Jasper to Banff Bike Tours

Offering you the most scenic road bike tour through the Rocky Mountains of Alberta Canada.

Offering 4 day and Custom Tours

Our most popular bike tour covers this route over 4 days giving you a great balance of riding sightseeing and relaxing.

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Transfers from Edmonton to Jasper Included

We’ll provide transfers for you and your bike from Edmonton to Jasper, as well as transport your luggage while you ride.

Fully Supported Bike Tour

We also set up rest stops with food and beverages to keep you nourished and hydrated, organize your accommodations, and be just around the corner if you need a ride in the support van at any time.

Our Bike Tours and Covid19

Updated January 2023

As the situation around COVID-19 continues to evolve, I wanted to let you know what Mountain Madness Tours is doing to support you and your travel plans this summer (2023).

We are now taking bookings for the 2023 season. Our 2022 season was a great success, and we safely supported 95 people on bike tours between Jasper and Banff.  

Your deposit (due upon registering for a tour) and Final Payment (due 4 weeks before the tour) are transferrable to a future tour date if Covid19 ends up disrupting your travel plans.

Although it’s not mandatory, Mountain Madness Cycle Tours strongly recommends that you be vaccinated against Covid19. You won’t have to show us proof that you’ve been vaccinated in 2023.

Travelling in our vans to the start point of the tour, makes it challenging if not impossible to socially distance from each other at certain times during the tour. Wearing Face masks is optional at this point.

For your safety and that of other people on your tour, We ask that you transfer your tour to another date if you have any Covid19 symptoms leading up to the tour’s departure date.

Please note that we are no longer offering refunds on deposits or final payments on our tours due to Covid19. Instead, these payments are transferrable to another tour date, or another person. We recommend that you take out travel insurance to help protect your travel investment.

As we’ve learned over the past year, what makes sense today may not make sense tomorrow. Please understand that we reserve the right to change these policies at short notice due to this very fluid and unpredictable situation.

We’ll continue to monitor the situation closely and post an update here if anything significant changes. In the mean time you can book with confidence knowing that we’ve got your back if your travel situation needs to change due to Covid.

Looking forward to meeting you in person and supporting your bike tour between Jasper and Banff.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to me personally if you have any questions.

Warm Regards
Ben (Owner / Operator)
7808859813 (cell) 

Jasper Banff Bike Tour – 2024 Packages

 

Custom Jasper to Banff Tours

Get a group of 6 or more friends to modify our most popular 4 day tour

More Information

 

Breakfast

A full buffet breakfast will be supplied at the hotel restaurant. Buffet includes: Fruit, Cereal, Assorted pastries, Tea, Coffee, Juice, Yoghurt, Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Toast, Pancakes, Hash Browns.

Snacks / Rest Stops

A variety of healthy and nutritious foods will be available to you several times during the day to keep your body adequately fuelled and running in top condition. We recommend that you eat small amounts often throughout the day. You may choose from our large variety of rest stop foods at your will. Some common foods available include: Trail Mix, Fruit (dried and fresh), Assorted pastries, Chocolate Pretzels, and more. We’ll also have some nutritional supplements such as Cliff bars and Kind Bars to help you get through the day if regular food doesn’t quite do the trick for you.

Post Ride Snacks:

After an awesome day out on your bike we know you’ll have some pretty gnarly cravings starting to set in. We’ll do our best to get you through till the evening meal with our post ride snacks. Some items supplied may include: Crisps, Pretzels, Pop and other comfort foods that we’ve found to be popular post ride. A selection of snacks from the mix used during the day will also be available. Alcoholic drinks are at your own cost upon arrival at the hotel and in most cases are available from the hotel / onsite bar or can be purchased before the tour and made available after the riding day. Certain location specific restrictions apply.

Lunch:

A variety of sandwiches will be sourced from a local hotel restaurant along the route. These sandwiches will be available to you at anytime during the day. The exact lunch menu is flexible and will likely be discussed in more detail with each individual once on the tour depending on your specific dietary requirements.

Hydration:

Our custom support trailer will carry a large tank of drinking water, Gatorade Powder (Orange and Lime) to add to your water bottles if desired, Juice boxes and Pop.

Evening Meal:

The evening meal will consist of a 3 course hot meal served to us at a restaurant at your hotel. Set menu, buffet or off the menu items can vary tour to tour. Usually the meal will include a soup or salad followed by the main meal, followed by a desert of some kind. Alcoholic drinks are at your own cost.

