We are planning to spend May 8 - 15 in the Canmore/Banff/Jasper area. We will spend the first night at a B&B in Canmore, drive up the Icefield Parkway to Jasper where we will spend 3 nights at another B&B, then return to Canmore for another 3 nights before flying out of Calgary.

The information I have read in this forum has been extremely helpful. I just wish I had read about the lakes still being frozen in May before I made the plane reservations!! Oh well. Hopefully there will still be lots of beautiful scenery to see even though we are coming so early in the season.

In all the messages I have read, I have never seen any concerning bears until I just logged on this evening to ask MY question about bears and saw the message that "Wilees" posted. Since our situation is a little different, I'll still ask....

When we were in Alaska 2 years ago we saw several signs near hiking trails (and even in Anchorage and Juneau) that said something like: "CAUTION!! Bear to people encounters have been more numerous than usual this year." Although we had been excited to see bears from our bus in Denali, we were NOT interested in seeing bears up-close on foot, so we did all of our sightseeing from the safety of our car.

My questions are...Are we over-reacting to assume that we'll need to do the same thing in the Rockies? Are there any places where we can take short hikes and be sure we won't run into a bear (like the short hikes to various viewpoints off the Parkway)??? The trail around Lake Louise?? (We've read the literature concerning bears that the Park system sent us, and we're still chicken!!)

Since some of the passes and roads to recommended sights will still be closed when we are there, and we aren't interestd in "backcountry" hiking, we won't be able to take advantage of many of the suggested "things to do and see" that I've read about in the various forum messages and related websites. Other than the Banff Gondola, the Jasper Tramway, the Columbia Icefield Glacier Experience, and the various viewpoints that we'll stop at as we drive up and down the Parkway, are there any "must see" places that will be accessible by car (or bear-free trails) at this time of year?

Thanks to everyone who has posted so much useful info on this site (especially Judy!!) I have been wanting to visit the Canadian Rockies for the past 13 years, and I'm so excited that we're finally going to do it!!

I have lived in Calgary for over 40 years and therefore have spent quite a bit of time in the Rockies. During all those visits I've seen a black bear once. Parks Canada will post warnings and close trails IF there is a bear causing problems.

been to banff and jasper probably 100 times - i've only seen a bear once or twice as they ran away into the bush.

Family has lived in Rockies for 30 years-one bear siting and that was benign. Also, I am not sure which lakes still have ice in May?

Don't forget Emerald Lake, and the Spiral Tunnel viewpoint. And in Jasper, Maligne Canyon and its trail. And Johnston Canyon is supposed to a great place to go - we haven't made it yet, but hope to get there this year.

Thanks for all the feedback. Does anyone know if Maligne Lake should be thawed by May 10th or 11th?

Re Bears: May is the season for bears...they are down low because of snow at higher elevations. Obey the signs, make some noise on the trail...I often carry a whistle which I blow once in awhile. I have never encountered a bear while hiking but I have had numerous bear sightings along the highways...usually because they want the dandelions!!

New retiree suggested some good, accessable hiking and the Parks offices in both locations will have good maps and up to date bear information. I highly recommend Emerald Lake/Twin Falls/Yoho area...stunning scenery. If your budget allows for a night at Emerald Lake Lodge I would try and fit that in.

Maligne lake is up reasonably high so there may still be some ice on it.

Enjoy your visit to the Candain Rockies

We have seen bears several times in the Rockies but far more often in Saskatchewan! Keen is right - May is bear season.

We have had some interesting bear encounters - on our honeymoon in BC (Bowron Lake) - people camping next to us got mauled. But they did have food in their tent - a huge mistake. There was a story about it in Reader's Digest several years ago. That same trip a bear was up in a tree right over our little log cabin and would not come down! We love seeing bears and look for them at every opportunity. It is true that they are far more afraid of us than we are of them, nearly 100% of the time.

The Rockies are gorgeous - you will love your trip.

Will the road between Lake Louise and Field be open the 2nd week in May? Are the areas that have been suggested in the Yoho area accessible then?

