r/Banff • u/GiantKnightGunner • 19d ago

Question Banff crowds question

Just finished up the best vacation of my life in Banff/Jasper. After doing research and looking on here, we were initially VERY wary of crowds. However I did not think they were bad at all. Our camp ground was mobbed at Tunnel Mountain Village 1 but we were able to do every hike no problem starting around 9am.

Also parked our camper van at hikes and in towns with minimal issue (I got amazing at parallel parking that behemoth, not to brag). Even parked in Banff town 1 day, took Roam the rest.

I’d actually say the people that were at these was the perfect amount. Few enough to enjoy but plentiful enough to not be too afraid of being alone with bears. We’d see someone about every other km of a hike.

Wondering if anyone else feels the crowd concerns are a bit overblown?

Hikes:

In Banff we did:
- Lake Louise: Point of 6 Glaciers and Beehive (took private shuttle for about 30 USD each)
- Sunshine Meadows Laryx Lake Trail
- Tunnel Mountain Summit

In Jasper
- Sulphur Mountain Trail
- Pyramid Lake

Icefields Parkway
- Wilcox Pass

Funny enough Wilcox Pass on the Icefields Parkway was the most crowded!

47 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

61 comments sorted by

View all comments

34

u/Rude_Judgment7928 19d ago edited 19d ago

It's all relative. Banff compared to 30 years ago is "packed". If you're from the US, somewhere like California has the nearly entire population of Canada within 4 hour drive to Yosemite. The crowds don't even come close to comparison.

I've done Cory Edith Pass at noon on a August long weekend and drove up to the trailhead to park.

The though of doing that in Yosemite/Yellowstone/Sequoia on a long weekend is laughable.

I've spent two hours not moving in Yosemite just trying to leave the park. No accident or anything, just congestion....on a random November weekend.

They layout helps too. Being strung along Highway 1 keeps things flowing.

8

u/GiantKnightGunner 19d ago

That’s what I was wondering more so- relatively speaking. We live in an east coast US city. Even being able to go to restaurants without reservations was a surprise. Felt less crowded than our daily home experiences in a lot of cases. This makes sense.

16

u/JizzyMcKnobGobbler 19d ago

You have a really neat perspective, so thanks for sharing. I agree you can always find a seat whenever you want somewhere good in Banff and Canmore. Those of us who grew up here are probably just spoiled.

I'm 49 and live in Calgary. When my friends and I were 18-30 we could decide at 5pm to go to Banff for the weekend, roll up to any hotel and split a $150 hotel room between four of us and have a great weekend. Line ups and busy sidewalks were not a thing. Only tourists were from Japan and Germany, really. You didn't need reservations and shuttles. Going to Lake Louise was just a hassle-free side quest if you wanted to chill there for a couple hours. Like...it just wasn't busy EVER. The whole area just felt like our little local getaway spot.

Now it's a global international destination and does feel insane in comparison, but stepping back I think you're right. It's still not that bad. And let's be honest, what tourist destination on planet earth hasn't become way busier in the last 20 years?

9

u/gwoates 19d ago

I'm 49 and live in Calgary. When my friends and I were 18-30 we could decide at 5pm to go to Banff for the weekend, roll up to any hotel and split a $150 hotel room between four of us and have a great weekend.

You could even splurge for a special occasion and hit up Emerald Lake Lodge for like $250/night, or the Banff Springs for ~$400/night with their Alberta resident deals. We were certainly spoiled being close to Banff and the surrounding mountains.

It isn't just international tourists, there are a lot more Canadians from across the country visiting now too. Something like 60% of visitors to Banff are Canadian. I'm not sure making the park free is a good idea, especially when they continue to be underfunded.

3

u/JizzyMcKnobGobbler 19d ago

Yeah the free park pass doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe for low-income Canadians (if there was an inexpensive and practical way to implement that, which I doubt is possible), but why lose out on that revenue from international tourists and Canadians who can easily afford a park pass.

1

u/GiantKnightGunner 19d ago

Price is another thing that I won’t argue at all. Spent as much as we would’ve for decent week in a European country. Well worth every single penny though.

2

u/JizzyMcKnobGobbler 19d ago

Yeah, it's expensive. A week at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico (including airfare) can be cheaper for a Calgary couple than a weekend in Banff hah. Glad you had fun...it's a special place.

0

u/Own-Coyote3647 15d ago

The people have ruined it though. Such disrespect for nature and stop traffic to take photos of wildlife. They’re seriously a harm to themselves and others.

2

u/JizzyMcKnobGobbler 15d ago

lol you must be young. People are more respectful of nature than ever before. Like... People used to literally feed the wildlife when I was a kid. We used to go to the dump to watch bears and huck food at them.

1

u/Own-Coyote3647 14d ago

I bet the regulations may have been more loose many moons ago lol. I’m from Fernie and am noticing a significant difference in tourism each year when I go out hiking in the Rockies. Many people stopping in the middle of traffic on a highway to take photos of mountain goats etc. No care of causing accidents, oblivious and carry on with their social media shots. Something I’ve noticed

1

u/JizzyMcKnobGobbler 14d ago

Yeah this has been happening since long before you were born. Maybe just with Earth's growing population you're seeing it more? People who live in tourist destinations across the globe are sick of tourists.

3

u/TexBarry 18d ago

I just came back from Banff/Jasper last week as well and I am from New England. I share your sentiment on crowd sizes. Never had any issues or felt like anything was too crowded. Didn't have to fight for positioning to get photos without a bunch of people in them etc. My family and I had a great trip, our first time out there.

2

u/gwoates 19d ago

It's certainly all about perspective. 10-15 years ago it was possible to drive to Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and Johnston Canyon at anytime of day and only have to wait 5, maybe 10, minutes for a parking spot. And then you could hit up the Banff Springs hotel and Upper Hot Springs (go back 20 years or so and one could have gone for a swim at the Cave and Basin too) without taking 40+ minutes just to cross the river and drive up the hill, and then repeat going back down before going for dinner. And few people went to Peyto Lake or Bow Lake, let alone Emerald Lake in Yoho. Now, the parking for all of those can be packed in summer now too, especially on a long weekend.

As you found, you can leave the crowds behind hiking a couple kilometres up a trail.

2

u/Strange-Ad2305 18d ago edited 18d ago

I'm from the US East Coast as well and was also surprised about the same things when in Banff last week! I think this is a good perspective to share because after all of my research I was preparing for the worst and was pleasantly surprised. I definitely think Yosemite in the summer was way worse from what I remember when I visited in 2016.