JASPER NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 337

of September, rates start at $150. (For the view alone, the more expensive rooms are well
worth the extra $20.) Because of the remote location, dining options are limited to the in-
house café and restaurant. The Glacier Dining Room opens at 7am daily for a breakfast
buffet, reopening 6pm-9:30pm for dinner. On the same level is a cafeteria-style café and a
snack bar. All food outlets are designed around the basic needs of passing highway travel-
ers.
Campgrounds
Aside from Whistlers and Wapiti Campgrounds at the top end of the Icefields Parkway
near the town of Jasper, there are five campgrounds along this stretch of highway. All sites
fill on a first-come, first-served basis.
Wilcox Creek and Columbia Icefield Campgrounds are within two kilometers (1.2
miles) of each other at the extreme southern end of the park, just over 100 kilometers (62
miles) south of the town of Jasper and around 125 kilometers (78 miles) north of Lake
Louise. Both are primitive facilities with pit toilets, cooking shelters, and fire rings; all
sites are $16. Smallish sites at Columbia Icefield Campground are set in a stunted sub-
alpine forest of aspen and spruce, with views extending across to the Athabasca Glacier.
Immediately to the south, Wilcox Creek offers larger sites, better suited to RVs and trail-
ers, but with no hookups.
Jonas Creek, Honeymoon Lake, and Mount Kerkeslin Campgrounds are all within
a 50-kilometer (31-mile) stretch continuing north. All cost $17 per night and have primit-
ive facilities (no hookups or showers).
Town of Jasper
At the top end of the Icefields Parkway, 280 kilometers (174 miles) north of Banff and a
3.5-hour drive west of the provincial capital, Edmonton, the town of Jasper is the service
center of the park.
With all the things to do and see in the surrounding wilderness, it's amazing how many
people hang out in town. July and August are especially busy; much-needed improvements
to the parking situation have had little impact on the traffic—try for a parking spot in the
lot along the railway line. The best way to avoid the problem is to avoid town during the
middle of the day. The park information center, on Connaught Drive, is the only real reason
to be in town. The shaded park in front of the center is a good place for people-watching,