Traffic between Banff and Jasper is a symptom of a larger problem | Canada Voices

David Venn is an editor for Nunatsiaq News and a contributing editor to the Literary Review of Canada.

Having felt like I’ve slipped through Death’s wiry fingers more than once, I’ve begun to review the safety pamphlets supplied by airlines. Often, I watch the flight attendants’ pre-departure demonstration in both languages – and I don’t even speak French. It’s in this same spirit that I recently read Parks Canada’s pamphlets on how to properly drive through the Rocky Mountains.

I was curious to learn what the organization recommended, particularly after I witnessed some poor decision-making on the Icefields Parkway.

This summer marked my first trip to Jasper and Banff, as well as the first time I saw a procession of cars, trucks and campers pulled over, hazards blinking out of sync, so their passengers could watch mammals graze nearby. I initially thought my girlfriend and I, who are travelling the country in a 1988 Dodge B250 campervan, happened upon the aftermath of some terrible accident.

But no. There was a black bear in one instance and a deer in the other. Then a moose. For the most part, they foraged just beyond the road, save for the bull, who appeared bothered by the cluster of metal that had surrounded him.

At times, cars weren’t pulled over entirely in the shoulder; occupants disembarked; drivers merged when right behind them drove a creaky old van, whose brakes work well but nonetheless will celebrate their 40th birthday soon. The Icefields Parkway became reminiscent of a Costco parking lot.

I get that deer are adorable and moose are magnificent, I wanted to tell my fellow tourists – but remember, we are on a highway, one that can be trying in the best of conditions.

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As I often do when I watch a terrible movie, I went online to validate my observations. I could find no publicly available statistics for car crashes on the remote highway, let alone accidents caused by bear-spotters. Though, how could anyone possibly track the close calls, the hair lost, the blood pressure raised, the curses shouted?

Although plenty of the gripes I found concerned sketchy overtaking and distracted drivers, a few anonymous Redditors seemed to agree with me. One mentioned how “reckless” some wildlife watchers can be, while another said that sightseers “clogging up” Rocky Mountain highways pose a big dilemma. Perhaps the best and simplest explanation for why this happens so frequently, however, comes from one poster who attributed it to the region’s increase in popularity. “Twice as many bozos,” they wrote.

According to annual reports, in 2025, Banff National Park saw a 7.14-per-cent, year-over-year increase in visitors, from 4.2 million to a record 4.5 million. That same year, Jasper National Park welcomed 2.13 million visitors, about 350,000 shy of its all-time high in 2023, when it hosted 20 per cent more tourists than it had a decade earlier.

Unsafe driving is but a symptom of a larger problem.

This year, Parks Canada finished its final round of public engagement for how to stop Banff from becoming even more overcrowded. It received nearly 1,700 responses across three surveys that address congestion, transportation, wildlife protections and education in Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and Paradise Valley.

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Potential solutions include visitor caps, expanding parking lots and preferential access for locals, but, really, the work has already begun.

Going to Lake Louise now is like going to an airport and, in 2023, Parks Canada closed off Moraine Lake to personal vehicles. This spring, it banned personal watercraft there. (On a recent trip, I spent $75 for a shuttle run by a private company and noted that canoe rentals go for $160 an hour. Such is the price of preservation.)

A visitor management plan for Jasper was put on hold after the 2024 wildfires but has since resumed. It will look at Maligne Canyon, Lakes Annette and Edith and Old Fort Point, among other attractions. By this winter, Parks Canada expects to finalize its strategy.

Until then, at least for viewing wildlife, the federal agency’s instructions are clear: observe, take photographs (from your vehicle) and leave quickly – or immediately, if a traffic jam starts.

Since my girlfriend and I are two of the however many millions of people who will vacation in the area this year, I suppose I’m part of the problem. I’m also certainly not a perfect driver, and I did join the procession a few times to glimpse animals I had hardly ever seen.

Just consider this a plea from one adventurer to the next: Get those hazards on if you have them, pull a bit further over to the right, stay in your vehicle and look over your shoulder before getting back on the road.