Canada
Banff National Park
Welcome to the Canadian Rockies! Banff National Park is a wonderland of glowing blue-green lakes, glaciers, and snow-capped mountains — Canada's very first national park.
Why is it special?
It was Canada's first national park, created in 1885 to protect its stunning mountains and hot springs.
Its lakes glow a brilliant turquoise blue, a color caused by fine rock powder ground up by glaciers.
How was it formed?
Massive glaciers carved the park's jagged peaks and deep valleys over thousands of years.
Those same glaciers still feed the park's rivers and lakes today, grinding rock into a fine powder called "rock flour."
Amazing facts
The park covers about 2,564 square miles of mountains, forests, and ice fields.
Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are famous for their glowing turquoise-blue water.
Quick facts
- The park covers about 2,564 square miles of mountains, forests, and ice fields.
- Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are famous for their glowing turquoise-blue water.
- Banff was founded after railway workers discovered natural hot springs bubbling out of the mountainside.
- Grizzly bears, elk, moose, and bighorn sheep all roam freely through the park.