Hut Series: Elizabeth Parker

March 21, 2026March 18, 2026 / Maria / Leave a comment

If you’re at all familiar with backcountry huts in the Rockies, chances are you have heard of the Elizabeth Parker Hut. It’s an ACC hut located in Yoho National Park, approximately 0.5km from Lake O’Hara. Lake O’Hara is one of the most popular and exclusive places to visit in the summer because it is incredibly beautiful, offering access to the breathtaking Alpine Circuit. I’ve been to Lake O’Hara in the summer and I wrote an entire blog post about that trip and how to secure permits, so I won’t be getting into those details here.

Let’s talk about the Elizabeth Parker Hut. In the summer, access to the hut is managed through a paid lottery system. You pay a fee to enter the lottery and if you are successful, then you’re invited to book into the hut for a further fee. I entered the lottery once, with no luck, so I decided to abandon that strategy. I planned to visit in the winter instead. The hut is still busy on the weekends (and weekdays to an extent), but there’s no lottery, so as long as you are an ACC member and pay attention to the booking windows, you should be able to secure a booking. We decided to visit on a weekday in the winter, making the process even easier.

The challenge about visiting this hut in the winter is that there’s no shortcut to access it. In the summer, you can take the shuttle up the bus road, cutting out 11km of road-walking. In the winter, there’s no shortcut, you have to walk in the entire 11km road, plus the 0.5km trail to connect to the hut. This might not sound like a lot, but it is quite draining in the winter. It’s not a hard trail, but it is long and has a pretty steady uphill for most of it. The road does pass through a small section of avalanche run-out terrain in the first 5km, but for the most part, it’s a pretty safe trail. The one section goes through a run-out zone, rather than active avalanche terrain, so if the avalanche rating isn’t high, you don’t have too much to worry about.

There’s a few ways that you can get there. The most common way seems to be cross-country skiing, which surprised me a little bit because there is a lot of uphill on the way there. I’d recommend having skins, but it’s a wide trail and very manageable. The attraction of cross-country skiing is that the skis are so much lighter, so it makes for a faster journey along the 11km road. Another option is ski touring, which is what we did. This is great if you want to do some touring and skiing from the hut, but touring skis are a lot wider and heavier, so we did find it very tiring. The last option is snowshoeing. There was no one on snowshoes when we stayed at the hut, but there was a big group heading in on snowshoes when we were leaving. I wouldn’t recommend spikes unless you’re sure it’s hard packed with no fresh snow incoming.

If you’re planning to visit, give yourself ample time as there is limited daylight in the winter. We didn’t do a great job at this because we had stayed at the A.O. Wheeler Hut the previous night, which meant we had to hike out 1.5km in the morning, drive to Field, and then do the 11.5km hike to the Elizabeth Parker Hut. This was made worse by the fact that we transitioned from Pacific Time to Mountain Time and lost an hour.

We didn’t start hiking until almost 1pm. It was mid February, so we had ~5.5hours of daylight. It took us 5 hours, compared to some cross country skiers, who were able to do it in 4 hours. I was feeling pretty good when we started, I figured I’d probably skied around 2km when I came across the trail marker for 1km, and that’s when I had to stop myself from despairing, as I knew we were in for a long day. If we’d started earlier, we could have taken our time and lots of breaks, but because we had limited daylight, we pretty much pushed forward all afternoon. We took one lunch break at the 5km mark, but otherwise only stopped to pee or re-adjust layers and equipment.

The biggest challenge for me was temperature control. It was around -20 degrees celsius when we did the trail, which is extremely hard to manage when you are working out. Normally, I would ditch my warm layers and just wear a base layer so that I wouldn’t be sweating into everything, but the challenge was that I was quite a bit faster than Brandon, who uses a splitboard. So I was continually having to start and stop, and I would get cold whenever I had to wait, so I didn’t want to layer down.