Allergies, Specific Nutritional Requirements:

Are you allergic to any specific foods? Are you gluten free, vegetarian, vegan or have any other food related sensitivities? Please let us know upon signing up for a tour so we can plan accordingly. In most cases there are alternative menus and options available and if not we can come up with a variety of other options including you bringing your own specific nutrition along. If we know these things in advance we can be very flexible.

 

Hotel Package:

Night 1: Sunwapta Falls Resort (Icefields Parkway)
Night 2: The Crossing Resort (Icefields Parkway),
Night 3: Mountaineer Lodge (Lake Louise)

Washrooms: private wash room facilities en suite.

Kitchens: No public kitchens available (no cooking facilities for looking after your own meals).

Bedding: Twin share rooms (2 double / queen beds typical).
Single supplement for a room to yourself available at additional cost. 

Onsite restaurants: Set menu, order off a menu or buffet meals included in the tour cost.

Note: Some of these hotels are a little different than your average hotel in the city due to their remote location in the national parks / mountains. You may notice some small differences in facilities provided vs city hotels. This is not necessarily a bad thing and in some ways is a nice change from normal city life. Hotels along the Icefields parkway are generally rated 2 – 3 star but this relates to facilities provided such as in room telephones, sat tv’s, wifi, gym’s, hot tubs, pools and sauna’s. Many of these facilities are missing mainly because these properties are not connected to regular city systems that we take for granted. This is also due to strict national park regulations. The hotel properties we use make up for this with 5 star service, friendliness and the pristine surroundings in which they are located.

Pre and Post tour Accommodations:
Accommodations before and after the tour aren’t included in the tour cost. We recommend the following hotels:

If Meeting us in Edmonton: Double Tree by Hilton Downtown 

If Meeting us in Jasper: Beckers Chalets

If you need accomodation at Calgary airport after the tour finishes: Hotel 11 by Sonesta

  • Small sunscreen, Lip Balm, Toiletries / Medications
  • Warm layers to change into in case of getting into van. Base & mid layer.
  • Socks (Merino wool a good idea)
  • Cycling jersey and padded cycling shorts
  • Cycling gloves (long and short)
  • Arm warmers, Leg warmers. You will probably wear these for the first part of the day.
  • Wind / rain Proof Jacket (if weather is looking suspect, please carry this with you)
  • Camera, Some cash, ID, health care card
  • Casual clothes for the evening, hot tub shorts / bathers
  • Two water bottles, Red flashing light attached to rear of bike, two spare tubes (If bringing your own bike)
  • Bike and helmet (unless renting one of us) 

Experience the Canadian Rockies by Bike

Hear what riding from Jasper to Banff sounds like

For more videos, find us on YouTube!

What Our Customers Are Saying

Don’t just take it from us, let our customers do the talking!

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be vaccinated against Covid 19 to attend the tour??

No, Although we strongly recommend being vaccinated against Covid 19, we won’t require proof of this to join our tours. Additional Covid related precautions will be observed during the tour as per the current health guidelines at the time of your tour.

How soon should I book a tour?

We are a small operation which means we can be more awesome, service oriented and competitively priced than the big guys due to our lower overheads.

This also means that our capacity is limited and our tours can fill up fast.

In 2019 we were 85% booked up by December 2018 .

We book our accommodations more than a year in advance to ensure availability and last min bookings are getting more challenging every year. To avoid disappointment please book your tour as early as possible but at the latest 6 weeks before the tour departs.

A lot has changed with Covid and so has our cancellation policies. We now offer fully refundable deposits and final payments right up till the departure date of the tour for Covid related reasons so you can book ahead with confidence knowing that if your plans change we’ve got your back. 
What is the best time to join a tour?

Summer is short but awesome in Canada. Our tours generally start at the beginning of June and go till the middle of September.

July and August are our busiest months. Early season discounts may be available. Please check out the Tour Dates page of our website to go to our online booking area where you will see a list of available tours and dates.

 
What does the cost of my tour include?
  • Round trip transport from Edmonton for you and your bike.
  • Transfers from your hotel or home in Edmonton before and after the tour.
  • National Park Entry Fees
  • Full support during ride
  • Satellite emergency communication coverage while in National Park and 2 way radios (no mobile / cell phone communication available in park).
  • 3 Nights Hotel Accommodation (Pricing based on twin share, Single Supplement available for additional charge). 
  • All meals unless stated otherwise.
  • Photos of the group riding with spectacular scenery will be taken by the guide and distributed to individuals on a USB memory stick at the end of the tour.
What are the optional extras that will add to the advertised cost of the tour?

