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Jasper National Park Map Keys
Jasper National Park is the largest of Canada’s Rocky Mountain Parks, and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Discover the rugged mountains, glaciers, alpine meadows, forests, broad valleys, and wild rivers contained within more than 11,000 km 2 of protected area. Wildlife is abundant here. It is common to see elk, bighorn sheep, deer, coyote and even black bear in the park.
Jasper may have the greatest variety of accommodations in the mountain parks. Within the park, you could pitch your tent, park your RV, stay in a wilderness hostel, or be pampered in a resort. In town, your options include hotels, motels, private home accommodations and B&B’s.
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All of these choices are excellent. Each will appeal to a wide range of travellers and several unique properties are available in each category. If you are looking for something a little different, consider a private cabin.
Typically located on the edge of town, cabins offer a rustic charm ideal for those who really just want to get away from it all. Decompress in privacy without sacrificing comfort. Use this opportunity to read a book, go for a stroll, run a trail or just gaze at the amazing night sky.
Pick up a FREE copy of our Experience Jasper Visitor Map for more highlights and activities in both Jasper National Park and Jasper.
If dark starry night skies give you goose bumps, you’ve come to the right place!
The landscape within Jasper National Park is a vision during daylight, but it also has a night time magic very rare in the world these days. The park boasts one of the largest dark sky preserves in the world. You can see dreamy nightscapes of planets and constellations year-round, although the stars are brightest during the monthly phase of the new moon.
In March 2011 the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) officially designated Jasper National Park as a Dark Sky Preserve (DSP). A DSP is an area in which no artificial lighting is visible and active measures are in place to promote the reduction of light pollution, the protection of nocturnal habitat, and the visibility of the night skies.
While Jasper is nestled within soaring mountain ranges, it also has the largest clearings in the Rockies, ideal for dramatic open spaces for stargazing. This kind of wilderness astronomy in the Canadian Rockies is a pursuit gaining real traction with parents and grandparents who take advantage of the perfect conditions to share this amazing experience with their children. Families are replacing clumsy & expensive telescopes with iPads and GPS-based star-finders to browse their way around the vast sky.
Astronomy programs are offered daily at the Planetarium and Jasper’s Dark Sky Festival is a “must see”. Since inception, this festival has grown into one of North America’s largest annual celebrations of the night sky. Plan to return for the ultimate Jasper Dark Sky experience, from October 12-21, 2018 that includes: • Guided virtual tour in climate-controlled dome theatre • See the local aboriginal First Nations constellations • Tour of the most powerful telescopes in the Rockies • See recent 4K sky imagery with a new video telescope • Learn how to photograph auroras and the Milky Way • Guided tour deep space and Q&A with astronomy expert
What to Bring? (in addition to warm clothes) You’ll be simply amazed as to what you will be able to see with the naked eye, but if you have a Smart Phone or an iPad, load up a GPS-based star finder program from your App Store, and get familiar with it, before you leave home.
Your camera! Remember to take pictures of your experience!
Image-stabilized binoculars feature optics that adjust many times a second to counteract your unsteady hands, effectively transforming such devices into small telescopes without the need to pack a tripod.
