Magnificent bighorn sheep in Jasper National Park and the Canadian Rockies

Bighorn sheep are magnificent creatures and one of the more common Jasper National Park wildlife sightings.

If you spend a few days or a weeks in the Canadian Rockies during the summer, you have a good chance of seeing bighorn sheep somewhere during your journey. You may see them walking alongside the road or while you are out hiking (for instance, while hiking Wilcox Pass).

On Highway 16 along the Athabasca River is a good place to look for them as you drive from Miette Hot Springs to Jasper townsite attractions. Also keep a watch out for bighorn sheep on the drive from Highway 16 to Maligne Lake.

If and when you do spot some bighorn sheep, you’ll have to wonder what a wonderful animal like that is doing in such a place as Jasper National Park – with Jasper’s cold winters and harsh environment.

Theodore Roosevelt, in writing about bighorn sheep, said “There exists no animal more hardy, nor any better fitted to grapple with the extremes of heat and cold. Droughts, scanty pasturage, or deep snows make it shift its ground, but never mere variation of temperature.” I guess that’s why the cold winter weather of Jasper National Park means little to the bighorn sheep, who continues to go about its business.

The biggest threat to bighorn sheep, like so many other species, is the loss of land. National parks and other protected lands are among its last refuges.

Bighorn sheep photos

In this selection of bighorn sheep photos, you’ll see bighorn sheep in Jasper National Park and a variety of places in western Canada and beyond. The males are called rams and have the big rounded horns. The females are called ewes and have small pointed horns.

The first few bighorn sheep photos below are from traveler dancingnomad3 who took lots of great pictures of bighorn sheep while hiking on Wilcox Pass and other areas in Jasper National Park.

Ewes

More ewes

These bighorn sheep were spotted at Medicine Lake, in Jasper National Park.

Another bighorn sheep in Jasper National Park

A bighorn sheep family in Banff National Park – In Banff National Park, look for bighorn sheep near Lake Minnewanka and Sulphur Mountain, and, like in Jasper, along roadsides, rivers and lakes throughout the park. They can be almost anywhere!

A gathering of bighorn sheep along a river

If you are unable to see any in Jasper, but, like me, enjoy the national park experience, you may also find bighorn sheep in nearby Banff National Park and even much further south in much warmer places like Grand Canyon National Park.