National Parks

How Canada's park system works

Parks Canada, a federal agency, runs more than 40 national parks and national park reserves, a few national marine conservation areas and 171 national historic sites. That is the system people mean by "Canadian national parks," and it includes the famous names: Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Pacific Rim, Gros Morne.

Every province also runs its own parks, and some of Canada's most visited places are provincial: Algonquin in Ontario, Joffre Lakes and Garibaldi in British Columbia, Mont-Tremblant in Quebec. They have their own fees and booking sites, and a Parks Canada pass does nothing there.

A "national park reserve" (Pacific Rim, Kluane, Gwaii Haanas) is run like a national park while Indigenous land claims are settled; for visitors the rules and fees are the same. Many parks are co-managed with First Nations, and Indigenous place names appear on signs and on the reservation site. See Indigenous Canada.

Admission fees and the Discovery Pass

Most Parks Canada places charge daily admission per person, with a family/group rate covering up to seven people in one vehicle. Youth 17 and under are always free. At Banff and the other Rockies parks a day pass runs until 4 pm the next day, so an afternoon arrival buys you more than 24 hours.

The alternative is the Discovery Pass, good for 12 months at more than 80 Parks Canada places that charge admission, including the national parks and fee-charging historic sites. It covers admission only. Camping, parking, shuttles, tours, hot springs and backcountry permits cost extra.

At Rockies prices the Discovery Pass pays for itself on about the seventh day in parks, for one adult or a family. A one-week Banff and Jasper trip sits right on the line; anything longer, or two park trips within 12 months, makes the pass the better buy. Many smaller parks charge less than the Rockies, so check each park's "Fees" page.

Buy online at the Parks Canada store before you go and show it on your phone or print it, or pay at the gate (the Banff gate is on the Trans-Canada just west of Canmore) or at visitor centres. Hang the pass from your mirror; wardens check cars at trailheads. You only skip paying if you drive straight through Banff or Jasper on the highway without stopping.

Free admission: the Canada Strong Pass

In 2025 the federal government launched the Canada Strong Pass, which made Parks Canada admission free for everyone, including international visitors, for set periods. There was no card or sign-up; the fee simply rang up as zero. It ran three times:

• June 20 to September 2, 2025
• December 12, 2025 to January 15, 2026
• June 19 to September 7, 2026, with 25% off camping and roofed stays such as oTENTiks

Regular fees returned on September 8, 2026. As of late October 2026, Parks Canada had not announced another free period for winter 2026–27 or summer 2027, so budget for full fees and treat a repeat as a bonus. Parking, firewood, backcountry permits and hot springs were never included. Year-round, admission is also free for support persons accompanying a visitor with a disability.

Booking campsites: launch day and how fast sites go

Parks Canada front-country campgrounds (drive-in sites with toilets, water and often showers) are booked through one national system at reservation.pc.gc.ca or at 1-877-737-3783. Each park releases its whole season on a single launch day in January or February, and in the popular parks most summer weekends are gone within hours.

Expect 2027 launches in the same late-January to mid-February window, usually announced in December. Mind the time zones: 8 am Mountain is 10 am in New York.

How launch day works

For the big western parks, everyone in the online waiting room before launch time gets a random place in line, so being first in the room doesn't help; latecomers go to the back. On Banff launch day the line can run tens of thousands deep, and by the time you reach the front, July and August weekends at Two Jack Lakeside and Lake Louise are often gone.

1. Set up your Parks Canada account a week ahead, with vehicle, equipment size and card saved.
2. List three or four backup campgrounds and dates. Mid-week, June and September stays are much easier.
3. Join the waiting room before launch, search the moment your turn comes, and pay right away. Sites held in other carts can reappear minutes later.
4. If you strike out, check daily from spring on. Cancellations are common 2 to 4 weeks out and in the last few days.

What it costs

In Banff a front-country site costs C$22 (about $16) a night at primitive campgrounds like Mosquito Creek up to C$86.50 (about $62) at the top end. Each booking, change or cancellation adds C$11.50 (about $8) online or C$13.50 (about $10) by phone. A fire permit is C$12 (about $9) a day around Banff and C$17 (about $12) at Lake Louise and on the Icefields Parkway. Some primitive Icefields Parkway campgrounds are first-come, first-served and fill by late morning in summer.

oTENTiks and roofed stays

An oTENTik is Parks Canada's cross between a tent and an A-frame cabin: a wooden floor, canvas walls, foam-mattress beds for up to six and a table, often with a heater. You bring sleeping bags and cooking gear and cook outside. They are the easiest way to camp without gear, which makes them popular with families who fly in.

