Jasper is still rebuilding from the July 2024 wildfire, which burned about a third of the townsite's structures. As of 2026 the town is open and most hotels and restaurants are running, but some specific properties remain closed or under reconstruction and the local accommodation stock is tighter than before the fire — book ahead rather than assuming you'll find a room on arrival.
A different kind of mountain town
Jasper is smaller and quieter than Banff even before the rebuild, and it's worth building in at least one night here rather than treating it as a turnaround point — the town sits inside Jasper National Park itself, not just next to it, which is part of why the 2024 fire reached the townsite directly rather than staying a backcountry event. The Jasper Park Information Centre, a stone-and-log building from 1913–14, is the town's official visitor contact point and a good first stop for current conditions, trail status, and what's actually open post-fire.
Only two gas stations left — plan around it
Two of Jasper's four gas stations burned in the July 2024 fire, leaving only the Shell on Connaught Drive downtown and the Petro-Canada at the east end of town (across from the Nesters grocery store). With half the town's fuel capacity gone, both stations get genuinely congested at the times everyone naturally arrives and leaves — early morning and late afternoon. Don't leave fuelling up until you're already trying to get back on the highway.
The world's largest accessible dark-sky preserve
Jasper holds that exact title, not just "one of the largest" — the designation legally limits how much light the town itself is allowed to put out, which is why the Milky Way is visible from close to town on a clear night. If your dates line up, the Jasper Dark Sky Festival runs October 16–25, 2026, with events at the Jasper Planetarium, guided stargazing, and a SkyTram-based "Sun to Stars" evening on Whistlers Mountain — worth checking the festival's own site for that year's exact program if you're planning around it.
If you're continuing on
The Icefields Parkway ends at Jasper, but the highway network doesn't — Jasper is also where the Yellowhead Highway continues west into British Columbia toward Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, for anyone extending the trip rather than looping back.