Plenty of places slap the words "winter wonderland" on their marketing. Jasper, a small town in Alberta's corner of the Canadian Rockies, has the frozen lakes, groomed trails and snow-loaded peaks to make the label stick. It sits in Jasper National Park, the largest of the Canadian Rockies parks, and once the snow settles over the Athabasca Valley the whole area turns into a playground for skaters, skiers and snowshoers.
The easiest way in is through the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, a lakeside property on 700 acres at Lac Beauvert that traces its roots back to the early 1900s, when the railway first reached town. It started as a cluster of canvas tents and is now a collection of timber cabins and suites, recently refreshed with blue-and-green forest-inspired interiors, carved wood details and wood-burning fireplaces — plus a pillow menu if that's your thing.
What sets the lodge apart is how much winter you can access without getting in the car. Lake Mildred freezes into a 0.6-mile skating loop with a maintained rink for pick-up hockey nearby. The property grooms 16 miles of Nordic trails across the snow-covered golf course, and a 1.9-mile loop around Lac Beauvert is a favourite family snowshoe route. Guests don't even need to pack gear: the on-site Embark Outpost & Provisions rents skates, cross-country skis, snowshoes and toboggans for free.
Downhill skiers get looked after too. A shuttle runs to Marmot Basin, a 1,720-acre ski area with 91 runs funnelling into one base — easy to navigate, and thanks to Jasper's remoteness, refreshingly light on lift lines. The hotel's adventure concierge sorts lift tickets and rentals, and a ski concierge stores your gear. Afterwards, options range from an outdoor heated pool to the Glacial Plunge & Sauna, an hour-long guided session alternating barrel sauna time with dips in Lac Beauvert.
For something different, SunDog Tours runs an icewalk into Pleckaitis Canyon, picking up at the lodge. With ice cleats and a helmet you walk the frozen canyon floor past ice floes and towering icicles, part of the UNESCO-listed Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks. The tour also stops at Medicine Lake.
Jasper leans hard into the festive season, too. The town string lights and runs a Christmas artisan market and a Holiday Mug Trail through November and December, while the lodge's long-running Christmas in November event brings in Food Network chefs for cooking masterclasses, tastings and evening parties ending in a black-tie ball. Over Christmas and New Year's there's cookie-decorating, Santa's Cabin, a pop-up Christmas lounge and a lakeside ice bar.
If you want a winter trip that mixes low-effort adventure — skate, ski, sled — with a proper resort base and fewer crowds than Banff's big-name hills, Jasper earns its place on the list. Credit: Matador Network.
