Jasper National Park Tour: Maligne Valley, Medicine Lake and Spirit Island

After pickup from your Jasper hotel, you’ll travel by comfortable coach with an experienced local guide into Jasper National Park. You’ll stop first at Maligne Canyon where a short walk takes you across two bridges over a 165 foot (50m) deep gorge that has been carved into the limestone. Catch great views of the waterfalls spilling into the canyon below as you explore the area with your guide, who will share information about the geology and wildlife in the area.

After checking out Maligne Canyon, you’ll continue to drive to Medicine Lake, taking a gorgeous road that winds through a dramatic mountain and forest landscape. Medicine Lake is famous for ‘vanishing’ every summer, the result of an extensive underground karst system — one of the largest in the world.

From Medicine Lake you’ll follow the road to gorgeous Maligne Lake where you’ll have a choice of a boat cruise to Spirit Island or a 2-mile (3.2km) guided hike on an easy and level trail.

If you choose the hiking option, you’ll follow your guide on the Mary Schaffer Loop trail, which skirts the shore of Maligne Lake to a beautiful viewpoint with interpretive displays and benches before continuing into the trees and back to your starting point.

If you take the boat cruise, you’ll board a comfortable enclosed boat with large windows for a scenic tour on Maligne Lake. Your boat will stop at Spirit Island, a small gem in the lake, where you’ll have time for photos and a short stroll.

Throughout the day, your guide will explain the natural and human history of the area and will keep an eye out for the abundant wildlife that lives here. Sightings may include bear, deer, caribou, wolves, moose, bighorn sheep, bald eagles and osprey, among the many animals of Jasper National Park.

At the end of your tour, you will be returned to your Jasper hotel.