The mountains that comprise Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park represent the tectonic forces of continental drift, cut off from the mainland and eroded by time into a fantastic landscape that includes a plant-bare region known as the Tablelands. Freshwater fjords, sea stacks, sandy beaches and glacially carved valleys offer spectacular scenery; wilderness hiking and beachcombing afford peace and quiet. Gros Morne was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 for both its scenic beauty and  fascinating geology.

Text by Eric Lucas; photo editing by Connie Ricca.

A large escarpment rising above the Manitoba prairie holds Riding Mountain National Park, whose aspen parkland forest and clear freshwater lakes comprise a lovely landscape. Lakes entice swimmers, anglers and boaters; moose are a common sight; and the display of wildflowers in the woods and meadows in early summer is beautiful. Wolves, bears, bison and other wildlife are also common, and migratory waterfowl visit the park May through October on their journeys north and south. The park is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Text by Eric Lucas; photo editing by Connie Ricca.

Alberta’s Banff National Park holds one of the world’s most familiar and most photographed mountain views, that of Lake Louise with snowy peaks behind. An equally impressive view is just up the road from Louise at Moraine Lake, which also offers breathtakingly gemlike turquoise water backed by snowy peaks — and far, far fewer visitors than at Lake Louise, whose shoreline promenade on a busy summer day draws thousands of bus-borne tourists.

Text by Eric Lucas; photo editing by Connie Ricca.

Once upon a time, Jasper National Park’s Athabasca Glacier was one of North America’s roadside wonders: This arm of the vast Columbia Icefield stretched almost all the way down to Alberta’s Icefields Parkway, which carries tourists between Banff and Jasper. It is the most visited glacier in North America. But global warming has melted the glacier back 1.5 kilometers from the roadway, and visitors must now trek along a path whose interpretive signs mark the years of the glacier’s retreat. Set amid spectacular snow-clad peaks in the Canadian Rockies, this is one of the best places anywhere to witness anthropogenic climate change.

Text by Eric Lucas; photo editing by Connie Ricca.

One of Canada’s newest national preserves, Gulf Islands National Park in B.C., spreads across its namesake chain of marvelous islands in the Salish Sea northeast of Victoria. The park encompasses mountaintop vista points, remote islands reached only by boat, historic homesteads and peaceful meadows ringed by forest. One of the most popular parcels is Sidney Spit, a deliriously lovely stretch of white sand reached by water taxi from its namesake small town near Victoria International Airport.

Text by Eric Lucas; photo editing by Connie Ricca.