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Travel Alberta, All Rights Reserved Written by: Travel Alberta
From trekking into classic teahouses and charming backcountry lodges to around-town strolls, Banff's hiking trails are one of the most extensive hiking networks on earth.
Pretend the Canadian Rockies are a pair of tall, stiff hiking boots. Lacing up those boots are Banff's hiking trails that zigzag, or switchback, over meadows of delicate alpine flowers and rugged passes ending at the top of the boot, or, in some cases 10,000 foot summits. With more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of trails, Canada's oldest national park, Banff, is simply a byword for scenic splendor and nowhere do you get a finer sense of its storied past and current pristine beauty than on Banff's hiking trails.
The birth of Banff National Park
Banff's network of hiking trails is linked to the very founding of Canada's first national park and the world's third. The tale goes that in 1883 three Canadian Pacific Railway workers spotted a plume of steam rising from a crack in a rock. Stumbling upon a cave, bubbling with hot springs Banff National Park was born, two years later. Spanning 2,564 square miles (6,641 sq. km), the town of Banff in the late 1800s became a world-class resort featuring an ultra-luxe CPR hotel (the Banff Springs, now a Fairmont property), the Upper Hot Springs (which now feeds several swank spas) and base camps where horsepacking trips and intrepid hikers ventured and still do! In fact, in Banff National Park's many museums you'll find archival photos of women, such as American Mary chaffer, in petticoats gallantly trudging up mountain passes to view spectacular cirques and high alpine lakes.
Banff Rocky Mountain Hiking
Today, those hikers are more likely outfitted in fleece and Gore-Tex, but their pursuit is the same to leave the pavement for a sense of adventure. The two main hubs for hikers in Banff National Park fan out from the park's two mountain resorts Banff and Lake Louise. From short interpretive ambles, often organized by local Alberta hiking guides or Parks Canada staff . . . to day hikes, even two-week-long epics there's also a myriad of overnight backcountry opportunities, besides camping. Before attempting any of Banff's hiking trails, however, you should visit the Banff Visitor Centre (224 Banff Ave.) or the Lake Louise Visitor Centre (beside Samson Mall in the tiny townsite of Lake Louise) where staff can advise you on the condition of trails and deliver hiking maps, Alberta hiking tour information and backcountry permits, if necessary.
Some of the easy hikes that cradle the town of Banff, (pop. 5,000) are as short as the 1.2 mile-long Fenland Trail (great spot to see beavers and elk), Tunnel Mountain (990 ft. elevation gain over 1.4 miles/ best view of this pretty town) and the three-mile Bow River/Hoodoo stomp. Just a five-minute drive away whisks you to several other trailheads such as the Cascade Amphitheatre (a 2,000 ft. gain up to fantastic subalpine meadows, full of wildflowers in July), Cory Pass (a relentless climb of 3,020 ft. but that leads into a stunning echo chamber, Gargoyle Valley) and Rock Isle Lake (a 1.6 mi jaunt from Sunshine Village ski resort through an alpine meadow where more than 300 species of flowers have been recorded).
Enormous system of Banff hiking trails
Although it's impossible to name all of Banff's hiking trails we'd be remiss not to mention those around Lake Louise (the most photographed lake in the world). Three major valleys – Louise, Paradise and Moraine are laced with popular hikes, two of which lead to historic backcountry teahouses (Lake Agnes and Plain of Six Glaciers) and others that take you over scenic jaw-droppers such as Larch Valley's Sentinel Pass and Eiffel Lake. However, for an overnight adventure, lace up those boots and trek eight miles into Lake Louise's Skoki Lodge (one of National Geographic Traveler's top 10 backcountry getaways in 2004) or take the slightly longer Banff hiking trail to Shadow Lake Lodge or Sundance Lodge (both in Banff National Park). Budget travelers or those comfortable with very basic digs should explore the network of backcountry huts that Parks Canada, the Alpine Club and the Hostelling Association operate all within Banff and Jasper National Parks and often right alongside a Banff hiking trail.
Those intent on an epic, long-distance trek or technical climb can hire a qualified mountain guide (through the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides), join an organized hiking tour through numerous companies or embark independently on the rugged 85-mile-long Great Divide Trail, the 33-mile-long Jonas Pass Trail, the 44-mile long Castleguard Meadows Trail, and so forth. However, what most hikers do is choose an area such as Molar Pass, Skoki Valley or Egypt Lake, where numerous trails tumble in to, and then use one or two campsites as basecamps and explore from there.
Alberta hiking season : Dependent on the snow line, many of Banff's hiking trails don't open until July (but stay open until October) but the front ranges can open as early as late May.
Long distance hiking tours : Many of the classics, such as the Great Divide Trail or the Rockwall, cross into other Rocky Mountain parks such as Jasper, Kootenay or Yoho.
One-stop hiking : If you want to stay at a property that offers guided services and heritage hikes, consider ultra-luxe Fairmont properties such as the Banff Springs, Chateau Lake Louise and Jasper Park Lodge or the Relais & Chateaux property, the Post Hotel.
Golfing anyone: If one member loves to hike but the other wants to golf, discover the Canadian Rocky's signature courses.
Scenic Drives: One of the world's most spectacular drives is the Icefields Parkway . . . 138 miles of glacier-studded peaks, viewpoints, hikes that stretch from Lake Louise to Jasper.
The pride behind our parks: Discover the goods on Canada's Rocky Mountain parks and why Canadians so fiercely protect them.
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