Molar Pass is the best place for solitude on my list of five wildflower hikes along the Icefields Parkway.

It should come as no surprise that the Icefields Parkway has some of the best wildflower hikes in the Canadian Rockies.

First off, let’s be perfectly clear about alpine wildflowers. These are not the big, showy flowers that hikers find in lush, well-watered subalpine meadows just below the treeline. True alpine flowers only grow above treeline, in the sparse, rocky expanse of windblown ridges. Alpine flowers seldom rise more than 3 or 4 cms above the surface of this harsh, desert-like environment.

On July 7th, we were hiking on a ridge at 2500m. Wherever there was a veneer of soil, white mountain avens covered the slopes,  barren shale beds were dotted with the wonderfully symmetrical alpine hawksbeard, and there wasn’t a speck of snow. Two years ago, at the end of July, we were enjoying the blooms of moss campion and alpine forget-me-nots on a much lower ridge, and there were lingering snowbanks.

I recently bumped into Andre Renner, co-owner of Assiniboine Lodge, and he was lamenting that this premature bloom might not survive until August. A dose of moisture over the past week may have revived some of these high wildflowers, but true alpine blooms seldom last more than a week or two.

So if you’re up for lofty wildflower viewing, you’ll have to hurry. Here are five of my favourite wildflower hikes, all originating from the 127-km southern stretch of the Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and the Columbia Icefield. Treeline is around 2300m in this section of the Canadian Rockies, so a bit of climbing is required. One-way distances are given below, with full details in the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide:

Molar Pass—10.2 km

Helen Lake-Dolomite Pass—8.9 km*

Bow Summit Lookout—3.1 km

Parker Ridge—2.7 km

Wilcox Pass—4.0 km

And if you still prefer the lush subalpine flower meadows filled with Indian paintbrush, purple fleabane, valerian, and yellow ragwort, never fear. You’ll encounter plenty of those along these trails as well.