I managed well for the first half of the trail. There’s some picnic tables and a beautiful viewpoint at the 5km mark, so we stopped for a late lunch there. The weather was quite nice, mostly overcast, but there was some blue sky and we could see all the mountains, so it was very scenic. Around ~8km there’s a beautiful view of the glacier, so it was a nice hike, just very long. I definitely started crashing out around the 8km mark. I ate my snacks along the way, but our water bottles were becoming more and more frozen and I really needed an energy boost and a hot drink. Brandon put electrolyte powder in his water, which I wouldn’t recommend, because it turned the whole thing to slush. The trick is to store your water bottle upside down so that the lid doesn’t freeze on, and carry a thermos.

We finally made it to the hut around 6pm and I was so relieved to see the steam rising out of the chimney. There was a large group already inside the hut and I all but collapsed on the bench and started removing my boots, enjoying the toasty warm heat from the woodstove. The group consisted of 3 families and a lot of kids and they quickly encouraged us to move over to the Wiwaxy Cabin next door.

I didn’t realize there was a second sleeping cabin and their assumption that we would be more comfortable not sleeping with their big group was correct, but the group rubbed me the wrong way for most of the trip. It wasn’t appealing having to immediately go into another cold space and start a fire immediately after arriving. We managed fine, but the group was not respectful of the shared kitchen and dining facilities, spreading out and leaving a mess. Every time we tried to use the dining area I had to ask someone to move things so we could use a corner of the table. Although I will credit the dads for changing out one of the outhouse barrels while we were there.

But the Wiwaxy Cabin was very cozy. The main hut has a large bunk room that sleeps 16 people in the same room as the dining tables and woodstove. There are lots of racks to hang gear, but it definitely has more of a cluttered feeling than the Wheeler Hut, though that may have just been because the 3 families spread out everywhere. The Wiwaxy Cabin sleeps 8 on the bunks and has a small table and a woodstove, but no kitchen, so everyone has to use the main hut to cook. We quite liked the Wiwaxy Cabin, it was very cozy and we were the only ones in there on the first night, though we were joined by 3 more people on the second night. Once we got the fire going, it was quite warm. The woodstove was very efficient and it was pretty hot overnight, but we didn’t want the fire to die with -20 degrees outside, so we kept it going all night.

On our second day, there was less blue sky, but you could still see all of the mountains and it snowed pretty lightly throughout most of the day. We had breakfast and did our chores, namely restocking our woodpile (Brandon did a great job), before going out for a tour. It was the middle of the week, so we didn’t encounter any day users, it seemed to be just us and the family in the area. We didn’t have a lot of concrete plans of what to do for the day, and we debated between hiking up to Schaffer Lake or down to Lake O’Hara. Neither is very far, so we opted to hike up to Schaffer Lake to take a look at Mount Schaffer, which I’d read is popular for skiing.

There’s no trail markers to follow in the winter, but there is a pretty obvious route up through the trees. It’s only 1km from the hut, so it’s not a long way to go. We hiked up to the lake, which has a great view looking up on the base of Mount Schaffer. There was a lot of fresh snow and we could see a few lines coming down from previous visitors. We hadn’t actually planned to ski because I am pretty nervous in avalanche terrain, but the conditions were ideal when we were there. There was some fresh powder, but the avalanche rating was low to moderate and there were no slab problems. So we decided to hike up through the trees to ski down the main slope.

There were ski tracks coming down from quite high, but we only went about two thirds of the way up because we didn’t want to be in super steep terrain. So we hiked up and then picked a spot to transition. As with the previous day, the most challenging part of the trip was temperature management. It was still very cold, so it was challenging to transition and I added a lot of layers before skiing down. It was a short ski out, but probably one of the coolest lines I’ve ever done. It was my first time skiing in avalanche terrain, and I keep having second thoughts about it when I look back on the experience, but at the time I was feeling confident about the conditions and everything went according to plan, so I guess it was our first real touring line.

We just did one line since we’re pretty new to touring, but if I was to go back, I think I’d do a few more. My ski touring journey isn’t really driven by skiing epic lines, which sometimes makes me feel a bit at odds with other ski tourers I meet, as most seem very obsessed with skiing remote terrain. But maybe I’ll care more as I get more comfortable in avalanche terrain, but for right now, I like just being outside on skis, enjoying nature, and building up my experience.

