Category Archives: Banff National Park

Finding the trail to Castleguard Meadows

The old trail to Castleguard Meadows via the Alexandra and Castleguard Rivers is a tough slog. But those who make it there, either by the fading trail or over the Saskatchewan Glacier, will never forget this remarkable region. Finding the way on this remote route, unmaintained track in Banff Park’s northern reaches is not a walk in the park. Any signage on the route dates to the dark ages, and […]

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Banff’s Sawback Trail: The Fitch Variation

Every once in awhile, one of our contributors comes up with a better itinerary than what we feature in the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide. That happened this month when Gavin Fitch sent us a report on his seven-day trip this August along Banff’s Sawback Range. We write-up the Sawback Trail as a fairly direct 73-km trip from Mount Norquay to Lake Louise via Mystic, Pulsatilla and Boulder Passes. But Gavin’s […]

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Wildfires close trails in Kootenay, Banff

Parks Canada has closed a number of trails in Kootenay and Banff National Parks due to wildfires that have been burning and expanding since late July. The Mount Wardle Fire in Kootenay Park has had the biggest impact, resulting in partial closure of Highway 93S, and the closing of Kootenay Park Lodge and all trails in the core area of the park, including the popular Floe Lake and Rockwall Trail […]

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Online Backcountry Booking Comes to Banff, Yoho and Kootenay

Building on the online backcountry reservation system unveiled for Jasper two years ago, Parks Canada is expanding the system to include Banff, Yoho and Kootenay in 2018. The system will become fully operational at 8:00 am MST on March 1st, providing an online means of reserving all backcountry campsites in the three parks, as well as Jasper, for the duration of the year. The new system launches at a good […]

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Backpacking Banff’s remote Front Ranges

  Each summer, Calgary hiker Jim Shipley organizes a multi-day backpacking trip into the remote valleys and passes of Banff or Jasper Park, exploring country that he and his buddies haven’t visited before. While Jim contacts us for pre-trip tips, we always receive more information than we provide. Following his trek, he composes a detailed report with photos and sends it along for use in this blog—reports that always provide revisions for […]

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Fire hazard forces closure of BC parks

As British Columbia experiences its worst wildfire season ever, the BC Wildfire Service has closed access to the backcountry in the Rocky Mountain Forest District in the province’s southeast corner, which includes Mount Assiniboine, Elk Lakes and Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Parks. This closure also restricts access to most of the trails in the Sunshine Meadows area of Banff National Park, including the popular hike to Rock Isle Lake, Larix and Grizzly Lakes. […]

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Castleguard Meadows revisited

The trail to the Castleguard Meadows via Alexandra and Castleguard Rivers has never been easy. But since we first included it in the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide, there has been no maintenance and things have only gotten worse. A few intrepid backpackers make the journey each summer, either via the 35-km trail or cross-country over the Saskatchewan Glacier. Here is a current look at the entire route, trail and glacier, as travelled […]

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Wildfire closes Banff, Kootenay trails

Update July 31, 2017—Trails in the Sunshine Meadows and north along the Bow Valley Highline (Simpson Pass, Healy Pass, Egypt Lake, Whistling Pass) reopened Wednesday, July 26. But increased fire activity prompted Parks Canada to close the trails and Sunshine Village again on Monday, July 31st. For the latest on fire activity and closures, check Parks Canada’s daily Verdant Creek Fire Update.  A lightning-ignited wildfire in Kootenay Park’s Verdant Creek valley has forced Parks […]

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High country snow lingers on park trails

An above average snowpack in the Mountain Parks will likely plague many high trails until late July this year. Trails above 2200m (7,200ft) on north and east facing slopes will be particularly vulnerable to lingering snow banks. While snowpack tracked close to normal through the first half of the winter, there was a big surge in accumulations at all recording stations in March and near-record peaks by the beginning of May. Warm weather […]

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New eBook guides to National Park trails

A new series of trail guides in eBook format has been published by Summerthought. Designed for Kindle readers, tablets and iPhones, and utilizing the free Kindle app, the series works as an affordable alternative or supplement to the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide. Each guide includes trail summaries, descriptions, and km-by-km distance outlines from the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide plus two features lacking in the print edition—a colour photo and  map for each […]

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