10 Incredible National Parks of Canada

To get in closer go to Icefield Centre, at the Athabasca Glacier, 65 miles south of Jasper, with tours on giant-wheeled buses that crawl onto the ice ($22 adults, $11 children, Brewster Snowcoach, 877/423-7433, brewster.ca/).

You need to know: You're most likely to spot roadside animals at dusk and dawn--but that's when it's also easiest to accidentally hit them. Drive carefully.

Budget secret: The Friends of Jasper offer nightly, year-round historical walking tours, birding excursions, and moonlight hikes for $1.50 (780/852-4767, friendsofjasper.com/).

Planning: 780/852-6176; Jasper Tourism & Commerce, 780/852-3858, jaspercanadianrockies.com/.

Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario

On its west side, the 104-square-mile park, straddling the Niagara Escarpment, slips gently into bogs, beaches, and Lake Huron. On its east side, cliffs plunge into the clear waters of Georgian Bay.

When to go: May to September.

Photo op: The park's eroded eastern shoreline, particularly the giant stone "flowerpot" column formations.

Wildlife: More than 300 species of birds migrate through this peninsula. The massasauga rattlesnake is an elusive resident, and the black bear makes unwelcome appearances when campers leave food lying around.

Where to stay: The picturesque fishing village of Tobermory, 10 minutes away, where Innisfree B&B overlooks the harbor (rooms from $50, 519/596-8190, www.bbcanada.com/innisfree). From here, you can see the crystalline waters of Fathom Five National Marine Park of Canada, with its 21 islands, lighthouses, and 22 turn-of-the-century shipwrecks.

Don't miss: The half-mile hike from Halfway Rock Point to Overhanging Point. The coastal scenery is staggering: erosion-sculpted cliffs, grottos, and deep-blue waters.

Planning: 519/596-2233; Bruce County Tourism, 800/268-3838,  naturalretreat.com/; Bruce Peninsula Tourism, 519/793-4734, brucepeninsula.org/.