We had a fun second night as we were joined by a couple that we had met at Wheeler Hut, as well as a single guy on holiday from Korea, who we were all impressed with as it was his first time skiing! They all came in on cross-country skis, which seems to be easier on a long access trail. We spent the evening playing cards and the couple shared a special moment the next morning and got engaged in front of the mountains!!

The sun came out to play on our last day and we woke up to a bluebird day in the mountains. It was still very cold, but at least we had the sun shining down to warm us up a little bit. We weren’t in a big rush to leave, but after packing everything up, we skied down to Lake O’Hara to enjoy the view before skiing out. Lake O’Hara is one of the most renowned views in the Canadian Rockies and it does not disappoint. It was very smoky when I visited in the summer of 2023, so dare I say, the winter view is even better? I felt like I was on another planet as we skied across the lake to get an incredible view of the surrounding mountains. Plus, we were the only people there, so it felt very special.

Usually the ski out is a lot more fun than the ski in, but the road is not a simple downhill the whole way, so it was still a lot of work to ski out. Ideally you would take off your skins and just ski down, but there are still lots of flat sections. I planned to just skin the whole way down, but there was still a lot of powder on the trail and it was really hard to pick up any speed on the downhill. So eventually we took our skins off and I was planning to just skate ski the flat sections, but it was too powdery for that too. However, because I was on skis, I was able to just put them back in touring mode without the skins in order to ski the flats and I did several kms that way. But Brandon was on a split board so he ended up carrying his snowboard through the flats.

It was still faster than the way in and we stopped again at the picnic tables for lunch, where there was a large group of women snowshoeing in. It’s 5km from the picnic tables and I put the skins back on for the first 3km, which are really flat. But the last 2km is the steepest part of the trail, so at that section, I was able to properly transition and ski out the final 2km pretty quickly. In total, it took us 5 hours on the way in and 3.5 hours on the way out.

Lake O’Hara is definitely a beautiful place to visit and we had a great time, but it is a slog on that road and I was really glad that we had planned to stay for two nights. It would have been a lot to ski in and out for only 1 night. If you’re dying to visit O’Hara and haven’t been able to secure summer permits, I definitely recommend checking out the hut in the winter. It’s much easier to reserve and in my opinion, the experience is even more special because there’s barely anyone around (at least on the weekdays). We had a great time!

Guide to Lake O’Hara

December 20, 2025December 17, 2025 / Maria / 1 Comment

Lake O’Hara is one of the most popular lakes in the Canadian Rockies, but it’s one of the hardest lakes to visit (except maybe for Berg Lake). Other popular lakes like Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, and Emerald Lake, can all be visited by car, whereas Lake O’Hara is located at the end of an 11km road that is only accessible on foot or by Parks Canada shuttle bus. For that reason, it sees fewer visitors than other lakes in the Rockies, but has one of the most exclusive permitting systems. Whether you want to backpack or day hike at Lake O’Hara, if you want to avoid the 22km round trip journey on the access road, you need to secure a bus pass. If you’re lucky enough to get one, you’ll be rewarded with some of the most incredible views in Yoho and all of the Rockies.

Getting There

Lake O’Hara is located in the heart of Yoho National Park, along Highway 1 (Trans Canada Highway), shortly outside of the small town of Field. It’s easily accessible from both Alberta and BC. It’s located an hour from Banff on the east side and an hour from Golden on the west side. Unfortunately, there isn’t any public transport running to the Lake O’Hara parking lot, so you will need your own vehicle or to connect with other hikers. You can park in the base lot for free, but you cannot drive the access road, you must reserve a spot of the Lake O’Hara shuttle bus.

The Attraction

Why is access to Lake O’Hara so sought after? It’s because of the incredible views once you arrive at the lake and the concentrated access to scenic alpine terrain. 22km is a big hike for most people, but the access road is fairly straight forward and not too challenging. If you just want to see the lake, you could hike in and out on the access road.

However, the reason most people prefer to skip the 22km access hike is to spend more time exploring the alpine. Lake O’Hara is home to the famous alpine circuit, a ~12km loop hike through the alpine that encircles Lake O’Hara. While the alpine circuit can be broken into 3 sections that can be hiked individually, if you’d like to hike the entire circuit, you’ll want to take the shuttle bus in. I hiked the trail and stayed at the campsite for 2 nights in 2023, you can read my full trip report here.

