What makes our Banff hiking tours truly special is how deeply we immerse ourself in the Rockies on guided backcountry hikes, while still capturing the iconic attractions and sights. While most tours proudly bring you to the main tourist hot spots of the Rockies, we know that the work hasn’t even begun yet, and the real magic lies around the next corner, where few travel and the mountains remain wild and unspoiled. After ten years of perfecting this tour, we have the perfect blend of mainstream sights and time spent exploring the pristine beauty of the mountains. This is our backyard and nobody can do this better than we can. The question is, are you ready to see the real Canadian Rockies?

During your Banff hiking tour, we stay for two nights each in three different locations, which allows us to see the most diverse landscapes, while reducing time in the van— meaning more hiking for you! We spend two nights on the world famous Icefields Parkway, where we are right at the doorstep of Jasper National Park and the Columbia Icefields. This is one of the most photographed roads in the world and you will soon see why! From here we visit Athabasca Glacier for an up close and personal glacier experience, and check some of the famous alpine lakes of the Rockies off our list. We spend two nights in the small and rustic town of Golden, which lies right between Glacier and Yoho National Parks. From here we hike some truly off the beaten path trails, that bring you far from the crowds of Banff and Lake Louise, and into lands completely untamed and as wild as they ever were. Our final stop is the iconic town of Banff, which you must visit at least once in your life. From Banff, we head south and hike in a place most don’t know exists, and where no tour bus would ever venture.

Each night we dine socially as a group, comparing our best photos and tales of the day, growing bolder with each glass of wine. Was it a squirrel you saw, or could it have been a bear?! You’ll have the chance to explore two of these towns, including the famous strip of Banff Avenue. We soak in hot springs, and head out for spontaneous jaunts to capture sunset from a nearby lake, or to try and see the Aurora Borealis. This week isn’t just a hiking vacation— it’s a part of your story, with connections and memories you will cherish for the rest of your life.

Your Fresh Adventures hiking guides pick you and your new travel buddies up from the hotel in downtown Calgary at 2 pm and we head West, into the heart of the Rocky Mountains. We stop for a quick supply and opportunity for you to purchase alcohol in Canmore, before beginning the rest of our drive North through Banff National Park and onto the icefields Parkway. Relax and watch the scenery go by as you get to know your new hiking friends for the next week.

We check into our lodge for the next two nights and enjoy our first group dinner and go through a detailed tour orientation.

Driving: 2.5 Hours
Stay: The Crossing Resort
Pick Up: 2 pm @ The Marriott Downtown Hotel

Today we begin our Banff hiking tour with a trip to Jasper National Park, travelling along the infamous Icefields Parkway. This is one of the most photographed roads in the world and you will soon see why!

As we arrive in Jasper National Park, we are greeted by the Columbia Icefields, which are the largest body of ice in the Canadian Rockies. From here we head up for a guided hike on the Wilcox Pass Trail, or opt to go for a guided glacier ice walking tour.

If you are on the glacier tour, you will head out onto the Athabasca Glacier with special equipment and a professional guide to show you what glaciers are like from very close up!

If you are on the guided hike to Wilcox Pass, you will join our hiking guides to head up through some sunny alpine meadows and gain a breathtaking bird’s eye view of the Athabasca Glacier far below. From our viewpoint we enjoy a picnic lunch and soak in the jaw dropping views at our feet.

After our hike, we visit Peyto Lake, which is one of the most photographed lakes in the Rockies and surely one that you will recognize. While you might think that some of the photos you’ve seen have been enhanced, the glowing blue color of the water never fails to amaze and is truly the brightest natural blue you could imagine. We head for a lesser known lookout that offers the perfect vantage to admire the lake below and try your hand at landscape photography.

Driving: 2 Hours
Typical Hike: Wilcox Pass (10 km, 500 m elevation gain, 3-4 Hours)
Stay: The Crossing Resort

We pack up and check out of our accommodation and begin our journey South, enjoying the views of the morning light along the mountains to the West of us. The Icefields Parkway is best seen in the morning light, so by now you will have covered my of the ground at the best time of day!

We arrive in Yoho National Park and begin our daily hiking tour as a group. “Yoho” is a local Indigenous word meaning “To be in awe”, which is surely something you will experience in Yoho NP.

The first thing you will see if the surreal sight of Takakkaw Falls cascading 250 meters down a sheer rock wall. The water falls so far, most of it turns to mist before it hits the ground! As we begin our hike on the Iceline Trail, we quickly gain elevation and arrive on a ledge where you will have unbelievable views of the waterfall far below you, and picture perfect glacier views of the Emerald Glacier just above us on the mountain side. You can stop to taste the glacier water as we pass over the streams. We travel through some of the dreamiest alpine terrain in the Canadian Rockies for a few hours, passing glaciers, lakes and viewpoints of the distant waterfalls. The Iceline trail is one of the absolute best hikes in Canada!

After our adventure and hike in Yoho National Park, we continue West through Yoho National Park to arrive in the “mountain-chic” town of Golden, where we stay for the next two nights. While Golden may not be as famous as Banff and Jasper, it is an up and coming place that has some incredible food and a fantastic brewery, along with friendly, laid back locals.

