Jasper Overview For Group Travelers

Jasper Group Attractions

There are plenty of things to do and places to see for groups traveling to Jasper. Explore top attractions our experts recommend. Visit Jasper-Yellowhead Museum & Archives. Check out Maligne Lake. Don't miss Wilcox Pass. Click here to start planning your trip now.

Things To Do for Groups in Jasper

Book group trip activities before you go. Select from our handpicked tours and experiences for groups traveling to Jasper. Find everything from day trips to tours to concerts and shows to outdoor activities to discount attraction cards-and more. We can help your group find and book the best group activities. In Jasper, try Maligne Valley and Wildlife Tour, Rocky Mountains Tour: Jasper to Banff, or GyPSy Guide from Jasper. Explore other group activities and tours available in Jasper here.


About Jasper

Jasper is a mountain resort with fine bars, restaurants, hotels, and ski slopes. But the real star here is the huge, surrounding national park, with its spectacular canyons, peaks, glaciers, and wildlife, and seemingly limitless opportunities for outdoor adventure.

Jasper Districts

Jasper National Park forms the northernmost component of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks system, and is the largest, wildest, and most forbidding of all the parks. With spectacularly jagged mountains, unusual geological formations, and a history of adventure and conflict, it is the wild sister of its sibling, Banff. While Banff has been recognized as an international luxury destination for over a century, Jasper has been known for its harsh terrain, strange landforms, and abundant wildlife.

The townsite of Jasper, in a valley carved by the Athabasca River, is located at the junction of the Icefield Parkway and Yellowhead Highway, and huddles against the eastern face of the Princess Lakes Bench and Pyramid Mountain. Only about 1,000 people call this town home all year long, but during the winter ski season and in the summer the population swells to 10 or 15 times its normal size, with visitors from around the world. Most of them come seeking the isolation and spectacular scenery that has made Jasper famous, as well as the exceptional wildlife viewing opportunities.

Jasper History

The first people to settle here were Native Americans, who wandered into the valley at the end of the last Ice Age. Hunting bighorn sheep, deer, and elk, they found that the sheltered mountain valleys had a slightly milder climate than the dry and windswept prairies.

The Sarcee tribe became well established in the Jasper Valley, and for several thousand years was influential in controlling trade between the plains nations and the mountain tribes. With the arrival of Europeans in North America, however, came a smallpox epidemic that devastated the indigenous people, killing almost 50 percent of the population. In addition, displaced natives, particularly the Iroquois from eastern Canada, moved west ahead of the white settlers, and began to take over the Sarcee's territory. The Iroquois had horses and guns acquired from white traders, and soon wrested control of the eastern Rockies from the existing native tribes.

The first European known to have visited the present Jasper townsite was David Thompson, one of Canada's most famous explorers. A post would be established near here in 1824, an offshoot of Rocky Mountain House, which, in 1817, had been dubbed Jasper House after the trader in charge at the time, one Jasper Hawes.

Jasper National Park was created in 1886, just after Banff National Park (some 290 kilometers to the south) had been recognized as Canada’s first. Visitors began to trickle in, but Jasper National Park never saw the flood of tourists that inundated Banff, which saw the railroad come through in 1883, two decades before it reached Jasper. In 1913, a rail line was finally constructed from Edmonton to the Jasper townsite. The community thrived on railway traffic for a time, but most of the tracks were torn up and shipped to Europe as part of the war effort in 1917. The railway was eventually rebuilt, but was never a huge commercial success.

Marmot Basin Ski Area was built in 1966, and soon became popular for its huge, uncrowded alpine bowls and short lift lines. International travelers began to choose Jasper over Banff because of its less formal atmosphere and easily accessible wilderness. While Banff may appear more spectacular, with dark, foreboding forests and sheer mountainsides, Jasper offers open parkland, airy pine forests, and huge but accessible mountains.

Jasper Entertainment

Outdoor activities abound in and around Jasper. In the summer you can hike the trails around town, or rent a mountain bike to explore some of the longer trails. If you want to get a little farther from civilization, horse pack trips can take you to chalets dozens of kilometers back into the mountains. In the winter you can downhill ski or snowboard at the Marmot Basin Ski Area, or strap on a pair of cross country skis and go gliding through the forested trails around Pyramid Lake.

Shopping is one area where Jasper reigns supreme. Whether you are looking for an original mountainscape watercolour, elk antler chandelier, or new set of downhill skis, chances are you will find it somewhere in downtown Jasper.

If you don’t want to venture out of doors but still want to get a little exercise, the Jasper Activity Centre has a full-sized pool, sauna, and a hot tub for relaxing stiff muscles. If the hot tub is not quite warm enough for you, then a visit to the Miette Hotsprings might be in order.

Wildlife viewing is popular in the summer and winter in many parts of the park. Along the Yellowhead Highway to the east of Jasper, there is a set of limestone cliffs that almost always has a herd of bighorn sheep grazing upon it. Elk can be seen almost everywhere in the park, with one herd living around, and frequently inside, the town itself.

Jasper Dining and Drinking

Jasper is well known as an international resort destination offering cuisine from around the globe. The boisterous ski town serves legions of thirsty skiers with ferocious appetites for food and drink. Most of the independent restaurants can be found on Patricia Street or Connaught Drive in the heart of downtown. Any self-respecting Alberta restaurant has steak on its menu. Albertans are very proud of their beef and manage to integrate it into almost every meal and dish. While steak is the backbone of most menus, you can usually find some more exotic dishes as well. Buffalo, caribou, and elk are often featured and provide a flavorful alternative to beefsteak. Other common entrees include British Columbian salmon, halibut, and shrimp, along with locally raised duck and goose.

Where To Stay in Jasper

Jasper is a tiny town with a disproportionately large number of hotels. Every second building seems to host accommodations of some type, and you should have no problem finding a room to suit your taste and budget. However, keep in mind that the town is often booked solid during summer, long weekends, and the winter holiday season. Advance reservations are a necessity.

Jasper is one of the nicest small towns you could ever hope to visit. Hotels can be found on the main streets, in the residential areas, at the ski hill, and even alongside lakes in the middle of the wilderness. Jasper National Park, which surrounds the town, has a number of hostels for the more adventurous traveler, and for the truly rustic, the park has cabins with no running water or electricity. Should you feel like getting even closer to nature, there are government and privately operated campgrounds surrounding the town and scattered throughout the park. If you are planning on camping, visit the park's Information Centre and inquire about the current campground conditions before you set off.

The undisputed star of the Jasper hotel scene is the luxurious Jasper Park Lodge, built in the mid 1900s. Located across the Athabasca River from Jasper and nestled among a chain of small lakes, it is famous for its winter ice-skating and elaborate network of hiking and cross-country ski trails. Although it is only a ten-minute drive from downtown Jasper, the deep silence of the forest makes you feel like you are thousands of miles from civilization. Content Provided by WCities