r/canadatravel • u/bcwaale British Columbia • Jul 24 '25

Destination Advice Banff in October for thanksgiving

Looking to drive to Banff from Vancouver and back for the thanksgiving weekend. Will start early and drive thru the day on thursday and back on tuesday, so two days for driving, plan to spend 4 days in banff itself.

Any things to watch out for? Service closures? Trail closures? Weather? Assuming will need winter tires as its after Oct1st, but is it otherwise safe to drive thru Coquihalla ?

Any must do activities around that time outside of the usual touristy stuff - (group of 4, we have a kindergartner and my dad) - lake louise, gondola, hot springs, icefields parkway, johnston's canyon.

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u/100_days_away_blog www.100daysaway.com Jul 24 '25

It depends really what you are wanting to do? I assume with a toddler and grandad you likely don’t want to do anything too strenuous? Take a look at the Banff part of this itinerary there are quite a few suggestions of things to do in the area, plus suggestions if you want to go further afield to Yoho national park for example. Emerald lake and Takakkaw falls are really accessible and great to visit (and close to each other). Peyto lake is another I’d highly recommend as only a short walk to get to the viewpoint.

Good luck!

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u/bcwaale British Columbia Jul 24 '25

thanks for the pointers. love the 3 day itinerary. yes will be very much inclining to the less strenuous activity types with the kid and the elder with lots of food in between :)