Driving: 2 Hours
Typical Hike: Iceline Trail (12 km, 500 m Elevation, 5 Hours)
Stay: Prestige Inn, Golden

Most tourists in the Rockies would never see Glacier NP, but you aren’t like most tourists are you?! You are an explorer! So let’s go and explore one of Canada’s most underrated national parks- Glacier National Park! We head to Roger’s Pass, between Golden and Revelstoke, arriving at the top of the pass, which is renown as the most difficult piece of railroad and highway to stich the entire country Canada together. Here over 140 active avalanche paths wage war against the cars, trucks and trains in the valley bottom each winter. You will pass through the avalanche tunnels and hear stories from your guide of the countless tragedies that have happened here.

On the brighter side, you just passed through the Columbia Trench and are now standing on what used to be the Pacific Ocean, until the Pacific Plate crashed into North America, colliding so fiercely that kilometers thick of rock crumpled up to form the Rockies and the Columbia Mountains, which you are now exploring!

We set out on a guided hike on the Great Glacier Trail or Balu Pass Trail, hiking through towering old growth trees, and through alder thickets until we reach the alpine and break into the most incredible panoramic views of the surrounding mountains. Breathe in some of the freshest air on Earth. You will see Usnea, also known as “Witches Hair” lichen growing on the trees in Glacier NP, which is an indicator that the air is completely pure.

Time permitting, you can enter the visitor’s center and learn more about the local area and the troubled history of the travelers that have passed through here.

Driving: 2 Hours
Typical Hike: Great Glacier Trail (10 km, 400 m Elevation, 4-5 Hours)
Stay: Prestige Inn, Golden

Today is perhaps the climax of the tour as we travel back East through Yoho National Park, bound for Lake Louise. Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are two of the most famous attractions in the Rockies and with the skill of your local guides, we will doge the crowds and show you them from unique angles that most visitors would never dream of.

We typically hike the Plain of Six Glaciers hike, heading out along the shore of Lake Louise and beginning our ascent up the valley, eventually reaching the base of the glacier that you can see far in the distance from the main part of the lake. Along the way we are rewarded with epic perspectives of the towering rock walls to our left, and if we are lucky, some crashing ice as it melts in the morning sun, plummeting down the wall with a thunderous boom echoing all around us. This is a spectacle of the powerful forces of nature and one that you will remember for the rest of your life!

We hike to a historic tea house, built in a beautiful and opportune meadow high in the mountains. This very tea house has been serving tea to visitor’s from all around the world for roughly 150 years. The idea was inspired by the early Swiss visitors to Lake Louise, who pioneered the local mountaineering and made the first ascents of many of the mountains in the area.

While most hikers would head back down at this point, we take the high route, connecting us to Big Beehive where we get some one-of-a-kind views of the lake far below. As we continue, we hike down to Lake Agnes, and pass yet another incredible lake and historic tea house on our way back down to Lake Louise.

After our hike we head up a mountain road to access Moraine Lake, stopping to soak in the views of the surreal blue water and the dramatic rock walls towering above it. This is without a doubt, the most famous view in the Rockies.

We continue to nearby Banff, where we set up for the next two nights in our favourite lodging- The Fox Hotel. This hotel has an incredible courtyard grotto cavern built into it, with a hot, steaming spa for yo to soak in and watch the stars twinkling far above! We head out as a group to walk down Banff Avenue and go out for dinner.

Driving: 2 Hours
Typical Hike: Plain Of Six Glaciers (16 km, 500 m Elevation, 5-6 Hours)
Stay: Fox Hotel, Banff

Wake up in Banff and head out for breakfast and a coffee at a local cafe, before we load up and head out for our guided Banff hiking trip. Today we head a little further south into the wilderness area that is virtually unknown to tourists and even overlooked by most locals- Kananaskis Country. We pass through Canmore and head up into the sub-alpine wilderness, passing Spray Lake and heading south past Kananaskis Lakes. Enjoy views of the unspoiled wilderness in all directions and keep your eyes peeled for moose, as this is the best place to see them!

As we begin our hiking tour, we head up through some gentle slopes strewn in wildflowers and pass into a hanging valley, filled with several incredible alpine lakes, known as the Picklejar Lakes. This is a nice day of hiking in some beautiful wilderness far from the crowds and in places that few people get to see. You may encounter a herd of wildland cattle that hang around eating the herbs and grass around the parking lot too!

As we arrive back in town, we head out for a last dinner as a group and celebrate the amazing week we have all shared. After dinner we visit the Upper Sulphur Mountain Hot Springs for a special soak in the warm, mineral waters to treat ourselves and relax. These springs have been in use for thousands of years, and were what first drew early visitors to this area. The waters are said to have healing properties, so you should be feeling refreshing by the time we are done!

Driving: 2 Hours
Typical Hike: Picklejar Lakes (9 km, 500 m Elevation, 4 Hours)
Stay: Fox Hotel, Banff

This morning we end your Banff tour package with one last guided hike in Grotto Canyon. Grotto Canyon is an incredible walk near Canmore, exploring a narrow slot canyon, carved out by tens of thousands of years of rushing water to form steep, dramatic canyon walls that feel like could swallow you at any moment. Along the path we pass some ancient pictographs left by travelling Navajo nomads some 1300 years ago! Around the next bend we discover a picture perfect little waterfall, and a grotto carved into the mountainside.

