The busy tourist season is officially in full swing in Banff National Park.
The Victoria Day weekend – the official kickoff to tourist season in Banff National Park – was a busy one throughout the tourist town and surrounding park. Campgrounds were full, sidewalks were packed, ‘bear jams’ were plentiful and traffic was heavy.
On Sunday, there was a May long weekend record 31,600 vehicles moving in and out of the tourist town. That doesn’t count cars already in town. For about an hour that day, traffic was backed up at both entrances to Banff.
The longest traffic delay was about 30 minutes northbound as vehicles travelled from tourist hotspots on Sulphur Mountain to downtown Banff – a delay officials say is better than the hour-plus delays of a couple of years ago.
“There’s no doubt about it, this was an incredibly busy weekend and has showed us what the summer may look like,” said Mayor Karen Sorensen, noting Saturday and Monday were well above the congestion threshold of 24,000 vehicles per day.
“From a traffic flow perspective, I believe the traffic was managed well within town limits. I’m optimistic having watched this weekend that we have some great traffic flow management and transit solutions in place that appear to be working.”
Parks Canada, meanwhile, is bracing for a busy year, expecting to see a massive jump in the number of visitors given park passes are free as a way of celebrating Canada’s 150th.
Staff reported there were no serious human-wildlife conflicts or serious violations of campground rules, although there was one eviction, illegal camping, and charges laid against people who ignored the mandatory overnight closure of the Bow Valley Parkway.
There were countless roadside ‘wildlife jams’ – where tourists stop to take photos of bears and other wildlife, often times foolishly getting out of their vehicles and approaching animals.
Parks Canada has two teams of two wildlife guardians roaming the park, including Bow Valley Parkway and Minnewanka loop, to prevent this and educate tourists about the dangers.
In addition, Parks has hired and trained more on-the-ground staff to talk to visitors at high use areas, including campgrounds and day use areas, and hired overnight private campground security to identify wildlife attractants.
There’s also an increased number of law enforcement personnel in the Banff field unit, now eight, compared to seven last year and five the year before.
Greg Danchuk, Parks Canada’s visitor experience manager, said there were “very few” incidents throughout the weekend, noting the 1,200-site Tunnel Mountain campground and 75-site Two Jack Lakeside were completely full.
“There were no major incidents,” he said.
The federal agency has also launched a new campaign to inform visitors about the behaviour needed in natural spaces to keep both visitors and animals, such as wolves and bears, safe.
Last year was a tough year for wildlife, with Parks Canada forced to shoot and kill two wolves, including the Alpha female of a pack in the Bow Valley, after they got into human food and became bold.
Danchuk said the new campaign includes posters and information cards, made up of images and simple language such as “human food kills wildlife” and “give wildlife space.”
“It’s a much more clear and direct communication strategy,” he said.
Kim Titchener, president of Bear Safety & More, came across a woman feeding an elk apples at the soccer field by Banff Springs Hotel.
“I saw a lady throwing something at the elk, then I realized it was food so I pulled over, walked over and saw apples on the ground,” she said, noting the woman told her she was feeding elk apples because she does it back home on the farm.
“I told her you don’t have to feed wildlife and you’re not supposed to in a national park and she had no idea it was illegal.”
Titchener said this recent incident speaks to the larger issue of respecting and keeping wildlife safe in a national park, noting Parks Canada does not have enough staff to deal with all the issues coming up.
She said everyone is “super scared” about the fate of wildlife with the increased visitation and said residents and visitors need to help be the eyes and ears too – and report to Parks Canada.
“We all need to help make sure people are experiencing nature in a safe and respectful way,” said Titchener.
“If you are going to be in the parks, keep an eye out for this stuff. Please document everything you see, take pictures of licence plates and pictures of the incidents. This is all very helpful evidence.”
Meanwhile, Roam public transit reported bus delays of between 15 and 30 minutes at various times over the long weekend, including on the regional route between Banff and Canmore and local routes in Banff.
The holiday weekend was also the kickoff for a new Roam service on Lake Minnewanka loop, as well as a bus service run by Parks Canada. Parks also offered a new Banff-Lake Louise service.
There were 2,800 riders on the Lake Louise shuttle from overflow parking on TCH and village to Upper Lake Louise start of day Friday to Monday, while the new Banff-Lake Louise shuttle had 377 people in total.
Martin Bean, chief administrative officer of Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission, said there were 900 riders from Friday through Monday on the new Roam route to Minnewanka.
“It’s a great start to a new service and a lot of it is a matter of awareness that the service is there and operating,” said Bean.
“As with every service, once people learn about it and determine it’s easier than trying to find a parking spot, ridership increases.”