In Banff, oTENTiks at Two Jack Lakeside and Tunnel Mountain Village II cost C$147.50 (about $105) a night. You also find them at Fundy, Cape Breton Highlands, Forillon, Kejimkujik and PEI National Park, and at historic sites near cities: Fort Langley and Fort Rodd Hill near Vancouver and Victoria, and lock stations on the Rideau Canal and Trent-Severn Waterway. They go on sale at each park's launch time and sell out first.

Backcountry trips

Hike-in and paddle-in sites need a reservation for each night's campground plus a wilderness fee, C$15 (about $11) per person per night in Banff. Classic Rockies routes like Kootenay's Rockwall and Jasper's Skyline sell out for July and August on launch morning.

Two trails need their own planning. The West Coast Trail in Pacific Rim runs 47 miles (75 km) along Vancouver Island's coast with ladders and cable cars, from May through September, with a daily quota, reservations from early February, a mandatory orientation and an extra overnight fee. The Chilkoot Trail, the 33-mile (53 km) gold rush route from Dyea, Alaska, to Bennett, BC, is booked through Parks Canada, and you must check in with Canadian border officials because you cross on foot. See outdoors.

Moraine Lake, Lake Louise and Lake O'Hara

These are the most photographed lakes in the Rockies and have the strictest access rules. Plan them before anything else; the Rockies page shows how they fit into a trip.

Moraine Lake

The Moraine Lake Road is closed to personal vehicles year-round. You get there on the Parks Canada shuttle, with a licensed commercial operator, on Roam Transit's connector, or as a Moraine Lake Lodge guest. Rental cars and RVs are turned back. Cycling is allowed but hard: 8.7 miles (14 km) and 1,730 feet (527 m) of climbing from Lake Louise with no shoulder.

• Season: June 1 to October 12 in 2026, every 30 minutes from 6:30 am to 5 pm from the Lake Louise Park and Ride, last return 7:30 pm. The Lake Louise shuttle starts May 15.
• Sunrise: Alpine Start shuttles leave Lake Louise Lakeshore at 4 am and 5 am; you pay to park at the Lakeshore lot.
• Booking: 40% of seats opened April 15, 2026 at 8 am MDT. The other 60% go on sale at 8 am MDT two days before each travel day.
• Fares: C$12.75 adult (about $9), C$6 senior (about $4), C$4 youth (about $3), plus a C$3.50 booking fee. One ticket covers both lakes and the ride back; park admission is separate.

Licensed tour companies, listed on the CarFreeBanff site, cost more but often have seats when the shuttle is sold out, including sunrise trips.

Lake Louise

You can drive to Lake Louise, but the Lakeshore lot costs C$42 (about $30) a day from mid-May to mid-October and often fills before sunrise. Use the shuttle from the free Park and Ride, Roam Route 8X from Banff, or the 2.7-mile (4.3 km) Tramline Trail from the village instead.

Lake O'Hara

In Yoho, just over the BC line, the 6.8-mile (11 km) road to Lake O'Hara is closed to the public and bikes are banned. A Parks Canada bus carries a limited number of day hikers from a lot 7.5 miles (12 km) west of Lake Louise, and seats go by random draw.

• The 2026 draw took applications March 2 to 23 for a bus season of June 19 to October 4, with up to six people per application.
• Buses go in at 8:30 and 10:30 am and come out on a fixed schedule until 6:30 pm.
• Anyone may walk the road, 13.7 miles (22 km) round trip before the real hiking starts.
• The 30-site campground (three-night limit) opened for booking February 10, 2026. Lake O'Hara Lodge books directly; the Alpine Club of Canada's Elizabeth Parker Hut fills by lottery the previous fall.

The 12 national parks that matter most

Provincial parks: Algonquin, Sépaq and BC Parks

Provincial parks have separate fees, and none accept the Discovery Pass.

Algonquin (Ontario Parks)

Ontario's most famous park, 3 hours north of Toronto, has more than 1,200 miles (2,000 km) of canoe routes, moose along Highway 60 in spring and some of Canada's best fall color in late September and early October. Highway 60 crosses the south of the park for 35 miles (56 km), and most day hikes and campgrounds are along it. You need a daily vehicle permit to stop. Ontario Parks sells them online up to five days ahead from 7 am Eastern, with no extra fee, and on fall-color weekends you should buy one, because lots fill.

Ontario Parks campsites cost C$17.13 to C$52.50 a night before tax (about $12–38) in 2026–27 and open for booking five months ahead. Interior canoe camping needs a backcountry permit. See Ontario.