After our hiking tour, we travel 1.5 hours back to Calgary, in time to drop you off at 2 pm.

Driving: 1.5 Hours
Drop Off: 2 pm, Calgary Airport & Marriott Downtown Hotel

Our inn based Banff hiking tour is suitable for anyone who loves adventure and is eager to hike for 4-6 hours each day.

We make sure that our guided hikes in Banff are accessible to most active people, with our two professional hiking guides to make sure you can hike at a comfortable pace and feel safe and looked after.

If you love to spend your days outside, being active and don’t mind working up a bit of a sweat, we think you will love this guided hiking tour in Banff.

Basic Requirements:

• Can walk 4-6 hours each day at a moderate pace

• Can comfortably walk up and down stairs

• Are regularly active and moving or exercising (3+) times per week

Our hiking & walking tour packages are filled with warm and welcoming people from all around the world! This is a great place to share your experience with other like minded travelers and have fun in a social setting. Here is a brief overview of what most of our groups look like:

• 12 travelers and 2 guides (6:1)

• 60 percent female/ 40 percent male

• 60 percent solo travelers/ 40 percent couples/ friends

• Ages: 30-75, with an average age around 50, and equal amounts between 30-50 and 50-75

Level 3- Active

• 4-6 Hours Walking Per Day

• 10-18 km (6-12 miles)

• 200-1000 meters elevation gain (600-3000 feet)

Hiking on established trails with a light daypack. Covering 10-18 km (6-12 miles) with elevation gain up to 1000 meters (3000 feet). Typically hiking for 4-6 hours per day.

A typical day on this Banff hiking tour sees you beginning your main hike of the day around 10:30 am, and spending 2-3 hours on your way up, stopping to enjoy the views, take photos and catch your breath. Your guides will split up with one in the front and one in the rear. Faster hikers typically hang up front with one guide, while our second guide is there for the slower hikers, to ensure they are comfortable and having a good time.

Once we reach our destination, we stop for a picnic lunch and enjoy the beautiful alpine landscape for a while. Some hikes you can go for a swim, others you can opt to walk a little further. All have breathtaking views and scenery all around.

We spend roughly 2 hours on our descent and when we return to the van, we usually stop at one or two of the bucket list attractions of the Canadian Rockies on our way back to town.

Tour Start:

We pick you up in Calgary at 2 pm at the Marriott Downtown Hotel.
You can also meet the group in Banff or Canmore at roughly 3:30-4 pm.

Tour End:

We drop you off at the Calgary Airport at 2 pm, or the Marriott Downtown Hotel in Calgary at 2:30 pm.
You can also opt to be dropped off in Banff/ Canmore at the end of your hiking tour.

The summer weather in the Rockies is about as pleasant as it gets, with warm, but not hot temperatures during the day and cool but not too cool temperatures at night, for the most part.

In the summer months, you can expect 25 degrees Celsius (80 degrees f) during the day and 10-15 degrees Celsius at night (50-60 degrees f).

Rain is rare, usually with short showers once a week or less in the summer and snow is very rare.

Early June and September are usually equally pleasant, but have the possibility of temperatures being 10-15 degrees colder. Please pack some warmer options for these dates.

And remember, the Rockies a wild mountain range and anything can happen, so it’s always best to be prepared for anything. We have seen snow in August, and summer temperatures in the middle of winter.

Below is a general packing list for your Banff hiking tour. Please be advised that this list is not exhaustive and you should not replace this list with common sense. If you are susceptible to being cold, please add a warm layer and hat/ gloves.

We recommend packing as much as you can in a carry on bag so you won’t have an issue if your checked bag doesn’t arrive on time. You can pack in a suitcase, duffel bag, or backpack and you won’t have to carry your luggage on your back each day)

• 3 complete warm layering systems that are not cotton (think fleece, polyester, merino wool etc, for top and bottom) It is best to dress in layers so you can adapt to changing weather. A light base layer, with a warmer layer on top and rain jacket will help you stay warm.

• Rain jacket (anything wind and waterproof will work) Rain pants are helpful too.

• Comfortable hiking boots (Anything comfy, stable & blister free & don't mind getting dirty/ wet)

• Bathing suit and towel (for swimming, hot springs and showers along the way)

• A few outfits to wear to dinner and around town. Doesn’t need to be fancy, just something less technical for the restaurants.

• Shoes or sandals to wear around town when you don’t want your hiking boots on

• Socks and underwear (you knew that though I hope)

• Small day pack to carry your personal items on hikes

• Any medications you need (like epi pens, asthma or heart meds, insulin) Very important!

• Suitcase/ duffel bag or back pack for your luggage (we have lots of room, bring whatever works- you won't have to carry it)

• Sunscreen, bug spray, sun glasses, lip chap all help

• At least one 1 liter water bottle (two is ideal)

• Camera for the epic views