Hiking in Banff & Jasper National Parks 2025

For many people, Canada evokes images of fantastic mountain sceneries, snow-capped peaks, roaring waterfalls, clear lakes, and rare wildlife. While hiking these vast expanses, visitors can soak in hot springs, take a raft or a canoe, watch bears feeding in their natural habitat and so on.

More than 7,500 people call Banff National Park their home. The town of Jasper is the place where locals will welcome you like a good old friend and even the wildlife can be seen in town.

Whether you are searching for hard hikes with skyline views of the Canadian Rockies or more relaxed strolls to take photos of nature or wildlife, there are suitable trails to be found both in Banff and Jasper.

The Sulphur Skyline trail begins next to the Miette hot springs. It passes along a wide horse track before bending through the forest where you can make your way above the tree line. A 360-degree panorama can then be relished at the ridge-line summit.

The Skyline trail is a world-famous multi-day hike that starts near Maligne Lake and finishes close to Maligne Canyon with the best views taking place between Tekkara and the Curator Campsites. The walk can last two, three or four days.

Сarved by many years of erosion, the Maligne Canyon hike takes only one hour. The best views can be witnessed between the first and fourth bridges. The best time to complete the hike is before 8:30 as the path can get very busy afterwards.

You should always remember to stretch and fuel up before hiking a vertical kilometre from Helen Lake to the summit of Cirque Peak. Despite difficulties, this is one of the fastest ways to reach a peak in Banff.

As the higher alpine and sub-alpine trails are snowcapped and the risk of avalanches lasts until late June or longer, the best time to hike in Banff and Jasper National Park is from July to mid-September.