Castle Junction is a crossroads in the forest at the foot of Castle Mountain, and the mountain is the reason you remember it. The peak rises as a long, battlemented wall of layered limestone, about 2,700 metres at its highest, with ledges and towers that really do suggest a fortress. It was named in the 1850s by a geologist who saw the shape from the valley, and in 1946 Canada renamed it Mount Eisenhower to honour the general, an unpopular change that was partly reversed in 1979 when the name was restored to the main mountain, with the Eisenhower name left for one tower.
The junction is where the Bow Valley Parkway meets Highway 93, the road that runs south through the Kootenay National Park toward Radium Hot Springs and the Columbia Valley. It is a quiet place, with a few buildings, a little roadside accommodation and the ghost of a larger story. During the First World War, a camp near here held Ukrainian and other European immigrants who had been declared enemy aliens, and who were made to work building roads and clearing land. A small marker remembers the internment, and it is a sober thing to read in a place of such beauty.
For motorcyclists, this is a good point at which to decide between two excellent rides. Go west along the parkway toward Lake Louise and the road is an easy, flowing route through the forest. Turn south on Highway 93 and you climb to Vermilion Pass, cross the Continental Divide into Kootenay National Park, and descend into a landscape of burnt forest, bright flowers, and a red-stained canyon. The tarmac is generally excellent, with long smooth curves, and traffic is moderate, though in summer it can be busy with campers.
The Bow Valley is wolf, elk and bear country, and the forest here has been shaped by fire. Look for the grey snags of burnt trees and the carpet of fireweed that follows. Weather in the Rockies is very changeable, and a bright morning can become rain or hail by afternoon, so carry waterproofs and a warm layer, even in July. Dawn and dusk are the best times for light and wildlife, and the lowest for traffic.
There are no big services at the junction. Lake Louise, about thirty kilometres from here, and Banff, farther in the other direction, have fuel, and Castle Mountain's roadside lodging runs a small cafe in season. Remember that you are in a national park, and a pass is required. Buy it at the gate, keep the receipt, and take a moment to enjoy the view of the mountain in the evening light.