In an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19, Parks Canada has effectively closed Banff National Park to visitors. The Banff COVID-19 closure is effective March 25, 2020 until further notice.
The remote wilderness of Banff National Park is a tempting place to practice social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, but please support Parks Canada and stay home until it’s safe..
Please note that Banff is a National Park and is not included in the May 1, 2020 partial opening of Alberta Provincial Parks. See below for more info on Alberta Provincial park closures.
Parks Canada Banff National Park COVID-19 Updates
Please refer to this Parks Canada page for official Banff COVID-19 updates. This page provides the official updates on:
- Banff road closures
- Banff facilities closures
- Banff visitor services closures
- Banff camping updates
For up-to-the-minute updates, please follow Banff National Park on Facebook and Twitter.
Banff COVID-19 – Local Media Coverage
- May 14: Some national parks will reopen at the beginning of June – Trudeau
- May 14: Town of Banff suspends visitor checkstops
- May 5: Alberta’s top medical doc advises against visiting Banff
- Apr 30: Opening soon: Alberta’s Relaunch Strategy (pdf download)
- Apr 30: Alberta to phase in parks, restaurants and retail stores in newly revealed relaunch strategy
- Apr 29: Banff and Canmore urging Calgary and area neighbours to stay away
- Apr 29: COVID-19 testing now available in Bow Valley
- Apr 28: Banff checkstops turned away 240 weekend day-trippers
- Apr 28: More than 400 people warned for violating public health orders in Banff
- Apr 27: Economy in Banff has ‘collapsed’ as COVID-19 wipes out tourism industry
- Apr 9: Banff starts COVID-19 ‘checkstops’ to dissuade visitors to Alberta mountain town
- Mar 24: Parks Canada shuts down public access to national parks
Alberta Parks COVID-19 Update
The mountain parks of Kananaskis and Bow Valley Provincial Park are under the jurisdiction of the Alberta provincial government. Please refer to this Alberta Parks page for official Alberta Parks COVID-19 updates. This page provides the official updates on:
- Alberta parks road closures
- Alberta campground closures and reservations
- Alberta fire ban
- Backcountry safety
April 30 Update: In the “Early Actions” section of the Alberta Restart Plan, the Alberta government announced:
- Vehicle access to parking lots and staging areas on public land and parks will open on May 1.
- Alberta Parks’ online campground reservation system will open on May 14 for bookings at select campground starting June 1 onward.
- Access to boat launches will open in select provincial parks May 1
Take a Virtual Trip to Banff
Just because you can’t visit Banff National Park in person, doesn’t mean you can’t take a virtual trip to Banff. Scratch that Rocky Mountain itch with these virtual Banff National Park resources:
- Banff on YouTube
- Banff in Google Street View
- Amazing Pictures of Banff Wildlife
Plan Your Trip to Banff
We’re locals who are passionate about our beautiful backyard. We’d love for you to visit Banff when it’s safe to do so.
We launched Travel Banff Canada in 2019, so we’re still small but are growing fast. We invite you to browse our Banff planning resources on our website. We don’t have it all on our site yet, so you won’t go wrong with the Banff & Lake Louise Tourism webpage.