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JASPER 's small-town feel comes as a relief after the razzmatazz of Banff: its streets still have the windswept, open look of a frontier town and, though the mountains don't ring it with quite the same majesty as Banff, you'll probably feel the town better suits its wild surroundings. Situated at the confluence of the Miette and Athabasca rivers, its core centres around just two streets: Connaught Drive , which contains the bus and train terminal, restaurants, motels and park information centre, and - a block to the west - the parallel Patricia Street , lined with more shops, restaurants and the odd hotel. The rest of the central grid consists of homely little houses and the fixtures of small-town life: the post office, library, school and public swimming pool. Apart from the Yellowhead Museum & Archives at 400 Pyramid Rd, with its fur trade and railroad displays (mid-May to early Sept daily 10am-9pm; early Sept to Oct daily 10am-5pm; Nov to mid-May Thurs-Sun 10am-5pm; $3 or donation; tel 852-3013) and a cable car , nothing here even pretends to be a tourist attraction; this is a place to sleep, eat and stock up. If you're interested in getting to know a little more about the town or park from the locals, contact the Friends of Jasper National Park (tel 852-4767), who offer guided walks between July and August, or pick up Jasper: A Walk in the Past from local bookshops. If you're still itching for something to do and have a car, a lot of people head 58km northeast of town for a dip in Miette Hot Springs . Though Jasper doesn't get as crowded as Banff, it still receives around three million visitors annually, so accommodation, especially in summer, can be extremely tight, though there are numerous B&B options. You are also especially stuck if you don't have a vehicle; trailheads and the best scenery are a long way from downtown. Bikes can be rented at several places and intermittent shuttle services and organized tours can run you out of town to Maligne Lake , to various trailheads and to some of the more obvious attractions.
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