Bike rental: Kona Libre gravel bikes with slick tires, carbon fork, aluminium frame, disk brakes.

We have Electric pedal assist bikes available for rent for the same pricing as our regular rental bikes.

$220 (4 day tour)

Alcoholic drinks with evening meals (at your own cost)

Meals not included:
First day breakfast and lunch

Airport transfers: Pre tour you are responsible for your own transfers to your Edmonton or Jasper hotel. Post tour transfers to your hotel in Banff, Canmore, Calgary airport or Edmonton are included in the price.

Additional activities: Hot springs, Gondola rides and other attractions that we may pass on the way are at your own cost and are dependent on a group decision on how flexible the itinerary is on that particular tour.

Accommodation: in Edmonton or Jasper before the tour departs and on the last night in Edmonton or Calgary after the tour finishes if required. We recommend the following hotels:
Edmonton: Double Tree by Hilton Downtown 

Jasper: Beckers Chalets

Calgary airport: Hotel 11 by Sonesta

Tour Guide gratuity: Optional but is appreciated and customary in Canada for good service.

Do I need to bring my own bike?

Our tours are priced based on you bringing your own bike. We have a fleet of brand new Kona Libre gravel bikes with slick tires or Electric pedal assist Bikes available for rent as an optional extra. See below for details of our rental bikes and other optional extras.

Can I upgrade my hotel room from twin share to my own private room?

Yes, our packages include twin share accommodation in hotel rooms (2 separate beds per room). 

If you’d like a room to yourself, the single supplement is an Additional cost of $530 + tax per person.

What is the elevation profile like? Will there be lots of climbing and descending?

Overall we start the tour at around 1000m above sea level in Jasper and finish at about 1400m above sea level in Banff. There are two high passes to cross between these two towns on the four day tour. These mountain passes are about 2000m above sea level. Most of the climbs with the exception of one are gradual at an average of 4 – 5%

Is this a mountain bike tour? Will we be riding off road?

No. We will be riding along the Icefields parkway (Jasper to Lake Louise), Bow Valley Parkway (Lake Louise to Banff) and the Legacy Trail bike path (into Banff and onto Canmore). These are paved (sealed) roads not accessible to through truck traffic but used by sightseeing tourists in cars and RV’s. There is a wide shoulder adjacent to the driving lanes along 90% of the route. The pavement is in good condition for the majority of the way although subject to change each season. In the few sections where the shoulder narrows the guide will aim to notify the group of the upcoming conditions and give advice on safe riding technique so that we can safely share the road with other traffic. For some parts of the tour you may have to ride single file in order to share the road with other users.

The full length of the Icefields Parkway and Bow Valley Parkway between Jasper and Banff over the last few years has been repaved. 

What type of mechanical support is available during the tour?

While it is your responsibility to ensure your bike is in sound mechanical shape prior to the tour departing Edmonton, our guides do have basic mechanical skills and we will have the necessary tools on board the bike trailer for basic repairs such as replacing tires, tubes, fixing broken chains, tightening loose components, etc. We may not however have specialized or unique replacement components onboard or very specific tools required for more complicated repairs. If you are bringing your own bike we strongly recommend you take it to your local bike shop for a thorough pre-tour inspection. If you are renting a bike from us this will be taken care of for you. We will aim to have a spare bike in the trailer if space allows to swap out in the case of a repair being too complicated to fix enroute.

How far is it between Jasper and Banff?

It is 288 km between Jasper and Banff.

If you and your friends desire to ride a longer or more challenging route there are lots of side trips available to extend the distance.

How many days does it take to ride from Jasper to Banff? How many km do we ride each day?

Our most popular itinerary covers the 288km over 4 days. This includes a half day driving between Edmonton and Jasper on day 1 and a half-day driving between Banff and Edmonton on Day 4. Calgary drop offs are available on the way home on request for no extra charge.

If this itinerary is chosen the approximate km per day looks like this.

Day 1 = 56 km
Day 2 = 98 km
Day 3 = 83 km
Day 4 = 60 – 85 km

Other easier or more challenging itineraries can be designed for custom groups on request.
Please visit this page of the website for more custom tour suggestions.

How fit do I need to be to join this tour?

A medium level of fitness is recommended to join this tour. However with the support we provide, we’ve seen people of varying fitness levels, all shapes, sizes and abilities complete our tours in the past.

Good mental attitude will triumph all challenges and you’ll come out the other side of this tour stronger and more confident than ever. We’ll be just around the corner if it ever gets a bit too much and can give you a ride in the van if you’re not feeling the love for it at any stage of the tour.

