacier
Tangle Creek Falls
Stutfield Glacier
Sunwapta Falls
Athabasca Falls
Horseshoe Lake
Valley of the Five Lakes

There are very few roads where the drive itself is the attraction. This is one of them.

Days 13-14: Jasper National Park

These two days are intentionally flexible. Depending on trail openings and current conditions, we were hoping to visit:

Maligne Lake
Medicine Lake
Pyramid Lake
Patricia Lake
Old Fort Point
Miette Hot Springs

Jasper has experienced significant wildfire impacts in recent years, so we had planned to adjust our plans based on current park conditions.

Day 14: Return Toward Calgary

The drive back offers another chance to revisit favorite viewpoints or stop at places we may have skipped heading north.

Sometimes the second pass is even better than the first.

Day 15: Travel Home

This would have been the time to return the RV and make our way to the airport!

Camping Throughout the Trip

One thing we intentionally prioritized was camping inside the parks.

Our campground lineup included:

Johnson’s of St. Mary
Fish Creek Campground
Two Jack Main Campground
Lake Louise Campground
Kicking Horse Campground
Rampart Creek Campground
Wapiti Campground
Bow Valley Provincial Park

Camping saves money, reduces driving each morning, and makes sunrise/sunset photography much easier.

What We Were Most Excited For

If we had to narrow it down to five experiences, they’d probably be:

Highline Trail
Sunshine Meadows
Moraine Lake & Lake Louise
Iceline Trail
Driving the Icefields Parkway

Those five experiences alone make this road trip worth planning.

The Aura Borealis has also been exceptionally active this year — we were not expecting to see it on our trip, but checking Banff FaceBook groups during our scheduled trip revealed that we would have had multiple opportunities to see them!

Final Thoughts

One thing became clear while planning this adventure. This isn’t a trip where you want to rush from destination to destination.

The Canadian Rockies reward people who slow down. Pull over for that unnamed viewpoint. Take the extra half mile to the overlook. Stay at the lake a little longer after everyone else leaves. The itinerary is just the framework. The memories happen somewhere between the stops.