Accommodations that Accept Pets
According to the Travel Alberta website and the Alberta Hotel and Lodging Association's searchable database of hotels and B&Bs, there are fourteen properties in the Jasper area that accept pets. You may want to contact each hotel individually to find out more information about fees and details. You can also check out Pet Friendly sites for more details. There are also some private home accommodation that accept pets; you can find these by searching the listings at the Jasper Home Accommodation Association website.
Amethyst Lodge - 200 Connaught Drive, Jasper
Phone: 780-852-3394 Toll-Free: 1-888-8Jasper
Bear Hill Lodge - 100 Bonhomme, Jasper
Phone: 780-852-3209 Open: Apr-Oct
Chateau Jasper - 96 Geikie Street, Jasper
Phone: 780-852-5644 Toll-Free: 1-888-852-7737
Coast Pyramid Lake Resort - P.O. Box 388, Jasper
Phone: 780-852-4900 Toll-Free: 1-800-663-1144
Open: April 24 - October 26
Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge - #1 Old Lodge Road, Jasper
Phone: 780-852-3301 Toll-Free: 1-800-441-1414
Lobstick Lodge - 94 Geikie Street, Jasper
Phone: 780-852-4431 Toll-Free: 1-888-852-7737
Maligne Lodge - 914 Connaught Drive, Jasper
Phone: 780-852-3143 Toll-Free: 1-800-661-9323
Marmot Lodge - 86 Connaught Drive, Jasper
Phone: 780-852-4471 Toll-Free: 1-888-852-7737
Patricia Lake Bungalows - Pyramid Lake Road, Jasper
Phone: 780-852-3560 Toll-Free: 1-888-499-6848
Open: May1-Oct15
Pocahontas Cabins - Jasper
Phone: 780-866-3732 Toll-Free: 800-843-3372
Sunwapta Falls Resort - Jasper
Phone: 780-852-4852 Toll-Free: 1-888-828-5777
Open: May 8-Oct 13
Tekarra Lodge - Jasper
Phone: 780-852-3058 Toll-Free: 1-800-709-1827
Open: May 15 - Oct 5
The Sawridge Inn & Conference Centre - 82 Connaught Drive, Jasper
Phone: 780-852-5111 Toll-Free: 1-800-661-6427
Tonquin Inn - 100 Juniper Street, Jasper
Phone: 780-852-4987 Toll-Free: 1-800-661-1315
Activities with Pets
In Town
The only place in Jasper National Park where dogs are allowed to be "off leash" is the municipal dog park in the town of Jasper, which is located on Pyramid Lake Road beside the Jasper Aquatic Centre and across from the Jasper Yellowhead Museum and Archives.
There is a municipal bylaw that requires pet owners to "stoop and scoop" and clean up after their animal in the townsite. (See section 4.9.)
The Jasper Veterinary Clinic is located in the Stan Wright Industrial Park, across the tracks from town. (Take Hazel Avenue across the tracks, then the very first left hand turn. Continue straight for a few hundred meters - the clinic is located on the right hand side.) Their phone number is 780-852-5551. There are no kennels in Jasper.
In Jasper National Park - Dogs and Wildlife
Dog are required to be on a leash at all times within the park, for both their own protection and to protect the park's wildlife.
Predators - Bears, Cougars, Wolves, Coyotes
Wildlife can pose a hazard to dogs, and vice versa. Dog may be preyed upon by many park species, such as grizzly bears, black bears, cougars, wolves and coyotes. When a dog running at large encounters a predator, the predator may react either defensively (to protect itself) or aggressively (to kill/eat the dog). The dog may run back to his owners for safety, bringing the predator back with him! An incident like this occurred in the summer of 2006 on the Beaver Lake trail in the Maligne valley, when a dog encountered a black bear and ran back to its owners. This incident resulted in minor injuries to the owners - scratches and a bite to the thigh that came about in the ensuing confusion. As they were trying to dodge the bear and scare it away, one of the owners tripped on a fallen tree and was bitten on the leg by the bear before the bear ran away.
Dogs, especially young dogs, are often interested in coyotes and will want to approach the coyote. In some cases, coyotes and dogs have been known to play together. However, coyotes have also been known to lure dogs away from their owners and then kill them.
