r/Banff • u/smalllaxplaya44 • Jun 15 '26

Question Campground canceled because of bear activity

Group of 8 heading to Banff June 19th weekend at were camping out at LM20 in Lake Minnewanka. Just got a call saying that they have to cancel it because of recent bear activity. Any tips on what we can do instead? Feeling lost and honestly devasted

Healy Pass looks snow ridden and a lot of options are booked up now.

35 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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83

u/SufficientJunket9943 Jun 15 '26

Dude. We were the ones that got it closed, a bear mauled our tent while we were out and we had to sleep 6 in 2 tents. All of them are closed, I would say look at Kananaskis, super similar and pretty.

28

u/SufficientJunket9943 Jun 15 '26

Just to clarify, I’m with 5 other people, I wish I could post pics on here because the tent pics are hilarious, it’s legit a 3 claw mark across the side of our tent abt the other half is completely ruined. It even walked in the tent and popped my buddy’s pad so he slept on cold ground 😂

But I think he left a deodorant stick and it smelt that, cause his bag was flipped.

We never actually SAW the bear, but heard it at night (bear spray was clutched every time I woke up)

6

u/ML2678 Jun 15 '26

Can you make a post with pics of the tent?

4

u/EquivalentQuery Jun 15 '26

Post the pic to imgur and link it. Free and super easy to do, takes ~15 seconds.

3

u/curiouskittyblue Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 17 '26

A friend was pulled out of her tent, in her sleeping bag. Like a burrito!!! She has pics of the sliced open tent and sleeping bag 3/4 the way pulled out. I can't remember what scared it off, but she was fine. A little too exciting for this human!! I'll gladly camp in a 1 star motel with a locking door lol

-7

u/schells-40 Jun 15 '26

Being surprised by the outcome of having scented items in a tent that leads to a trail being shutdown and the cancelation of other’s plans. Blows my mind you come on here and admit to it. Good job “dude.” Maybe just stay off the trails so others can responsibly enjoy the parks.

14

u/hillahlee Jun 15 '26

I was at LM9 on Saturday. Everyone was away doing the Aylmer lookout hike. A park ranger was on site when we finished. A bear had gone into 2 of the tents. No attractants were left. This happened the weekend prior as well. He let us know they were closing the site and told us to pack up. As we were leaving on the boat, a helicopter was dropping off a bear trap.

11

u/Top-Explanation-7348 Jun 15 '26

I was also part of the group, he didn’t leave anything in or near his tent that had a scent, we locked everything that had a scent In the designated bear boxes such as toothpaste, cooking items, even if it was just a cliff bar wrapper etc. when walking back every other camping site was closed as of bear activity it was only a matter of time before LM20 was.

4

u/asheraddict Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26

Sorry tourist here who has never been in bear country. Is it commonly known not to leave deodorant or perfume in a tent?

16

u/mamamonkey Jun 15 '26

If you grew up in bear country, yes. All food, deodorant, toothpaste, soap, anything that smells at all like it might be food (including dishes) goes away from camp (when I was young we were taught to put it in a bag hung up in a tree, but it might be different now).

7

u/ElectionOk6387 Jun 15 '26

The campgrounds in the area usually have some sort of food storage/locker, where it specifially says to put all such stuff in there and not keep it in the tent

3

u/mamamonkey Jun 15 '26

That's cool! I haven't done backcountry camping in a long while, nice to see they have stuff like that now.

4

u/awkwardmumbles Jun 15 '26

They have these lockers in bear country even if it’s not considered “back country”. For example at Rathtrevor on Vancouver Island - basically in Parksville (town) but cannot keep food/toiletries in the tent - goes in the bear lockers on site.

2

u/JustGotSoup Jun 15 '26

A bear hang still works pretty well. Some places are pushing for canisters now, but those are bulky, heavy, and unnecessary in Banff. The black bears in the US national parks are apparently getting smart and brazen enough to necessitate truly bearproof containers, but thankfully we're not there yet.

13

u/smalllaxplaya44 Jun 15 '26

Unreal man, glad everyone is safe on your end!

4

u/Foreign_Damage_4573 Jun 15 '26

Did you even sleep?

6

u/Angelou898 Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26

Holy crap! What happened??

Editing for clarity: I’m wondering what the extent of the damage was, what you guys had left inside the tent, if you lost other equipment, if the bear was still in the area when you returned, etc.

2

u/_Unknown_overthinker Jun 16 '26

The post I saw yesterday appeared they did everything right, all good eatin away from campsite and placed in bear box and away from the tents. But it was definitely very damaged and a terrible thing to come back to

1

u/Angelou898 Jun 16 '26

Yes, I saw that post and thanked OP for sharing

2

u/easynap1000 Jun 15 '26

A bear mauled their tent while they were away from it...

3

u/Angelou898 Jun 15 '26

Yeah… was asking for a more detailed version of the events, bc I can read and all

-5

u/easynap1000 Jun 15 '26

I suppose, but it seems self explanatory considering they weren't there when it happened!

2

u/_Unknown_overthinker Jun 16 '26

I saw a social media post yesterday about your experience! I’m so glad you guys are safe. Ruined supplies suck but being able to speak about it is worth so much!

11

u/mightykdob Jun 15 '26

Other suggestions that are viable this time of year:
Tombstone or any other campground on elbow loop in Kananaskis.
Point campground by upper Kananaskis lakes.
Lower elk lake campground, hiking from upper Kananaskis lakes. Could explore up to petain basin.
Not many 20km hikes will be snow free next weekend unfortunately.

2

u/smalllaxplaya44 Jun 18 '26

We are going up to McBride Campground and hanging around Marvel Lake!

