The hiking in the Canadian Rockies is so good that any trip there should hit at least one or two trails. The options can be overwhelming, but most key hikes are detailed below and should provide enough of a selection for anyone not on a dedicated hiking trip.

The Best Park?

It's hard to pick one park or area above another for the quality of the hikes. There are great hikes of every length to be had in all of them. That said for multi-day hikes Jasper National Park tends to have the edge, while Waterton Lakes NP is hard to beat for day-hikes.

Maps & Visitor Centres

We don't always provide a sketch map of the routes as National Park trails are generally excellently marked and their Visitor centres also have plenty of good free maps.

You should plan to call in at a visitor centre before hiking anywhere, in case of trail closures which frequently occur. Visitor centres also sell all the various detailed topo maps which only tend to be needed on longer and more remote expeditions.

Overnight backpacking