Tour mountain parks with a click.
CALGARY — Hike up Tunnel Mountain to get a bird’s-eye view of the Banff townsite, visit the blue-green waterfall in Johnston Canyon or take in the stunning mountain vistas at Lake Louise — all without leaving your couch.
On Wednesday, Google launched a collection of images from more than 50 national parks and historic sites across the country after travelling to the destinations throughout the summer.
“We hiked the trails and amazing places that are off road ... all of these amazing places that really do define Canada’s national parks,” said Aaron Brindle, a spokesman for Google Canada.
The team used the streetview cars and the newly introduced Trekker backpack to capture the images from coast to coast — including the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site in Nova Scotia and Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland, to Banff National Park in Alberta and B.C.’s Glacier National Park.
Pa rk s Ca n ad a’s R ay Schmidt and Amy Krause helped guide the Google teams around Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks.
They took the Google team to Tunnel Mountain, Johnston Canyon, Cave and Basin National Historic Site, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. They hiked trails around Lake Louise such as Rockpile trail, Shoreline trail and the Fairview Lookout trail.
The team also visited Bow Lake along the Icefields Parkway.
“We got a good cross- section,” said Schmidt, new media officer for Banff National Park.
In Yoho, the Google team visited Takkakaw Falls and the Emerald Lake loop. They also got photos at the Redstreak campground and the Juniper trail in Kootenay National Park.
“It’s all of the highlights,” said Krause, the new media officer for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay national parks.
They suggested the Google Map images could be used as an educational tool in classrooms across the country and help everyone from local to international visitors with their trip planning if they decide to visit the historic sites and parks.
Krause said it’s also a good way for people to think about visiting some of the sites.
“This tool is definitely good for wishing and dreaming,” she said. “We’ve all gone to Google Earth to visit a place that we wonder if we’ll ever get to.”
Google will continue to map Canada’s parks and historic sites next summer, adding more images as they complete their work.
“We’re not finished,” said Google’s Brindle, noting it plans to map 120 of the national parks and historic sites. “Come springtime, when all of that snow around you melts, we’ll be back out there.”