The alpine circuit starts at the base of the lake, hiking straight up to the Wiwaxy Gap and Huber’s Ledges, which will take you to Lake Oesa. From there, you continue on the Yukness Ledges to Opabin Lake and the viewpoint at Opabin Prospect. This is the most popular view in the park, and many visitors will focus on hiking to this viewpoint rather than doing the whole circuit. If you want to finish the circuit, you then continue hiking the All Souls route, which will take you along the edge of Mount Shaffer and back to where you started. Other hiking routes in the park include Lake McArthur, Odaray Grandview, and Linda Lake, though these are not as popular as the sections of the Alpine Circuit.

Other attractions include visiting Le Relais, a small cafe run by Parks Canada, for hot chocolate and carrot cake; visiting the lodge for high tea; or renting a canoe to explore the lake (although this might only be available to those staying at the lodge, I’m not sure).

With so many options for hiking, staying overnight in the park is an attractive option for many visitors. The overnight options include a pricey stay at the O’Hara Lodge, a lottery ticket entry to stay at the ACC’s Elizabeth Parker Hut, or a permit for the backcountry campsite managed by Parks Canada. More on each of these options below.

Time of Year

There are a few options for when to visit Lake O’Hara, but the most popular option is to visit in the summer. The backcountry campground is usually open from late June to late September and it will be sold out for the entire season. July is a great time to visit if you want warm weather and to avoid the wildfire smoke that will inevitably roll in at some point in the summer, but there may still be snow on some of the high routes in July. September is also a popular time to visit because there are many larch trees around the lake that turn bright yellow in the Fall.

Winter is a less popular time to visit as there is no shuttle service in the winter, but it is still possible. You can ski or snowshoe up the access road and the ACC’s Elizabeth Parker Hut is much easier to book in the winter. However, I don’t have experience with the winter route and I believe it does pass through an avalanche run-out zone, so please do independent research if you visit in the winter and ensure that you have the proper avalanche safety training.

Permits

Getting permits is really the crux of this blog post. Without a doubt, scoring a day pass on the shuttle or an overnight camping permit (which includes a bus pass) will be the hardest part of your trip. The day pass secures you a ride up and back on the shuttle bus and allows you a full day of hiking in the park. The day pass is managed using a lottery system, so it’s easy to enter the lottery, but no guarantee that you will be lucky enough to get a pass. The shuttle bus lottery for 2026 will run from March 2 to March 23. There is a $10 non-refundable fee to enter the lottery, plus if you are successful, a $15 fee for the bus.

In contrast, the camping permits are issued all at once for the season. Camping permits for 2026 will be released on January 22 at 7am PST (8am MT). Permits are ~$30 per night and they will disappear fast, so you need to be ready to book right when they release. I will try and update the release dates for permits every year, but they are usually announced by Parks Canada in late November or early December for the following year – so keep an eye on their page of release dates in future years. To make your bookings, visit https://reservation.pc.gc.ca/.

Here’s a few tips for getting your camping permit:

Get on the booking website 15 minutes early using as many devices as possible (computers, phones, ipads, etc). At release time, everyone on the website is entered into a random generator that assigns you a position in the queue. All of your devices will be assigned a place in line, then proceed to book your permits on whatever device has the shortest queue. You may have to wait up to an hour to get in, so try not to be discouraged.
Once you get access, be flexible. Search for your desired dates and then click on the Lake O’Hara backcountry campsite, followed by the “calendar” option on the left sidebar to see all available dates.
If you don’t see any availability, keep refreshing for at least 15 minutes. With so many people trying to book campsites, dates are always disappearing and then becoming available again, so if you don’t see anything, keep refreshing.
If you’re trying to get multiple dates, it can be hard to get two consecutive nights on the same booking. If both nights aren’t available at once, book one night first, and then try and get the second night after. You will have to pay the reservation fee twice, but it will increase your odds of getting a booking (or at least securing one night). Just make sure to call Parks Canada later and get them to combine your permits (because they both include in a bus pass and if you don’t show up for the bus on the second day, they will give your camping permit away for the second night).
Be prepared that you might not get anything. The first year I tried for permits, I wasn’t successful. The second year, I managed to get two separate 1 night bookings that I combined. If you don’t get anything, sign up for cancellation notifications on Schnerp.
Parks Canada will give away “no shows” on the day of the reservations. So you can try to get a permit by showing up at the parking lot. But be advised that a lot of people do this, so no guarantees. You can also hike up and try and grab a spare seat on the bus on the way down, but again, there is usually a long line of people trying to do this.

