We've got all our main reservations made for our August trip to Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper -- air, car rental, accommodations, etc. The only unresolved issues are activities -- horseback riding at Lake Louise, the Snocoach tour on the Icefields Parkway, and river rafting and the Malign Lake cruise in Jasper. I've heard it's wise to not make reservations for these activities, due to possible rain, but I don't want them to be filled up once we arrive. Any thoughts on my dilemna? Also, any recommendations for inexpensive but good places to eat in these towns? Thanks for your help!

I don't think that you need to make reservations before you get here, but you may want to make reservations the day before (or in the morning of) each specific activity.

There are lots of Snocoach tours (every 15 minutes in summer), but you might run into the problem of tour buses arriving just before you do, which might mean waiting until they are all organized and gone on their Snocoaches.

You can make reservations and purchase tickets for Maligne Lake "cruise" after you get to Jasper; same for river rafting. The downside is that you may not get your choice of day or time of day. The "plus" is that it's easier to decide which activity you want to participate in once you are already here and you can see what the weather is like.

For more info on rafting:
http://www.discovertherockies.com/To...tures/Rafting/

For the Maligne Lake tour:
http://www.grayline.ca/tours/pages/g...neLakefrom.asp

For Lake Louise horseback riding:
http://www.banffinfo.com/whattodo/su...lakelouise.htm

i agree with the above, just make reservations a day or two before the event. one restaurant we liked in lake louise was called "the station" i think. a family one in jasper is called L&W.

We made reservations for rafting the Kicking Horse River near Golden and Field, BC, but only because we wanted to arrange in advance for transport from the Lake Louise hostel. Everything else we arranged on arrival, with no problems.

I wouldn't recommend staying at the hostel {noise issues}, but they have an excellent on-site restaurant that is very reasonable, and is open to the public.

Another place we liked was Mountainsomething ??? in downtown Jasper for delicious a.m. waffles drizzled with honey and piled high with fresh fruit and whipped cream. Yum!

Thanks for the tips and restaurant recommendations!