5 Best Sights in Canada

The Jasper area's highest mountain stands 3,363 meters (11,033 feet) tall. Showing its permanently snow-clad north face to the town, the peak was named for a World War I British nurse who stayed in Belgium to treat wounded Allied soldiers after Brussels fell to the Germans and was subsequently executed for helping prisoners of war escape. The mountain is arguably the most spectacular site in the park reachable by car. From Highway 93A, a narrow, winding 14½-km (9-mile) road (often closed mid-October to late June) leads to a parking lot at the mountain's base. Trailers aren't permitted on this road, but they can be left at a separate parking lot near the junction with 93A. Several scenic lookouts along the route offer access to trails leading up the Tonquin Valley, one of the premier backpacking areas.

Castle Mountain, one of the most striking peaks between Banff and Jasper, got its name from Scottish geologist James Hector who thought the 11-km-long (7-mile-long) mountain resembled an ancient fortress with steep walls. When U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, visited Canada in 1949, Prime Minister Mackenzie King ordered the Geographical Board of Canada to officially change Castle Mountain to “Mount Eisenhower.” Eisenhower had been given a castle in Scotland and Canada would not be outdone. However, the Alberta government was not consulted or informed of the name change until afterward, causing such a controversy that in 1979, the name was changed back to Castle Mountain; a pinnacle on the southeastern side of the mountain was named Eisenhower Tower.

Stretching all the way from the southwest coast to the Northern Peninsula, a distance of about 400 km (250 miles), the Long Range Mountains form the northernmost extent of the Appalachian Mountains. Their highest point, southwest of Corner Brook, is 2,670 feet, and the range encompasses the Gros Morne National Park and several provincial parks. Jacques Cartier, who saw them in 1534 as he was exploring the area on behalf of France, noted that their shape reminded him of the long, rectangular-shaped farm buildings of his home village in France. Among the mountains, small villages are interspersed with rivers teeming with salmon and trout.

The largest and most remote of New Brunswick's nine provincial parks is a vast area of unspoiled wilderness. It is centered on Mt. Carleton, at 2,690 feet the highest point in all of the Maritimes. From its summit, you can look out over 10 million trees, and it is particularly worth the climb in the fall for the dazzling patchwork of colors below. Rich in wildlife, including moose, white-tailed deer, lynx, marten, and porcupines, the park is also a Dark Sky Preserve, so an overnight camping trip on a clear night would be well rewarded. Most people come to hike the trails or mountain bike on old logging roads, and there's canoeing on several lakes. Check out guided hikes and other park events