If you would like to try for alternative overnight options, the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) also runs a lottery for their Elizabeth Parker Hut. This lottery is available for entry between December 15, 2025 and January 30, 2026, and there is a $16 fee to enter. You can also book into the swanky Lake O’Hara lodge, but be prepared to book early and pay ~$1000 per night.

National Park Pass

In addition to backpacking permits, which are specific to your campsite, you must also have a National Park Pass. These are much easier to obtain – there is no booking period and the number of passes are not restricted. The most common option is to purchase the discovery pass, which is available for $150 for a family, or $75 per person. It’s essentially an annual pass that covers everyone in your car. You leave it hanging in the car while you’re on the trail and it acts as a parking pass. Alternatively, you can buy single adult day passes for everyone, which are $11 per person, per day. However, in 2025 and 2026, Canadians can obtain the Canada Strong Pass for free, which includes a free discovery pass and 25% off bookings! You can purchase passes online, in advance, or in person at the Banff park entrance.

Overnight Options

As discussed in the permit section, there are 3 options for accommodation:

Lake O’Hara Campground (Parks Canada) – This is a backcountry campground with 30 tent pads. There is a cooking shelter, picnic tables, potable water, bear lockers, bag storage, and a communal firepit with wood provided (when there is no fire ban). You must have a permit to stay here and check-in with the park rangers both when you board the bus and at the campsite. You must cook in the communal cooking area. Book on January 22, 2026 at 7am PST at https://reservation.pc.gc.ca/

Elizabeth Parker Hut (ACC) – This is a backcountry hut that sleeps 24 people and has a water source nearby. You must have a permit to stay here and can enter the lottery for $16 between December 15, 2025 and January 30, 2025 at https://alpineclubofcanada.ca/hut/elizabeth-parker-hut/. You can obtain a bus pass through the ACC if you are successful in the lottery.

Lake O’Hara Lodge (private) – This is a fully catered hotel experience, including a private bus up to the lodge, hotel style accommodations, and prepared meals. Be prepared to pay a high price for this experience, but I’m sure it’s very luxurious. Book at https://www.lakeohara.com/

Itineraries

I’ll keep this simple. If you’re planning a hike to Lake O’Hara, take what you can get. I think my dream itinerary would be to stay for 3 nights at the campground, doing two day hikes on the Alpine Circuit and to Lake McArthur. But you can get creative with other options. There is enough time to bus up in the morning and do a full day hike. I took the bus and did the alpine circuit on the same day. There is bag storage at the campsite, so you can also do a day hike on the day you leave. We tried to do Lake McArthur on our last day, but it was very rainy, so we bailed halfway.

Day Hikes

There are lots of options for hiking from Lake O’Hara. I have done the Wiwaxy and Yukness sections of the Alpine Circuit and hiked around the lake, but I have not done the other hikes. I’ve included them here as a base for you to research further.

Lake O’Hara – An easy 3km walk around the Lake. A great option if you’re not up for the challenge of the alpine circuit or you’re tired from hiking up the access road.

Opabin Prospect – A 4km out and back trail to one of the most scenic viewpoints in the park. If you’re doing the full Alpine Circuit, you can visit this viewpoint enroute, but if you don’t have the time or energy for the full circuit, you can hike 2km each way from the bus drop-off.

