Fodor's Expert Review Banff Park Museum National Historic Site

A remarkable 1903 building made chiefly of Douglas-fir log houses one of western Canada’s oldest natural history museums. From bees to bears, the collection, whose origins date to Chicago's fabled World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, encompasses more than 5,000 historical botanical and zoological specimens, many of them quite striking. In addition to providing the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of Banff's largest mammals—a grizzly bear, bison, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep among them—this unique museum offers a window into past generations' priorities regarding the natural world.