Rising visitation has exacerbated crowd pressures at popular attractions such as Johnson Canyon, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake

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.

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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 Veil

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