Canadian Rockies Hiking Blog
Backpacking Banff’s Dormer-Panther Circuit
More and more backpackers are exploring Banff National Park's Front Ranges every year. Mostly they enter the region on the Red Deer River, either from the headwaters at Red Deer Lakes or from the park's eastern boundary at Ya Ha Tinda Ranch. But there's little...
Classic Loop Hikes in Banff and Yoho
Most of the day hikes in the Canadian Rockies are one way, up-and-back. But there's no doubt hikers prefer loop trips, or circuits, that don't require retracing their steps. Here are a few of the best. One of my favourite guidebooks is the UK's Classic Walks in the...
Hiking in Smoke: The new normal?
Climate change has replaced cloudy skies and rainy days with forest fire smoke in the Mountain Parks. The summer of 2021 is no exception.
10 favourite waterfall hikes
Springtime is the unofficial start of the hiking season in Canada’s National Parks and the best time to visit some of the Rockies’ spectacular waterfalls.
New access to Banff’s most popular trails
Update September 3, 2021: Parks Canada reopened the eastern 17 kms of the Bow Valley Parkway between Fireside and Johnston Canyon to vehicles on September 1st. This section of the Parkway was closed to vehicles and used primarily by cyclists from June 1st. Banff...
Floe Lake—a poem by David Zieroth
Sometimes moving through landscape can become art. In the mid-1970s, David (aka Dale) Zieroth was working as a park naturalist in Kootenay National Park when he hiked on an overnight to Floe Lake with some of his Parks Canada colleagues. The poem that came out of that...
Hiking around Storm Mountain Lodge
The original Guide to Hiking Trails in the vicinity of Storm Mountain Lodge was published in 1978. The text and design was created by then lodge co-owner Jim Thorsell. After the lodge changed ownership, the book was out of print for three decades. Many things changed...
The Great Divide Trail—1970
The Provisional Trail Guide and Map for the Great Divide Trail was published in 1970. It contains a description for the original route, which remains useful to backpackers today.
Last Tango on Stoney Squaw
Some of the most popular short-hike destinations in the Bow Valley have experienced name changes over the past 40 years or may do so soon.