Ungulates - Deer, Elk, Sheep & Caribou
Conversely, ungulates and many small animal species view dogs as a predator. Deer will often bolt and run away when they see a dog, and often, an unleashed dog cannot resist giving chase. Elk will sometimes run from a dog, or, being larger than deer, may stand their ground, especially a dominant cow or a bull. These animals are large enough to seriously injure a dog (or a human!) when they feel threatened.
In the winter and early spring, deer and elk and other species that rely on grasses and plants for food are under extreme stress; their survival depends upon their finding enough forage under the snow, and in expending the least amount of unnecessary energy. In addition, the females are pregnant with fawns that will be born the following spring. So it is doubly important to keep your dog under control!
Park wardens have the authority to shoot a dog on sight if it is running loose and harassing wildlife.
Bighorn sheep can also be dangerous to dogs. The headline story in one of Jasper's weekly papers in November 2007 was a harrowing story about a shepherd cross dog who was very lucky to survive a seventy foot fall off a cliff at Old Fort Point, just outside the town of Jasper. The Old Fort Point area is frequented by bighorn sheep, and during the rut (mating season) in November, the rams will defend an area where the ewes are. When the interloper is another ram, this will result in the famous head-butting contests that you see in wildlife programs on TV (or in real life, if you are very fortunate). In this case, the dog chased the ram which fled to the cliff edge, where it then aggressively drove the dog off the cliff as the owner watched in horror. The fall resulted in hip injuries to the dog requiring surgery - a $4000 lesson for the owner.
Woodland caribou are a threatened species and Jasper National Park has a small - and declining - caribou population. The caribou is a wary animal that is sensitive to disturbance. Its main predator is the wolf, and not surprisingly, when caribou see a dog, they react as if it is a wolf, and flee. Therefore, as a protective measure, dogs are not allowed on trails that are in caribou habitat. This includes the following areas:
-Tonquin Valley Trail, Verdant Pass, and Whistlers Creek: this includes the entire Tonquin Valley area, Meadow Creek, Astoria River, and Portal Creek trails, and the Whistlers Creek Drainage.
- Cavell Meadows: this includes the Cavell Meadows trail and the alpine meadow complexes in the adjacent area.
- Skyline Trail: This includes the entire Skyline Trail, from Signal Campsite to Maligne Lake, and also includes the Watchtower, Jeffrey Creek, and the Wabasso Lakes trail (upslope of Wabasso Lakes), and adjacent areas.
- Bald Hills and Opal Hills: this includes the Bald Hills Trail and Opal Hills trail, Surprise Valley, and adjacent areas.
- Maligne Pass Trail: This includes the entire Maligne Pass trail, from Maligne Lake to Sunwapta Warden Station, and adjacent areas.
- Jonas Creek and Poboktan Creek Trails: this includes the Poboktan Creek Trail, from Sunwapta Warden Station up to but not including Brazeau Lake Campsite, and the Jonas Creek Trail, from the junction with the Poboktan Creek Trail, up to but not including the Four Point Campsite.
You can read the official Parks Canada bulletin here.
In August of 2007, a dog owner who went hiking at Opal Hills at Maligne Lake left his dog tied to his vehicle in the parking lot. The owner must not have realized there was a dog ban on that trail until he arrived at the trailhead; I guess he thought he was behaving responsibly - after all, he obeyed the restriction and did not take the dog on the trail, and he left the dog tied outside, with water, so there was no danger of it overheating inside the car. However, in the several hours that he was gone, the dog bit two people, reacting protectively to intrusions on "his" space. The wardens and RCMP were called and the dog was impounded. The owner was charged by the RCMP, and the end result was not only the pound fees, but an appearance in court for the owner and a hefty fine. It could have been worse, though. The Maligne Lake area is home to all of the predators mentioned above; a tied-up dog is a "sitting duck" - an easy meal - for any of them.
Porcupines
Porcupines are abundant in the subalpine forests of Jasper National Park and many a dog (and owner) has learned first-hand the misery of the porcupines's effective natural defense - quills.
