I have always wanted to see Jasper, Banff and Lake Louise... fascinated by the Rockies. But I am in a wheelchair. I'm pretty strong and mobile, I just can't use my legs. I haven't booked anything yet, it's still in the 'pondering' stage. I have a friend who would travel with me.

Thanks,
Tania from BC

All I hear about is hiking and white water rafting. I love scenery, photography, would be great to see some wildlife. What is there for me to see and do? How would I do at the Columbia Icefields? Would I be just as well off to take day trips to some of these places? I have family in Kelowna, BC, and I live on Vancouver Island.

Tania, I am mostly familiar with the Jasper area. Most, if not all the hotels and resorts should have accessible rooms. A few years back the government had tourism dollars to renovate rooms and one of the stipulations was that the hotels had to put in accessible rooms.
I think you will find the Icefields Centre accessible but I would contact them to see if they provide accessible busses up to the icefields. The one I went on a couple of years ago did not seem to be and the surface on the icefield was quite slippery.
There is a wheelchair suitable trail at Pyramid Lake across to a small island which has good chances for scenic photography and elk and deer are common sightings.
Also, from the highway, there are many opportunities to see wildlife and take pictures without straying far from your car.

The Johnston Canyon trail is wheelchair accessible to the lower falls. The Lakeshore Trail at Lake Louise is also wheelchair accessible. Both of these are very popular walks with lots of beautiful scenery.

A book called "Walks and Easy Hikes in the Canadian Rockies" by Graeme Pole lists wheelchair-accessible paths.

The trail from the parking lot to the Peyto Lake viewpoint is paved, but it is not what I would call flat. If you had someone strong to push, I still think the uphill / downhill part would be formidable.

The viewing area for Lake Louise is paved. If you could drive up to the point where tour buses disgorge their occupants, I think you could get into a good viewing position.

If you go to Johnston Canyon, go early to get a parking place. That lot fills up quickly and RVs circle the lot looking for a place to park like vultures.

contact the national parks - i'm sure they'll have some information for you.

I visited the Parks Canada web site and did a search on wheel chair accessible and wheel chair accessible trails.

Not much turned up. Kootenay NP was the only one that specifically listed trails as being wheel chair accessible.

The Icefields Center has a long approach ramp with 4% to 5% grades. There were quite a few trails that said "Wheelchair visitors will need assistance." I don't call a trail with 15% grades "accessible" regardless of the presence of a paved trail.

Sounds to me like an unfriendly situation for wheel-chair visitors.

I do know from personal experience that a paved trail leads to viewing areas of Takkakaw falls and that the parking lost is relatively flat.

Kootenay seems to be the park with a couple of trails that are specifically said to be wheel-chair accessible.