Banff is a resort town in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, in Alberta’s Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway.
Banff is one of Canada’s most popular tourist destinations. Known for its mountainous surroundings and hot springs, it is a destination for outdoor sports and hiking, biking, scrambling and skiing. Sunshine Village, Ski Norquay and Lake Louise Ski Resort are nearby ski resorts within the national park.
Where It Got Its Name: The area was named Banff in 1884 by George Stephen, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, recalling his birthplace near Banff, Scotland.
History Of Banff:
– Banff was first settled in the 1880s after the transcontinental railway was built through the Bow Valley.
– In 1883, three Canadian Pacific Railway workers stumbled upon a series of natural hot springs on the side of Sulphur Mountain.
– In 1885, Canada established a federal reserve of 26 km2 (10 sq mi) around the Cave and Basin hot springs and began promoting the area as an international resort and spa as a way to support the new railway.
– In 1887, the reserve area was increased to 673 km2 (260 sq mi) and named “Rocky Mountain Park”. This was the beginning of Canada’s National Park system.
– The Banff townsite was developed near the railway station as a service centre for tourists visiting the park.
– An internment camp was set up at Banff and Castle Mountain in Dominion Park from July 1915 to July 1917 mostly imprisoning Ukrainian immigrants and prisoners of the internment camp were used as slave labour to build the infrastructure of the national park.
– In 1985, the United Nations declared Banff National Park, as one of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, a World Heritage Site. Banff remains one of the most popular tourist destinations in Canada.
– In 1976, the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature officially adopted the name Banff for a crater on Mars, after the town in Alberta.
– In 1991, Banff hosted the 1991 Winter Deaflympics, the first Deaflympics hosted in Canada, and the only Deaflympics held in Canada since then.
Climate:
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Sports:
– Banff and nearby Canmore played host to the 2014 Alberta Winter Games.
– Banff also hosted the 1991 Winter Deaflympics.
– For several years there has been an annual long-distance relay run between Banff and Jasper, Alberta (formerly known as the Jasper to Banff Relay).
– Banff has a long history of hosting Team Canada hockey training camps, including Canada’s 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships team when the event was held in Alberta and the 1984 Canada Cup squad which practiced there, before the start of the tournament.
Transportation:
– In June 2008, the Banff council launched a local bus system called Roam, with three routes connecting the town, Tunnel Mountain, the Banff Springs Hotel, and the Banff Gondola. The service is operated using four hybrid Nova buses, each decorated with scenes from the National Park.
– Many bus stops along the routes have screens that tell passengers exactly how many minutes before the next two buses arrive. In December 2012, the bus system was expanded to include the hourly Route 3 service between Banff and Canmore.
– As of January 2024, Roam Transit offers 10 routes, the majority serving destinations within Banff or to national park locations nearby. In addition, Roam also offers two routes to Lake Louise, as well as a local service route within Canmore.[37]
– The railway came to Banff when the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) line from Calgary opened in 1883.[38] The current station building was opened by the CPR in 1910,[39] and was declared a heritage railway station by the Canadian federal government in 1991.[40]
– Via Rail long-distance trains no longer serve Banff, but the railway station remains in use by the Rocky Mountaineer and Royal Canadian Pacific tour trains.
– The nearest airport to Banff with major service is the Calgary International Airport in Calgary.
Health care:
– Acute health care is provided at the Banff – Mineral Springs Hospital.
Not To Mention The Beautiful Northern Lights You Can See From There