Thanks, again, for all the good info.

The road from Lake Louise to Field is the Trans Canada Highway. If it is not open, it will make national news!

It was closed once when an avalanche overran the barriers and knocked tons of rock, trees, and other debris onto the highway.

I doubt if the road to Takkakaw Falls will be open. It has a very steep stretch where you go up three switch backs that are so tight that buses back up or down the middle section.

I wanted to update this posting in case anyone else plans to go to the Rockies next spring and has the same questions.

We had PLENTY to do during our week spent in the Canmore to Jasper area without doing any hiking. There were not many cars on the Icefields Parkway OR the sideroads in the parks. Therefore, we saw a good bit of wildlife from the safety of our car - including a black bear along the road right outside the Jasper city limits and one along the Icefields Parkway north of Lake Louise. We saw several elk, lots of bighorn sheep, mule deer, various types of cute rodents, and beautiful birds that we don't see in West Virginia.

Going the 2nd week in May had its advantages and disadvantages. Being able to drive slowly and watch for wildlife (and not having them "spooked" by a lot of traffic) was definitely a plus. Also, the mountains still were snow-capped. We were able to take advantage of the "off season" rates at the bed and breakfasts that we stayed at, too.

The main disadvantage was that some of the more popular "tourist sites" were still frozen or inaccessible because of snow covered roads. Lake Louise and Maligne Lakes were still frozen. The roads to Peyto Lake, Moraine Lake and Edith Cavell were still not open. However, there were several lakes that weren't frozen and that were a beautiful turquoise. Pyramid Lake outside of Jasper was gorgeous (my husband and I were the only ones on the little island in the lake, and sitting on the bench in absolute silence looking out at the turquoise water, snow-capped mountains and pine forest was definitely a highlight of the trip)and Lake Annette outside of Banff was also a beautiful turquoise shade. Medicine Lake (near Maligne Lake outside of Jasper) was just starting to fill up, so it wasn't very pretty, but it WAS very interesting to see what the area looks like WITHOUT water.

We spent one day driving up the Icefields Parkway - stopping at a couple of the viewpoints, but spending about 4 hours at the Icefield Center and taking the Sno Coach out onto the glacier. It took us a full day driving back south along the Parkway, too, because we stopped at Athabasca Falls, Sumwapta Falls, and most of the viewpoints that we missed on our trip north.

We had 2 full days in Jasper. The first day we spent several hours going up the tramway and visiting Patricia and Pyramid Lakes to the northwest of Jasper. The second day we spent several hours driving along the Maligne Canyon to the east of Jasper - stopping at Medicine and Maligne Lakes, and stopping at some of the scenic areas. We saw gorgeous scenery and some wildlife, all from our car or by walking just a few feet from our car.

We spent 2 full days in Banff, too. During that time we drove along the Minnewanka Lake Loop (including Two Jack and Johnson (I think) Lakes) where we saw some wildlife. We also went up Tunnel Mountain Drive, Norquay Road, visited Vermillion Lakes, drove along the golf course at the Banff Springs Hotel and went to the Cave and Basin Historic Site. (Hope I got all those spellings right!!)

Another good thing about going in the early part of May - there were no mosquitoes!!!

All in all I'm pleased that we went in May. If we go back again sometime, I'd like to go during the fall when, like in May, it's not very crowded and the accommodations are less expensive, but we would be able to go to the places that were still frozen and/or snowed in during May. We didn't even try to go into any of the parks in BC because it seemed like we wouldn't have been able to go to many of the interesting places at that time of the year. I'm sure that would be worth going back for!!

Thanks, again, to everyone who posted info about the area on this forum. The info you shared helped us plan our trip, and it was a great experience. The Canadian Rockies are majestic and awesome!!! What a blessing it was to spend time in the midst of God's beautiful creation!

I am so very pleased you filled us in on with a trip report-they are very common on the Europe Forum here on Fodor's, less so on Canada. That is a shame because they are so very helpful...even though my family lives in BC, living on the "other" coast myself, I tend NOT to think of it as a vacation destination. You are making me think again...