Towering peaks, alpine meadows, sapphire lakes, dramatic waterfalls: Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, has them all. But its most singular attraction will break your heart, even as it fills you with awe.

The otherworldly Athabasca Glacier, the largest of six glaciers in the Canadian Rockies’ Columbia Icefield, is shrinking by the day, and faster all the time. Today the 2.3-square-mile ice sheet is diminishing at a rate of about 33 feet per year; since 1890, it’s receded by a mile and lost over half its volume.

If you visit Jasper, you can get up right next to it, or even join a tour that will take you out on it. You’ll be captivated, and you’ll likely find yourself feeling a new urgency about — and responsibility for — climate change. As I walked back to our car, one of hundreds in the massive parking lot, I felt a strange mix of wonder, grief and irony.

July marked our second visit to the Canadian Rockies; our first, in 2011, was spent solely in Banff National Park: Jasper’s better-known — and considerably more crowded — sibling to the south. This time we wanted to exclusively experience Jasper, and we’re glad we did. Every bit as spectacular, but with a quieter, more down-to-earth vibe, the park and namesake town within it are well worth the longer drive from Minnesota. And thanks to Canada’s sesquicentennial, we got to enjoy it free of charge (admission fees to all Canadian national parks were waived for 2017).

For variety’s sake, we altered our route there and back, stopping in Saskatoon (birthplace of Joni Mitchell and Rowdy Roddy Piper, and an unexpectedly lively and fun highlight of the drive) and Edmonton on our way there, and in Calgary and Moose Jaw heading home. Though it could be done in two days, we gave ourselves three travel days each way so that we never had to spend more than seven hours in the car.

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September 2, 2020 Coronavirus a reported $5 billion hit to Minnesota tourism industry For more than a decade, our family’s U.S. and Canadian national park trips centered on tent camping. But our younger teen requested an indoor bed this time — and given that some of the surrounding park’s best sights are just a stone’s throw from town, we opted to stay there.

Jasper doesn’t have the plethora of luxury hotels and resorts that Banff does. And the hotels it does have tend to be booked up well in advance of summer. That’s not a bad thing, from my perspective; a more memorable, comfortable, and often, less expensive way to go is to rent a home or unit via Jasper Home Accommodations (www.stayinjasper.com).

The four of us stayed in a lovely, spacious three-bedroom unit — with a back yard, grill, and a kitchenette for preparing breakfasts and lunches — for substantially less than a hotel room would have cost. Bonus: The friendly owners were often around to give us sightseeing tips. My brother, sister-in-law and niece, who drove from Northern California to meet us, camped with their dog in the gorgeous Wabasso campground, about 10 minutes away, so we were still able to get our campfire fix at night.

Speaking of that pup: One of my brother’s key observations about Canada’s national parks is that they’re strikingly dog friendly. In contrast to U.S. national parks, dogs are allowed nearly everywhere. For every mile of trail we hiked, our bouncy canine buddy conquered two — ahead and back, ahead and back, chasing butterflies and bidding us to hurry up.

An excellent introduction to Jasper is an amble around the picturesque Pyramid and Patricia Lakes area, a few short minutes from town. Given that proximity to the townsite, we found astonishingly few other tourists — but loads of wildflowers and the resident Pyramid Lake loon — on our mostly wooded four-mile loop. It’s where we learned about Parks Canada’s Red Chairs program: pairs of Adirondack chairs placed in a handful of scenic spots around various national parks. Jasper has seven sets, one at the Pyramid Lake overlook.

Another day, we attempted to hike the steep Whistler’s Mountain trail to its peak — a little over four rugged miles each way — but about three miles up, lunchtime hunger (and the fact that my brother was carrying a preschooler on his back) prompted us to turn back. Whistler’s Mountain was our alternative to seeing the popular Mount Edith Cavell, the road to which was closed that week due to a sinkhole.

The two most breathtaking places we visited share a name. The Maligne Canyon trail, a dizzying hike along and above the churning, cascading Maligne River, is a waterfall-lover’s dream. (But don’t miss the impressive Athabathsca Falls, either, a bit farther from town. Both feature deep limestone gorges and showcase the fascinating power of water.)

We saved the best for last, and lucked into a perfect sunny, 75-degree day, with our daylong trip to Maligne Lake. Armed with sandwiches from the Patricia Street Deli in Jasper, we set out on the ridiculously beautiful drive through pine forests, past jagged peaks and crystal clear lakes. We saw moose, elk and mountain goats. The trip should take an hour, but that’s not possible when you’re stopping every five miles for a calendar-quality photo.

Maligne Lake itself is world famous; its iconic Spirit Island is one of the most photographed spots on the globe. Again: while similarly legendary sites at, say, Banff or Yellowstone or Yosemite are packed with hordes of people in midsummer, Maligne Lake — the second largest glacier-fed lake on earth — was pleasantly laid back. If you’re not into big crowds, this park’s relative inaccessibility is more of a blessing than a curse.

We ate our picnic on shore and skipped a few rocks; then my husband and younger son rented a canoe at the historic boathouse while my older son and I strolled the Moose Lake and Mary Schaffer loops. All of us watched the water turn from turquoise to indigo to slate and back again as the clouds drifted and the skies constantly changed.

We missed a few things. Besides Mount Edith Cavell, we never made it out to the Miette Hot Springs — the hottest in the Canadian Rockies — which are on many Jasper visitors’ must-do lists. But we got to glimpse grizzly cubs — twice in two days (from the safety of the car, thankfully). We savored some of North America’s most jaw-dropping sights. We breathed in the intoxicating mountain air.

And as we’ve done on other such national park trips, before they’re even over, we made a pact to return.