Summer visits to Banff National Park continued to rise this year, on track for an attendance record in the country’s most-popular wilderness destination.

While businesses in the park are happy with the trend, conservationists say it underlines their concerns on the growing impact on wildlife.

From April 1 to Aug. 31, a total of 2,580,221 independent visitors — which doesn’t include those travelling in groups — entered Canada’s oldest national park, compared to 2,373,676 over the same time last year, an increase of about eight per cent.

“This continues the steady year-over-year growth we typically see,” said Parks Canada spokeswoman Kelly Veillette.

From April 1 to the end of October, non-group visitors to the park numbered 3,316,762, also an eight per cent jump over 2024-2025.

That co

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