Vermilion Lakes

Vermilion Lakes is a cluster of three lakes close to Banff townsite. Vermilion Lakes Drive follows the water for 4.3 kilometres and is a year-round scenic route. It works as a brief stop, but the better visit is to slow down for a few lakeside pauses. Use the drive's lakeside access for the docks and panels; the Trans-Canada Highway viewpoint is a separate pullout. Parking near First Vermilion Lake is limited. Nearby Fenland day-use area has its own parking and picnic tables.

Small docks and benches bring you to the lakeshore, with Mount Rundle as the main landmark across the water. Self-guided panels cover the area's geology, wetland ecology and human presence. The drive is also part of the 26-kilometre Banff Legacy Trail, so it makes sense as a bike stop as well as a scenic detour.

These lakes sit among wetlands, channels and marshy shoreline. Muskrats, geese and other birdlife use the area, so give the water's edge a look as well as the peaks. Wildlife sightings are a bonus, not a schedule; the scenery is the reliable reason to stop.

The Vermilion Lakes archaeological site preserves a much longer record than the road suggests. Researchers identified six or more separate cultural layers dating roughly from 10,500 to 9,500 years ago. The evidence points to a possible focus on sheep hunting and shelters or windbreaks around 10,300 years ago. Debris flows helped separate and preserve those layers.

From a dock, put Mount Rundle above the lake and leave some of the wetland shoreline in the foreground. A still surface can reflect the mountain, but wind and ice change the water, so treat a mirror reflection as a lucky extra.