Some experience riding bikes on the road will be a good advantage. An Electric Pedal Assist Bike rental option is available for those who find the elevation changes a bit intimidating.

What do you mean by supported bike tour? Is there a guide riding with us?

We support our tours with a well designed tour van and enclosed bike / food trailer. We believe that the route is simple enough that you will be fine riding in small groups at your own pace. We’ve found that we can better support your tour by floating between the faster, medium paced and the more leisurely participants with our tour van and trailer set up. We will keep an eye on the group as we leap frog you along the route, reacting quickly to any issues that may come up during the day. We will generally let you ride ahead for a few km’s then we will drive past the group making sure everyone is doing ok and park a few km’s ahead of the group at an appropriate place (usually at a scenic lookout). We will at times park and watch you ride past and at other times set up an official rest stop where all the food and supplies will be set out for you.

If I don’t feel like riding a part of the route what is likely to happen?

You are welcome to jump in the support van at any time if this occurs. If you don’t feel safe riding any part of the route, maybe you’re not confident riding down the hills or would prefer to skip the uphill sections, we’ll be there for you. After the first day of the tour we’ll have a good idea of everyone’s ability and fitness levels and can recommend various strategies then. Two way radios will be distributed amongst the group to enable you to contact the guide in the support van if assistance is required.

What are your terms and conditions for payment and cancelations?

A 25% non refundable but transferrable Deposit is due upon booking. 

The remainder is due 4 weeks before tour departure date and is non refundable after this point. 

The deposit or final payment is transferrable to another person or date if illness or circumstances outside your control prevent you from attending the tour. This is your responsibility to arrange though and the final decision will be subject to approval from Mountain Madness Tours.

The following payment methods are available.

Visa & Mastercard (online booking or over the phone)

What type of bike should I bring on the tour?

A road or gravel bike (thin tires) is the most efficient bike for this tour, giving you the most speed for minimum effort. There are a number of hills and climbs on the route so a bike with appropriate gearing for your fitness and strength level is also recommended. A cross bike, cruiser or even mountain bikes are okay although we recommend you install slick tires (rather than the knobbly mountain bike tires) before the tour to make your life easier. If you rent a bike through us it will be a lightweight gravel bike with slick tires, appropriate gearing and drop down handle bars.

What is the usual group size?

Our maximum group size is 13 people, which keeps our tours small and intimate. With some notice though we can put custom tours together for group of up to 30.

Custom groups of 6 – 30 people.
Keep the tour private to your group of friends and design your own tour. With less than 6 people for private groups the advertised per person price will need to increase. Please contact us for more info and custom tour pricing.
We’ll set up your tour on our online booking system and send you a custom link so that your group can pay deposits and final amounts individually and find out more information about your custom tour designed specifically for you and your friends. For some custom tour ideas please check out this page of our website.

Smaller groups of 4+.
If you’re happy to share your tour with a few other like-minded people we will endeavour to fill the rest of the seats in the van so we can keep the advertised per person price the same.

Singles and couples:
We love you too. We commonly have just a few seats left on many of our tours. We’d love to have you along. Click on the tour dates button in the menu to see our currently availability.

Will I need to carry anything on my back or bike?

No. We will carry all the food, supplies and your luggage in the van and trailer set-up. We will be just a few km away from you at all times. We recommend though that you attach a small tool bag to your bike seat post to carry a few necessary items. It’s also recommended that you have 1 – 2 water bottles with you on the bike to keep you hydrated between rest stops. If you are renting a bike from us a seat mounted tool bag will be provided with all the necessary tools and 2 water bottle cages will be attached to the bike to hold your bottles.

Where do I meet up with the tour?

Our scheduled tours depart from and return to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Arrivals: We recommend you fly into Edmonton the day before the tour. We will pick you up from your hotel at about 8am the next morning, or from your house if you live locally. Exact pick-up procedure is flexible and determined on a tour by tour basis. We recommend staying at the following hotel in Edmonton. Double Tree by Hilton Downtown 

Meeting us in Jasper: This is definitely an option if you are already traveling and find yourself in Jasper the day before one of our tours.
For example catching the Via Rail train from Vancouver to Jasper would be an interesting way to get to Jasper before the tour.

Please note that accommodations in the Rockies are very limited during the summer months and book up quickly. If Jasper is your preferred meeting point, please book your accommodations for these nights as far in advance as possible. We recommend staying at Beckers Chalets but there are many other options that you can choose from.

