Hiking in Alberta: Top Outdoor Adventures Awaiting You

With more than 1.600 kilometers of well maintained trails in Banff National Park alone, Alberta is absolutely brimming with amazing hiking opportunities.

Heading north to Jasper National Park or west into British Columbia for Yoho National Park yields even more hiking and stunning scenery. Renting a car is the easiest way to get around Alberta, but parking is limited in the national parks, which are most easily reached by shuttles.

Check with your guide for a recommendation on the best way to get where you are headed. And regardless of where you go, you’re in for a treat as the Rockies are astoundingly beautiful in the summer and when the leaves change in the autumn as well.

Stunning scenery

Alberta is easily one of Canada’s most scenic provinces. Hiking through this pristine area yields spectacular views of snow-capped mountains, deep canyon, massive glaciers and verdant forests. Hiking is the best way to get out into the scenery are enjoy these sublime surroundings.

Get off the grid

Canada is big. Alberta is big. The backcountry is big. With few cell towers and nearly no 3G or 4G, adventures out into the backcountry are great for disconnecting from the world and enjoying some of the finer things in life: mountains, valleys and forests. You’re also unlikely to run into other hikers either out in the backcountry. Getting back to nature at its finest.

Excellent exercise

Hiking is a great way to get outside during the summer and get your heart rate beating. Alberta is a great place to get out and do it as well. You can choose a nice leisurely walk through the valleys, hike up to the top of a tall mountain for spectacular views or try something different and head out onto a glacier for some more intense glacier hiking.

During the summer, average daily temperatures are around 21ºC in the mountains and decrease slightly as you increase elevation. Alberta is in the rain shadow of the Rockies and only receives 600 mm of precipitation all year, so it’s pretty dry, especially in the summer.

Any hiking trip to Alberta begins with a flight in the international airport at Calgary (YCC). From here, it is easy to rent a car of take a bus and make the two hour journey west into the mountains. Shuttles to certain national parks are also readily available.

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