The country’s most popular national park is expected to welcome a record number of visitors this year after reaching a new peak in 2023, say Parks Canada officials. While those officials say they’re working towards mitigating the rising human impacts on the mountain jewel, conservationists fear not enough is being done. “We’ve been concerned about the degradation and fragmentation (of wildlife habitat) and it’s what you’re seeing in Banff National Park,” said Chloe Hahn, conservation coordinator with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s (CPAWS) southern Alberta chapter.
In 2023-24, the park welcomed 4.288 million people, an increase over the 4.181 million visitors recorded in 2017-18.
In 2010, about 499,000 people visited the park in the peak month of August, a number that’s since climbed by more than a third. Canada’s next-busiest national park is Jasper, which in 2022-23 saw 2.4 million visitors.
“We saw a record-breaking May, June and July (last year in Banff) and we expect it to increase this summer,” said Daniella Rubeling, visitor experience manager for Parks Canada. “Commercial and international visitation is rebounding and with still strong regional visitation, we expect to see that.” Though cold, sometimes even snowy, conditions reduced potential traffic in the park over the May long weekend, campgrounds and attractions were still busy, setting the tone for the coming peak season, she said.
In response to the swelling crowds, Parks .