The Rocky Mountains are fraction of the Continental Divide that runs like a bony spine through North America. The range extends for 3,220 kilometres, from New Mexico into Canada.

On the edge of the Canadian prairies, the trip from Calgary up the Bow River valley and into the immensity of the Canadian Rockies is one of spectacular and gorgeous geological transition.

Much of this drive is along expressways, so it is barely a back road. The Rockies rise up completely grown from the prairies. One minute you are in ranch country, the next you are inside a narrow mountain valley enclosed by 920-metre peaks.

The town of Banff is a magnificently scenic mountain town that is also one of the most cosmopolitan small communities in North America. Banff is the most admired destination in Canada for foreign guests.

You will find first-class hotels and dining, as well as the hiking, climbing, fishing, and rafting that you would expect in the Rockies. Lake Louise and its smaller cousin, Moraine Lake, are both extremely stunning spots: eerily green lakes nestled in a glacial basin straightly below the peaks of the Continental Divide.