Banff Hiking Tips For First-Time Visitors

Banff National Park is one of the most spectacular hiking destinations in Canada, but it can be harder to navigate than many first-time visitors expect. Some of the most famous Banff hikes require shuttle planning, popular trailheads fill early, and trail conditions can change quickly.

If you want a successful time hiking in Banff, a little planning is essential. I’ve been hiking in Banff my entire life and have shared everything you need to know in these Banff hiking tips. They will help you choose better hikes, prepare properly, and avoid some of the mistakes that can derail a day in the mountains.

Understand Banff’s Access Challenges Before You Choose Your Hikes

If you are hiking in Banff for the first time, don’t assume you can pick a hike, drive to the trailhead at any time of day, and find parking. Many of the most popular hiking trails in Banff require that you take a Parks Canada shuttle, so it’s imperative you learn about the shuttle system in Banff National Park.

Lake Louise and Moraine Lake Shuttles

As with many popular national parks around the world, Banff National Park struggles to deal with the large number of visitors who wish to see its most beautiful destinations. For years, visitors to Banff would arrive at Moraine Lake and/or Lake Louise, only to find the parking lots hopelessly full.

In an effort to ensure everyone can see Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, while minimizing the impact on the surrounding ecosystem, Parks Canada has implemented shuttle service to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake.

If you want to see these two top Banff destinations, the most important Banff hiking tip is to read our posts on the Lake Louise shuttle and the Moraine Lake shuttle. Otherwise, you may go home disappointed.

Parking is Limited – Arrive Early

Moraine Lake and Lake Louise are not the only two hiking destinations in Banff which can get very crowded in the peak hiking season between the Victoria Day long weekend (in May) and the end of larch season (in late September).

If you’re hiking during peak season, do yourself a favor and arrive at the trailhead early. As a general rule, the trailhead parking lots in Banff are a modest size and can fill up by mid-morning.

Please resist parking on the highway when the parking lots are full. Not only is this dangerous for you and the other cars on the road, but RCMP have been aggressively ticketing cars parked illegally around popular Banff hikes.

Don’t Assume You Need a Car for Every Banff Hike

As you can see, the number of cars around Banff National Park is a challenge. One of the best Banff hiking tips I can give is to learn how to go hiking without a car, as you can reach the majority of the popular hikes in the national park by public transit. You can choose between these excellent hikes around Banff National Park without a car or these hikes in the Town of Banff which don’t require a car.

Choose the Right Area of Banff for Your Hike

Banff National Park is a huge mountain playground with a wide variety of hiking areas to choose from. If this is your first time hiking in Banff, we can help you choose.

Lake Louise: With some of the most famous hiking trails in Banff, Lake Louise is my favorite hiking area in the national park. See your best options in our list of the best Lake Louise hikes.

Moraine Lake: With the dramatic Valley of Ten Peaks, Moraine Lake is another exceptional hiking area in Banff. See our favorite hikes in Moraine Lake.

Lake Minnewanka: A short drive from the townsite, Lake Minnewanka is the biggest lake in the park and home to some excellent hiking trails. See options for all skill levels in the best Lake Minnewanka hikes.

Town of Banff: If you are staying in the townsite, there are many excellent hikes in the Town of Banff. These can be especially useful if you don’t have shuttle reservations or simply want to avoid driving.

Check Out Our Many Banff Hiking Resources

Hiking is one of our favorite things to do in Banff National Park. If you are looking for information about a specific hiking trail in Banff National Park, chances are we have a post about it. If you are new to hiking in Banff, you should know a little bit about the hiking trail you are setting out to do.

We have over 80 blog posts about hiking trails in the Canadian Rockies on our website. Knowing what you are getting into is very important, so we recommend you read the blog post for your intended Banff hike before setting out.

Don’t know where to start? Check out the best easy hikes in Banff National Park.

Want to know my favorite hike in Banff National Park? Check out the Plain of Six Glaciers hike in Lake Louise.

Check Parks Canada Trail Conditions Every Time

The Parks Canada website has a Banff hiking trail conditions page for its most popular hiking trails in the national park. Visit this page before every hike to see current trail conditions, any wildlife warnings, avalanche warnings, and any closures or advisories.

Banff Weather Can Change Fast, Even in Summer

As you might imagine, it’s pretty hard to forecast the weather in Banff National Park. Banff’s mountainous terrain on the leeward side of the Continental Divide makes the weather hard to predict from hour to hour. I recommend you check the Banff weather forecast on the Environment Canada website as well as The Weather Network.

Note that Environment Canada only publishes a “Banff weather forecast“, but The Weather Network is a bit more specific with a “Banff Forecast” and a “Lake Louise Forecast“

We can get some real crazy weather in Banff National Park. It can get hot and sunny in the middle of winter, or conversely, it can snow in the middle of summer.

The main point of this Banff hiking tip is that you need to be prepared for a sudden change in the weather. I expect most of you will be reading this expecting to enjoy favorable weather during the prime Banff hiking season. And, for the most part, you will likely enjoy great weather. But, always have some extra clothing in your day bag just in case.

I can’t count the number of times I wish I had brought a toque or gloves on a hike, even in the middle of summer. It can get surprisingly cold in windy mountain valleys, when the sun hides behind a mountain peak, or during a surprise thunderstorm.

At a minimum, take a few moments to read our guide on what to wear for hiking in Banff – you’ll be glad you did!

Wildlife Rules in Banff Are Not Optional

No discussion about Banff hiking tips would be complete without talking about wildlife safety. I mean, there are bears, cougars and other predators living in these mountains. Although the chances of a dangerous wildlife encounter in Banff are very low, you are responsible for your own safety while hiking in Banff.

