Canadian Rockies Hiking Blog
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...
Summit Trail Makers: Volunteering for trails
Parks and wilderness recreation managers across North America are increasingly turning to volunteer trail crews to help maintain backcountry facilities. With the exception of the Jasper Trail Alliance, Parks Canada has rejected volunteer help, despite a steady...
Post wildfire recovery in Waterton Park
It is estimated that 30% of Waterton Lakes National Park was burned by the Kenow wildfire that swept through the park in mid-September. The scenes of charred forest and buildings left park fans, including hikers, wondering what the future holds. For many who spent...
Review: Katadyn BeFree Microfilter
After years of searching for the perfect water filter for the backcountry, I recently discovered the Katadyn BeFree Microfilter with Hydrapak 0.6L flask—a water filter and soft, collapsible bottle that comes very close to the good old days of scooping water...
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...
Waterton Park: After the Kenow Wildfire
As autumn snow dusts the peaks down to the 2000-m level, Waterton Park has reopened, more or less, and is licking its wounds following the Kenow wildfire, the most devastating forest fire in the park's history. The townsite is open for business and visitors are...
Wildfire evacuation alert in Waterton Park
Update September 8, 2017—Parks Canada ordered a mandatory evacuation of all remaining visitors and residents from Waterton townsite this afternoon. The order was the result of a weather forecast predicting increasing westerly winds tonight and tomorrow...
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...
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...