How this Canadian town is building back better after wildfires

Matricia Brown from Warrior Women

 

“This town is used to serving visitors,” says Matricia Brown of Jasper-based Indigenous tour operator Warrior Women. “But when the fire came, we served each other.”

 

That community spirit continues and is still very much needed today. On the edges of Jasper and into some of the downtown blocks, there are gaps where buildings once stood, but you’d have to be familiar with the town to spot the missing links.

 

A year on, downtown is buzzing and the bars and restaurants are full of locals and visitors. Hotels too are thriving again, with occupancy this summer at an average of 96%. Several hotels burned down in the fire, but two are being rebuilt and set to open in 2027.

 

Jasper National Park

The Athabasca river near Jasper. Image credit: Shutterstock/LukasKrbec

 

The wild landscape that Jasper is known for is also experiencing a rebirth. “Aspen trees are returning in abundance, and some are already a couple of metres tall,” says Jeff Hanson, a guide from local operator SunDog Transportation and Tours, during an Ecology of Fire tour. “The fire is just part of the natural cycle – although this was a particularly intense fire.”

 

Brown adds that Canada’s Indigenous people have deep generational experience of forest management.

 

In fact, the group Indigenous Guardians advises Parks Canada on how to manage this land. 

 

Warrior Women’s tours in and around Jasper acknowledge the impact of the fire, but also look beyond it. A regular collaborator with tour operators including Luxury Gold, First Class Holidays and Canadian Affair, Warrior Women offers immersive experiences such as beading and medicine walks. In spring 2026, the company will add arrow fletching to its roster of activities.

 

It’s worth telling potential clients that compared with the vast size of Jasper National Park, a relatively small area was affected by the fire; in fact, only about 3.5% of the land was burned. Journey one hour out of Jasper towards the almost impossibly picturesque Maligne Lake and you’ll soon be amid tall, green trees.

 

You can always look up for more beauty too: Jasper National Park is a designated Dark Sky Preserve and Jasper Planetarium runs various night-time experiences.

The Jasper SkyTram cable car. Image credit: Mike Gere Photography

 

Much of the tourism infrastructure escaped damage, including popular attractions such as the Jasper SkyTram cable car and the cute Jasper the Bear statue. The edges of the town’s largest resort, the 700-acre Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, were touched by fire (some staff accommodation was destroyed) but, walking through those charred trees now, there are plenty of indications that life is returning.

 

Grass and wildflowers cover the ground like a carpet, a few of the trees are showing signs of green in their boughs and herds of elk merrily munch on the lower foliage that has sprung up, thanks to the rare appearance of sun on the forest floor through blackened branches.

 

Things to do in Jasper

 

A boat trip on Maligne Lake. Image credit: Mike Seehagel

 

“The fire will rejuvenate the forest floor,” says Hanson.

 

“The plants and trees here have evolved to cope with fire. Low-lying bushes that produce berries will soon thrive and, as a result, in four to five years, Jasper will be the bear capital of North America.”

 

There are a variety of foraging tours currently available in Jasper, including a Wildfire Peak-Nic trip sold by Jasper Food Tours that journeys up a prominent local mountain, offering gorgeous views of the Rockies and Athabasca River. On these tours, guides help identify edible foods.

 

I tried a surprisingly tasty spruce needle tea, while the meal I had at the Crimson Hotel’s Terra restaurant (which uses locally farmed and foraged ingredients, including forest mushrooms and berry mustard) was truly memorable.

 

Jasper is a place of hope, strength and rejuvenation, where the state’s symbolic flower – the wild rose – once again pushes through darkened ground and makes the most of the sunlight until the forest fully returns. Jasper’s spectacular scenery will put your clients’ cameras through their paces, conversations with its people will impart valuable insights and clients will go home with a renewed sense of wonder. However, word spreads like wildfire, so the town is filling up with travellers again – be sure to book well in advance.

 

 

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Book it

 

Canadian Affair sells a 16-night Great Parks of the West fly-drive holiday from £2,069 per person, room-only, based on two sharing on departures from May to October. Includes car hire and international flights. 
canadianaffair.com

 

 

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Getting to Jasper

 

It’s a four-hour drive to Jasper from the nearest international airport in Edmonton, but there are other ways to reach the town.

 

Three Rocky Mountaineer rail itineraries call in on their way to or from Vancouver or Banff. For clients keen on rail but wanting to travel independently, national train service Via Rail connects Jasper to stations across Canada.

 

SunDog Transportation and Tours (pictured) offers one-way sightseeing itineraries from Banff that terminate in Jasper. The tours include stops in Jasper and Banff national parks, the option to board an adapted vehicle to drive onto the Athabasca Glacier, as well as a drive along the dramatic Icefields Parkway – considered to be one of the most scenic drives in the world.

 

A SunDog Transportation and Tours bus.

 

Lead image credit: Shutterstock/Harry Collins Photography