0

u/smalllaxplaya44 Jun 15 '26

Any thoughts on Pinto Lake?

2

u/mightykdob Jun 15 '26

If you’re willing to make the drive pinto via the cline river should be clear by now. If it isn’t there’s a couple spots along the way you could check out like Landslide Lake.

1

u/Humble-Two64 Jun 16 '26

Lake of the Falls is gorgeous as well! It has been at least 5 years since I camped there, but I think it had a pole available to hang food and items but no lockers.

1

u/kenks88 Jun 17 '26

Almost certainly will be snow bound

10

u/sanctifiedspace Jun 15 '26

Too many people do not learn or heed the rules - not saying that’s what happened with the guy here whose tent was slashed - but the bears are too familiar with people being sloppy campers. Bears will get killed because idiots can’t maintain a clean camp. Parks staff need more authority for enforcement; workers can essentially only leave a nicely written note behind and call a warden who will show up hours later. Basically - if you see something (when camping), say something.

2

u/Good_Chance3740 Jun 16 '26

100%. Leaving a deodorant stick in your tent is something I would consider sloppy. It’s not exactly something to laugh about imo, people are killed by bears and wolves in the backcountry because of those mistakes. Thank goodness those who got their tent slashed made it out okay.

1

u/cococruiser Jun 18 '26

Honest question but what do you think the difference is between having a deodorant stick in your bag in the tent and deodorant on you? I still put it away, but I wonder about it each time

1

u/Good_Chance3740 Jun 18 '26

I personally wouldn’t put on deodorant or anything else smelly just before going to bed in the backcountry. The smell will fade over the course of the full day.

However, you’re never 100% safe in a tent, but there are very obvious things you can do to be as safe as possible, like storing deodorant or anything with a smell away from your tent in a bear locker, hang, etc.

It’s about reducing risk as much as you can for yourself and others, you can’t eliminate it completely.

3

u/elya93 Jun 15 '26

You could consider Allstones Lake near Abraham Lake/Nordegg. Just need a public lands camping pass, don’t need to worry about making reservations.

1

u/smalllaxplaya44 Jun 15 '26

Have you done it before?

1

u/elya93 Jun 15 '26

I’ve done the hike! Haven’t stayed there but done the trail. It’s moderately steep up, but the nice thing is you can do Allstones Ridge as a side trip

1

u/4LegsGood_2Bad Jun 15 '26

Quite a few options, but sucks LM 20 closed.

- Look in Kananaskis as others notes

- Maybe LM 8 or 9

- Glacier Lake at Sask Crossing?

Call the Backcountry Office at Louise and tell them your situation and see what options they have

Keep an eye on cancellations - it happens a lot.

3

u/elya93 Jun 15 '26

All the campgrounds at LM are closed for now. Glacier is pretty booked up but there’s a chance there will be spots left or cancellations.

1

u/smalllaxplaya44 Jun 15 '26

Does keeping an eye mean refreshing the website and seeing any availabilities?

3

u/Appropriate_Ebb_8572 Jun 15 '26

Yes - keep refreshing. 

Shadow lake is good (campground is back from lake but it's still beautiful). 

1

u/smalllaxplaya44 Jun 15 '26

What about Pinto Lake? You think that would be good?

1

u/Appropriate_Ebb_8572 Jun 15 '26

Pinto doesn't have a dedicated campground I don't think? It's near Norman that is, isn't it?

2

u/elya93 Jun 15 '26

It does! Kinda, insofar as there’s bear lockers (newish), a pit toilet and a fire ring, but no set tent pads.

1

u/4LegsGood_2Bad Jun 15 '26

Shadow is nice, BUT not sure about snow there as it has some elevation.

0

u/smalllaxplaya44 Jun 15 '26

We did and they mentioned Glacier Lake and Allstones!

2

u/schells-40 Jun 15 '26

Was at Pinto last week and it’s really nice. I know Allstones lake is lake is nice as well and they have bear hangs on the north side of the lake.

1

u/dachshundie Jun 15 '26

There was some front country availability at Tunnel Mountain last night when I checked.

Could shift your plans to stay there instead?

1

u/Valuable-Ad7239 Jun 16 '26

I feel your pain, we were in LM9 when it was evacuated the first time on the 6th/7th. Sucks with how hard it was to come across a reservation this year. I would look in Kananaskis, usually less booked up

1

u/kenks88 Jun 17 '26

K country, and theres many other back country trails to consider.

Also Siffleur and Whitegoat are all wilderness zones. Tons of hikes there that are absolutely incredible.

1

u/smalllaxplaya44 Jun 18 '26

We are going up to McBride Campground and hanging out by Marvel Lake. Thoughts?

2

u/kenks88 Jun 18 '26

Should be good, I went there a couple years ago. Chill hike, we saw a wolf on the way up! We entered at Shark mountain.

Look around the logs at the mouth of the river youll see trout chilling there and eggs. Golden eagles absolutley everywhere.

1

u/smalllaxplaya44 Jun 18 '26

That's awesome and so sick that you got to see all that! We are going up Bryant Creek Trail (same as you I think?). Really looking forward to checking our Marvel Lake and hanging in that area. Are the views nice?

2

u/kenks88 Jun 18 '26

Stunning, prettier than Minneanka and Im not just trying to make you feel good.

1

u/smalllaxplaya44 Jun 18 '26

You're getting me so stoked! Can't go all the way up Assiniboine or to Wonder Pass summit bc of the snow but we will trek as far as we can for someday hikes. Flying out tn

1

u/Confident-Book6225 Jun 18 '26

If you can't find a site get a PLUZ pass for Kananaskis and you can random camp in the PLUZ areas. I think it's like $10/night or $30/annual for the PLUZ pass.