Bow Falls & the Bow Valley Parkway Wildlife Drive

The Bow is the connective tissue of the whole landscape. It rises from the Bow Glacier and turquoise Bow Lake high on the Icefields Parkway (a stop on the Columbia Icefield and Skywalk tour), then flows southeast past Lake Louise, through Banff (where the Spray joins), out past Canmore, through Calgary, and across the prairies for about 587km before joining the Oldman River. Its water ultimately drains to Hudson Bay.

The name translates an Indigenous reference to the reeds along its banks, used to make bows and arrows. In Blackfoot it's Makhabn, "river where the bow reeds grow"; the Stoney Nakoda name means "a place where people made bows." The Blackfoot Confederacy, Stoney Nakoda and Tsuut'ina have lived in this watershed for thousands of years.

Ecologically, the Bow's riparian corridor is one of the richest habitats in the mountain parks: a low, warm, productive valley bottom that acts as a critical east-west wildlife travel corridor. It supports waterfowl, bald eagles, ospreys, herons, beavers, otters and native trout, and the surrounding montane forests hold elk, deer, wolves, coyotes and bears. Which is exactly why the road that follows it is so good for wildlife.

The Bow Valley Parkway is the original road between Banff and Lake Louise, built in the 1920s and superseded by the Trans-Canada in the mid-1950s. Rather than abandon it, Parks Canada preserved it as a scenic heritage drive: about 48km, running parallel to the highway on the north side of the river, with a leisurely 60km/h limit against the highway's 90–110.

Its value for wildlife is structural. It's low elevation, it passes through rare montane habitat and, crucially, it's unfenced, unlike the Trans-Canada with its wildlife overpasses and fencing. Animals move onto and along the roadside, which makes this the single best road in Banff for spotting wildlife. For the wider self-drive picture, see Best Places to See Wildlife in Banff.

The science backs this up. A 2019 Parks Canada study led by ecologist Jesse Whittington, published in Scientific Reports, used remote cameras, roadside surveys and GPS-collared grizzlies. As Whittington told CBC, all three methods showed wildlife use of the road doubled when it was closed to vehicles, and 80 to 90 per cent of the animals using the closed road were grizzly bears and wolves.

Traffic on the parkway nearly doubled between 2007 and 2017, yet only about 6% of it happened at night, so the overnight closure protects wildlife at very little cost to visitors. Spring is the critical season: deep snow up high confines animals to the valley bottom, where south-facing slopes green up first and females are giving birth.

What you might see: elk and deer throughout; bighorn sheep on the cliffs near Backswamp; black and grizzly bears feeding on the spring green-up; wolves (the storied Bow Valley pack, whose numbers fluctuate); and coyotes. Because the road is unfenced and low, sightings can happen right at the roadside, which is why etiquette matters. See our bear watching guide and bighorn sheep guide for the species detail.

Johnston Canyon is one of the most visited attractions in Canada's most-visited park, and deservedly so. Johnston Creek has carved a narrow limestone slot canyon, and the trail threads through it on steel catwalks bolted directly to the sheer walls, cantilevered above the water.

The Lower Falls are an easy, nearly flat 1.1km each way; a footbridge and a short rock tunnel bring you face-to-face with the falls (expect spray). The Upper Falls are 2.7km each way with more climbing. Beyond them, the trail continues about 3km to the Ink Pots (5.8km each way), a meadow of seven cold blue-green mineral springs bubbling up through sand.

The cave at the Lower Falls is now closed in summer to protect nesting black swifts, a rare bird. In winter the canyon turns into frozen waterfalls and an "icewalk," with the Upper Falls freezing into a column popular with ice climbers. Microspikes are essential, and guided tours run from Banff: the morning or afternoon Johnston Canyon icewalk (★ 4.8 from 284 reviews) drives you out along the Bow Valley Parkway, fits you with ice cleats and poles, and climbs 2.7km with 135m of gain to the Upper Falls, with hot chocolate at the end.

Crowds and parking. Johnston Canyon is extremely busy in summer, and the lot fills early. Go before 9am or after 4pm, or visit in the shoulder or winter seasons. During parkway closures, drive in via Castle Junction, or cycle in with a lock. If you'd rather not drive at all, the Johnston Canyon, Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and Emerald Lake day tour (from $70, ★ 4.8 from 2,342 reviews) picks up in Calgary, Canmore or Banff and handles the parking for you.

Near the Lake Louise end, Morant's Curve is one of the most famous railway photography spots in North America. The CP mainline sweeps in an S-curve alongside the turquoise Bow with the Bow Range behind.

It's named for Nicholas Morant (1910–1999), a Canadian Pacific staff photographer whose images promoted the railway and the country for much of the mid-20th century; this spot was reportedly his favourite. There's a small pullout and viewing platform across the road. Trains pass unpredictably, because CPKC doesn't publish schedules, but often, and photographers wait with tripods. A park pass is required, as on the whole parkway.