So many people: Banff National Park just had its busiest July on record

Banff National Park is a gem of not just Alberta but the entire globe, and so many people flocked to visit it this past July that it set an attendance record.

So if you visited the iconic mountain townsite and its surrounding beauty and felt like there were a few more people than usual, you weren’t imagining it.

According to Parks Canada, the annual visitor attendance to Banff National Park is currently on trend to return to pre-pandemic levels.

From April 1, 2022, through to August 1, 2022, Banff National Park has received 1,655,384 visitors, compared to last year between the same time frame when the park welcomed 1,425,151 visitors.

You might also like:
• A Look Inside: A new Banff house listing with wild nature views from the tub (PHOTOS)
• Portion of Banff's Johnston Canyon trail partially closed due to construction
• Banff ranked among the best places in the world to visit

In July 2022, Banff National park saw a total of 694,127 independent visitors. This is the highest July visitor attendance on record since 2013 for Banff National Park.

The uptick in attendance marks a return from impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The increase in visitation for 2021 compared to 2020 is mainly due to the resumption of operations in the 2021 season as well as fewer restrictions on international and domestic travel,” Parks Canada told Daily Hive.

“Attendance in 2021 did not reach pre-pandemic levels, however, the increase reflects Canadians’ desire to travel and include Parks Canada administered places in their itinerary.”

So, with record-high attendance being reported, it’s certainly in your best interest to head to the iconic sites (like Moraine and Lake Louise) at wildly early times if you are looking to score a parking spot there. We are talking dead of night early!

Banff National Park is Canada’s oldest national park, being established in 1885.