Departures: We recommend that you fly out of Calgary on the evening of the last day of the tour. We can drop you off in Calgary International Airport on our way home to Edmonton. Usually we will be driving through Calgary around 2-3pm on the last day of the tour. Please allow sufficient time before your departing flight in case of any unavoidable delays. If you need accomodation at Calgary airport we recommend staying at Hotel 11 by Sonesta

Locals from Edmonton: For those who live in and around Edmonton we will drop you off at the location we picked you up from, or otherwise prearranged address.

Extending your stay in Banff or Canmore after the tour: If this is the case we’d be happy to drop you at a local hotel before we continue onto Calgary and Edmonton at the end of the tour. Banff Airporter runs a regularly scheduled shuttle to Calgary airport from Banff, Canmore and surrounding areas to help you get home.

If you need to return to Jasper at the end of the tour, local transportation options such as Brewster and Sundog run a daily service from Calgary through Canmore, Banff, and Lake Louise to Jasper. Please check their respective websites for timetables and pricing information. If bringing your own bike and looking into this option you will likely need to pack it up into a box for these shuttle services back to Jasper. We can provide high quality rental bikes to help save you this hassle if you prefer.

Safety during the tour

Your safety during the tour is our upmost concern and priority at all times. We have many back up plans and safety precautions in place to help keep you safe. Guides / Drivers are first aid trained, have access to first aid kits and an AED (Automated External Defibrillator).

There is no mobile phone (cell) reception between Jasper and Lake louise (Day 1 – Day 3) of the tour. Our guides however will have satellite communication devices on hand in case of emergencies. As a secondary communication option we will have a number of two way radios to share among the group.

Riding a bike on a road shared with other vehicular traffic through the mountains however does carry certain unavoidable risks, many of which are outside of our direct control.

We will endeavour to try and control or manage those risks that we have some control over to the best of our abilities, the rest we will need your help with.

For these reasons we will be asking you to take full responsibility for your own safety on the road during your tour.

We will require you to accept this responsibility for your own safety by filling out a waiver before joining the tour. You can find an example of the online waiver linked to on our Tour dates page.

Is there a Waiver I must sign?

Due to the nature of the activity being undertaken and various risks involved, an online waiver will need to be filled out and submitted before leaving town. Please find our online waiver by clicking the following link https://www.smartwaiver.com/v/biketourwaiver/ . Please contact us before signing up to the tour if you have any questions or concerns about filling out the waiver.

 

What do I need to bring on a supported cycling tour?

Please see the more information tabs above to find a suggested what to bring list.

Does the tour go ahead rain hail or shine?

Yes.
The weather in the mountains is unpredictable, very localized and can change at a moments notice. There is no accurate way to tell what the conditions will be like during your tour either before hand or even during. Chances are that if weather conditions are unfavourable they will get better around the next corner or an hour or so down the road. The support van will be close by at all times in case you need shelter or decide to call it a day at any time. Our advice is to bring clothing to suit all potential weather conditions and hope for the best.

In the case of extreme weather conditions the itinerary may be modified to suit at the guides discretion.

Do I need to bring fancy cycling clothes and equipment similar to what seems to be worn in many of the photos i see on your site?

Whilst it’s not mandatory to bring cycling specific clothing, most cyclists wear this type of clothing for a reason. It’s generally the most visible and comfortable gear to be riding in for an extended period of time. If you don’t currently own a set of riding gear, you’ll want to at least invest in the following items: helmet (unless renting one from us), gloves, wind and rainproof breathable jacket, warm layers, padded shorts and a water bottle or two.

What food is included on your tours?

Please see the section below for a detailed list of meals supplied during the tour.

Do you run cycling tours on other routes?

Yes, although Jasper to Banff is our most popular option, if you are joining us again for another tour or have ridden this yourself in the past and want to try something different, we’d love to apply our support and organizational capabilities to another route. These custom itineraries are usually put together for custom groups of 6 or more people.

Western Canada is a big place and there are lots of mountains and roads to explore.

Click on the custom tours page on our website for some other popular custom itineraries that we have run in the past.

We can recommend a few other cycling tour operators that you might like to check out for other cycling tour ideas.
Visit Tailwind Cycle Tours for a variety of cycling tours in Costa Rica and Nicaragua,
Visit Kootenay Cycling Adventures for a variety of cycling tours in Interior British Columbia Canada.

 

 

Questions?

If we didn’t answer all of your questions, feel free to drop us a line anytime.

Call 780-885-9813