My husband and I will be going to banff/jasper/lake louise in september. We've never been and in researching, I noticed a lot of companies have various white water tours, helicopter/heli-hiking tours, hummer tours, extreme ATV tours, hiking tours, etc.

We are in our 30's and active so if there are things we can do on our own, we would prefer it (i.e. like hiking). But, some of these things sounds cool and we clearly need expert help. There are a lot of companies (Hydra River Guides, Banff Adventures, Wild Cave Tours, Kootenay River Runners, Toby Creek Adventures, etc.)

Any suggestions, recommendations, ones to avoid, etc. would be very helpful and very appreicated.

Thanks.

Weather can be quite different during September in Banff & Jasper. I have expierence with sun, heavy rain and snow during that time of the year.

I recommend, that you deceide about your activity, when you arrive, as no-one can say now, which weather you will have. The wildwater tours are mostly very calm during September, as several rivers had low water during September within the last years. The companies deceide on the actual weather, if they offer a tour or not.

I can recommend a guided riding tour in Jasper in case of sun-shine. You can reach (3 hours or more) on a longer tour nice viewpoints.

Hiking is always a good activity. Be prepared to closed hiking trails on higher elevations caused by the snow in September, but there are several alternatives on lower elevations.

All the other tours (ATV, Hummer, heli hiking) are activties outside the protected park boundry. They are not allowed inside the national park.

whitewater rafting in september would be a disappointment but if you want a float trip, go on the kicking horse out of golden, bc. they will pick you up in banff.
for a nice "stroll", the walk from banff townsite to the bow falls is good. one side of the river you can enjoy looking at some very nice homes - the other side is more woodsey.
a hike up to the tea house at lake louise is great. several hours.
i'd suggest going to the park office once you are there and have them make suggestions based on the current weather.
at sulpher mountain in banff, you can take the gondola up the mountain and then hike down. that's good. then relax in the hot springs at the bottom.

if you like mexican food and good margarittas, i recommend magpie & stumps for dinner.

In the countless number of times I have been to the Canadian Rockies, I have never taken any sort of guided tour or expedition. This isn't to say that they aren't excellent - but there are lots of other things to do to keep you busy!

September is an excellent time to go. It will be less busy than the summer, and you should still have nice weather. How long will you be in the area? A week is easily filled simply by seeing Lake Louise and Banff and driving to Jasper. If you are staying longer, you might want to look into longer hikes (which you can do yourself), or, if your budget allows, one of these adventure excursions.