Trip Report: Western Canada Road Trip Day 6 – Maligne Canyon and Spirit Island

Thursday August 20, 2015

Today’s agenda involved a trip to Maligne Canyon. We spent the morning hiking around the canyon to various viewpoints. We made it through the top 4 bridges. To be honest, I think I liked Johnston Canyon more, though the scenery was similar between the two.

We had an early lunch at the View Restaurant, right on the lake. The restaurant provides quick service meals, almost like a cafeteria, and is famous for their pies. Dining like this is appealing when you’re traveling with kids – everyone can find something that they like. There is lots of seating at the restaurant, but we were still lucky to be served before some of the tour bus groups started to pour in and clog the restaurant up.

We needed to be on our way on time, because for our afternoon activity, we had booked spots on the Family Explorers cruise on Maligne Lake to Spirit Island. The Island – which is a peninsula for most of the year, rather than a true island – is nonetheless one of the most picturesque spots in all of Jasper National Park. There are cruises to the Island regularly, however, the special Family Explorers cruises allot some extra time to the trip and incorporate some activities for kids – namely some interaction with a guide while on board the boat, and a scavenger hunt once you reach your destination.

The cruise was good fun and the destination really was spectacularly beautiful, so it was well worth the trip.

Before calling it a day, we made a stop at Lake Annette before heading back to our bungalow. The water was warmer than any other water we’d encountered in the mountains, as it is not glacier-fed, but still too cold for a real swim.

But right next to Lake Annette there is a pit full of quicksand, and that was the real attraction. None of us were brave enough to jump the fence, but we had a good time pretending.

Leaving the lake, we swung through the grounds of the Jasper Park Lodge, another stunning Fairmont property. On those grounds, we found several more elk. We left the hotel, picked up some pizza in town, and took it back to the cabin. We ate our dinner and then spent some time rock hopping down on the riverbank before calling it a day.