Mont-Tremblant and Quebec's Sépaq parks

In Quebec, parc national usually means a provincial park run by Sépaq. Parc national du Mont-Tremblant, 2 hours north of Montreal, has lakes, canoe routes, waterfalls and campgrounds, separate from the Tremblant ski village. Other favorites are Jacques-Cartier near Quebec City, Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie in Charlevoix, Fjord-du-Saguenay and Bic. Sépaq charges adults a daily access fee and has its own passes and bookings at sepaq.com. See Quebec's regions.

BC Parks: Joffre Lakes and Garibaldi

BC requires free day-use passes at its busiest parks, booked at reserve.bcparks.ca/dayuse from 7 am Pacific two days before your visit. Summer weekend passes go in minutes. Trailhead cell service is poor, so screenshot yours.

• Joffre Lakes (Pipi7íyekw), about 2.5 hours from Whistler past Pemberton: passes per person May 11 to October 25, 2026 (12 and under exempt with an adult), capped at 500 visitors a day. Co-managed with the Líl̓wat and N'Quatqua Nations, it closes for periods during the season, so check advisories.
• Garibaldi, between Squamish and Whistler: passes per vehicle at the Diamond Head and Rubble Creek (Garibaldi Lake) trailheads Fridays through Mondays and holidays from June 12 to October 12, 2026; Cheakamus Lake uses morning or afternoon passes.
• Golden Ears near Vancouver needs passes on summer weekends.

Campers with overnight reservations don't need a day pass. See Whistler and the Sea-to-Sky. In Alberta, Kananaskis Country needs its own Kananaskis Conservation Pass.

National historic sites

Many of Parks Canada's 171 historic sites charge admission covered by the Discovery Pass. Most have full programs with costumed interpreters only from late June to early September. The best detours:

• Fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia: a rebuilt 1740s French fortified town on Cape Breton Island.
• L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland: the only confirmed Norse site in the Americas, about 1,000 years old.
• Halifax Citadel and Signal Hill in St. John's: hilltop forts over two harbors.
• Rideau Canal: a UNESCO waterway from Ottawa to Kingston, boated in summer.
• Cave and Basin, Banff: the hot springs where the park system began.
• SGang Gwaay, Gwaii Haanas: a Haida village site with standing poles, reached by boat.
• Klondike sites in Dawson City and the SS Klondike in Whitehorse. See the North.

Wildlife rules, bear spray and fines

The mountain parks have grizzly and black bears, wolves, cougars, elk, moose and bighorn sheep, often beside the road. Feeding, enticing or disturbing wildlife in a national park can bring fines of up to C$25,000 (about $18,000) and a court date, and wardens do charge people.

• Stay at least 100 feet (30 m), about three bus lengths, from deer, elk, sheep and moose.
• Stay at least 330 feet (100 m), about ten bus lengths, from bears, wolves, cougars and coyotes.
• At a roadside animal, slow down and move on. If you stop, pull fully off, turn on hazards, stay in the car and leave after a quick photo.
• Coolers, dishes, toiletries and pet food go in a hard-sided vehicle or bear locker, never on the picnic table.
• Carry bear spray on Rockies hikes. You may bring it into Canada if it's labeled for animals; pepper spray for people is banned. Airlines won't carry it, so buy it in Banff, Canmore or Jasper.
• Read trailhead signs. Some Banff trails in grizzly habitat, including around Moraine Lake in summer, require hiking in tight groups of four or more.
• Leave the drone at home, keep dogs leashed, and take nothing: rocks, antlers and flowers stay put.

Elk during the fall rut (September and October) and calving (May and June) charge people every year in Banff and Jasper towns. See safety and outdoors.

Accessibility

Support persons accompanying a visitor with a disability get in free. Many visitor centres, front-country campgrounds and day-use areas have accessible washrooms, the reservation site lets you filter for accessible campsites and oTENTiks, and the Lake Louise shuttles are accessible. Some parks lend beach or all-terrain wheelchairs; call the visitor centre ahead.

Easy-access highlights include the paved lakeshore path at Lake Louise, Banff's flat Fenland Trail and Vermilion Lakes drive, and the Athabasca Glacier viewpoints on the Icefields Parkway. Each park's website has an accessibility page listing specific trails. See travel by interest.

What trips Americans up

• Distances. Banff to Jasper is 180 miles (290 km), with one seasonal gas station and almost no cell service on the Icefields Parkway. See driving.
• Snow and closures. High trails can stay snowbound into early July, and many facilities close after Canadian Thanksgiving in mid-October.
• Wildfire smoke. Smoke and closures are now normal in western summers. Check Parks Canada alerts the day before. See when to go.
• Hotels. Banff and Jasper sell out months ahead for July through September; book rooms first. See where to stay.
• Medical bills. Injuries are billed at non-resident rates; make sure your insurance covers evacuation. See health.