This is a very important topic, so we will defer to the experts at Parks Canada. Before hiking in Banff National Park, we strongly encourage you to read the Parks Canada tips on Bear Safety and Cougar Safety.

Bear spray is essential equipment when hiking in Banff. If you are visiting Banff, buying bear spray is a small expense compared to the cost of your overall trip. You can either buy bear spray or rent it at a local sporting goods store for the duration of your trip to Banff.

Before buying bear spray, check with your hotel or accommodation. Some properties in Banff and Canmore offer bear spray for guest use, but policies vary.

Navigation, Gear, and Backup Planning

As a general rule, Parks Canada has done an excellent job marking the hiking trails around Banff with good signage. That said, they are not perfect, and sometimes it’s hard to know which way you should go, which can be a little scary in the middle of a dark forest in the Canadian Rockies.

AllTrails App

When I go hiking in Banff National Park (and around the world for that matter), I always use the AllTrails app (a recent App of the Year winner) on my phone. As you can see by my activity screen, I have logged over 400 activities around Banff on AllTrails!

I use AllTrails for hiking around Banff for a variety of reasons:

I use it to determine the overall difficulty of the hike and estimate the time it will take.

I download the hiking trail map onto my phone before leaving home, so I have access to it even without a cell signal. (It’s rare to have a reliable cell signal on hiking trails in Banff).

While on the trail, I record my progress on AllTrails. Not only does this allow me to look at my hiking stats at the end of the hike, but it allows me to see my current position vs. the actual hiking trail.

Despite the amount of hiking I have done around Banff, I still make wrong turns all the time. Having my progress shown on my phone shows me when I am off course, and allows me to easily retrace my steps until I am back on the right track.

A recent App of the Year winner, AllTrails is also one of the best apps for visiting Banff! Enjoy map downloads and many more premium features with a 7-day free trial of AllTrails+!

Gem Trek Topographical Maps

Although I find AllTrails to be quite accurate in Banff National Park, local safety officials warn hikers not to be solely reliant on hiking apps. The maps can be wrong, your phone can run out of battery, and signal can be unreliable. To mitigate against this risk, local officials have recommended having a paper map and a compass as a backstop.

If you are not from Banff, here’s what I recommend:

Buy the Banff & Mount Assiniboine Map and/or the Lake Louise & Yoho topographical maps by Gem Trek before leaving home. While you are at home planning your hikes for your trip to Banff, these topographical maps will be invaluable.

Then, while you are here hiking in Banff, just tuck your durable Gem Trek map in your day bag. Chances are you won’t need it, but just like gloves and a toque, you’ll be very glad to have it in an emergency.

I love the Gem Trek hiking maps of Banff and I personally own the entire set.

Bring the Right Hiking Gear

There are a wide variety of hiking trails in Banff National Park. Some hikes are easy lakeside strolls, while others are epic journeys deep into mountain valleys or to mountain summits. As you can imagine, the proper hiking gear for each outing will vary depending on the needs of each hiker and hiking trail they will enjoy.

Check out our post on What to Bring Hiking in Banff which details the essential hiking equipment we bring on every hike.

Know Your Hiking Abilities

Sadly, the Search & Rescue teams in Banff and area are an overworked bunch. Ideally, these teams would be in place for the odd rescue mission here and there, but all too often they are called in to rescue hikers who didn’t know their limits.

One of the main draws of Banff National Park is the rugged mountain wilderness. But this is not Disneyland; Banff is the real deal and people can and do get hurt.

If you are new to hiking in Banff National Park, try to choose trails which match your fitness and experience levels. If you need help deciding, this list of Banff hiking trails sorts the hikes by their difficulty levels – from beginner Banff hikes all the way up to the most challenging ones.

Please Respect the Environment

There’s a reason you want to visit Banff National Park – it’s a very special place. I love Banff National Park and all its inhabitants, so please help keep it this way by treating it with respect.

Over 4 million people visit Banff National Park every year. Imagine how it would look if everyone tossed garbage out of their car windows, or disregarded warnings about feeding wildlife. Even if only 1% of visitors treat Banff with disrespect, that’s over 40,000 people per year doing damage to one of the most special places on earth.

This is one of the most important Banff hiking tips of all. What can you do to help?

Wildlife encounters in Banff are very exciting, but please keep a safe distance from the animals. They are beautiful, but wild and unpredictable. Please refer to Parks Canada Top tips to respect wildlife and stay safe for more information.

Along the same lines, never feed any animals in Banff, no matter how cute and/or hungry they appear to be.

Chipmunks are the worst offenders on popular Banff hikes; they are fearless and have learned how to look really cute and oh-so-hungry in order to get their little paws on human food. But, human food is terrible for them and they will not properly prepare for winter.

This is vitally important to know… If you feed a bear, you are essentially killing that bear. Bears are very easily conditioned to love human food, and if they get even a single taste, they will seek out populated areas to find more. This never ends well for the bears. I love bears more than anything and I beg you not to feed them.

While hiking in Banff, bring along a little garbage bag so you can pack out all your trash. Of all the places I’ve hiked around the world, the hiking trails in Banff are among the cleanest I’ve seen. Let’s help keep it this way.

In the US, the park rangers teach kids to pick up three pieces of garbage on every hike they do. I just love this idea. Imagine if everyone did this?

And there you have it – a lifetime of Banff hiking experience summarized into one short article. I hope you find these Banff hiking tips useful and help enrich your visit to the Canadian Rockies!