It provides more immediate access to attractions in Banff National Park such as Castle Mountain and Johnston Canyon.

This spur has a reduced speed limit of 60 km/h (37 mph), and provides opportunities to view wildlife at various times of the year.

Parks Canada introduced planned and marked pullovers along the route to enhance and educate visitors about the region.

[3] Parks Canada enacted seasonal travel restrictions along the Bow Valley Parkway on a 17 km (11 mi) segment between the Johnston Canyon Campground and the Fireside Picnic Area (adjacent to the Highway 1 eastern junction).

The second of the 1A routes, known as the Bow Valley Trail, begins in Canmore, off of the Trans-Canada Highway at exit 91.

[1] From exit 91, it heads eastbound, along the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks, until it reaches the Hamlet of Exshaw.

[1] Just east of Highway 1X, Bow Valley Trail narrows and the speed limit is reduced to 80 km/h (50 mph) for approximately thirty kilometres as it passes through the Stoney-Nakoda First Nation, where warning signs that there may be livestock and/or pedestrians on the road are posted.

Shortly after resuming its normal speed limit, the highway skirts the north shore of Ghost Lake, a manmade glacier lake that is a popular spot for Calgary's boating and sailing enthusiasts in the summer, as well as ice sailing in the winter.

[9] A former section of Highway 1A exists along the former Kicking Horse Trail, the original road between Lake Louise and Golden, British Columbia that opened in 1926.

[12] It began at British Columbia Highway 1, 3 km (2 mi) west of the Alberta border in Yoho National Park.

It meandered eastward through Kicking Horse Pass to Lake Louise, generally paralleling the main Highway 1 and CPR rail line to the south.

[18][20] Once in Cypress County, it is referred to as the Old Trans-Canada Highway, while in Redcliff and Medicine Hat, it goes by South Railway Avenue and Saamis Drive.

[1] It serves as the only Bow River crossing between Canmore to the west and Mînî Thnî to the east, providing access to First Nations lands and communities in the area.