Lake O’Hara Alpine Circuit – a breathtaking 12km trail that wraps around Lake O’Hara through the alpine. This is a very challenging trail as it covers a lot of elevation gain (up and down 3 times). However, there are lots of exit points if you don’t want to hike the full trail. I don’t recommend attempting this one if you also have to walk up and back the access road. If you would like a shorter version, I recommend doing the Wiwaxy Gap/Hubers Ledges to Lake Oesa, followed by the Yukness Ledges to Opabin Lake and Opabin Prospect, but cut out the All Souls section of the trail. Exercise extreme caution on this trail if it is rainy, or pick an alternative trail.

Lake Oesa – A beautiful lake that is an easier alternative to the Alpine Circuit. The easiest route is to hike 3km each way along the northern shore of Lake O’Hara, or add in a full circuit of Lake O’Hara on your way back. If you’re looking for more of a challenge and would like to sample the alpine circuit, you can hike up to the Wiwaxy Gap and take Hubers Ledges down to Lake Oesa, returning via Lake O’Hara (7km total). Another option could be to combine the Opabin Prospect viewpoint with the Yukness Ledges section of the Alpine Circuit to visit the lake, returning via Lake O’Hara (9km total).

Lake McArthur – An 8km round trip hike to another gorgeous alpine lake. There are lots of branches on this trail, so it is possible to turn it into a loop trail. The trail will take you over McArthur Pass and past the Elizabeth Parker Hut. You could combine this hike with the All Souls route of the Alpine Circuit to visit Opabin Prospect (10km total).

Linda Lake – a 10km trail that starts from the Lake O’Hara campground. It was recommended to me as an alternative hike to the alpine circuit on a rainy day, so I’m assuming it’s mostly forested.

Odaray Highline – only 4 groups per day are permitted on this trail to protect the wildlife corridor, which is managed through a self-registration system at the trailhead. It’s approximately 9km round trip from the Lake O’Hara bus stop.

12 Fall Hikes on the West Coast

September 14, 2025August 21, 2025 / Maria / Leave a comment

As someone who grew up on the East Coast, Fall was a very beautiful season. I love living in Vancouver and I would say that seasonally, the west coast is nicer than the east coast in almost every season (winter and spring for sure, summer less so with the forest fires), but Fall is conclusively better on the East Coast. At least, compared to Southwestern BC. If you want sweeping forests of red, yellow, and orange, you likely won’t find it here – there’s too many Douglas Firs and Cedars, but there are still some gorgeous views to explore, especially with a mountain backdrop. Here’s a few of the trails I’ve discovered over the years that really shine in the Fall:

Fall Colours near Vancouver

Mount Strachan – 8.5km, 600m gain

I wouldn’t say Mount Strachan has the most outstanding fall foliage, but it’s the closest hike to the city on this list, which makes it very accessible! The colours on this trail mostly come from the changing colours of the shrubs and it’s a great hike on a crisp Fall day. Get on the Baden-Powell Trail from Cypress Resort and hike parallel to Collins ski run. Then follow the sky chair up to the top of Mount Strachan to enjoy beautiful views of Howe Sound. From here, you can continue back the way you came, or you can make it a loop and hike down through Christmas Gully to catch up with the Howe Sound Crest Trail, checking out the views from Bowen Island Lookout on your way back. Make sure you pick up a free backcountry pass from the BC Parks lodge (at the back of the parking lot) before starting your hike. Take care on Christmas Gully when descending from Mount Strachan, it is easy to get lost or injured here. (photo taken in mid-November)

Flatiron – 11km, 800m gain

The Flatiron hike is located in the Coquihalla Summit Rec Area and shares 80% of the trail with Needle Peak. Both trails could be done in a day if you’re ambitious, but I’d avoid Needle Peak if there’s any snow or ice. It’s a very steep hike up the side of the mountain from the highway, but once you reach the branch to Needle Peak, it levels off. There’s a nice lake below the flatiron and in the Fall the shrubs all turn bright red along the mountainside. It’s relatively bare at the top, but the view of the surrounding mountains is amazing! (photo taken in early October)

Elk/Thurston Mountain – 9-15km, 1000m+ gain

This is a more traditional Fall trail and there are deciduous trees that will be changing colour as you walk through the forest toward the summit. Most of the hike is in the trees, but you eventually pop out along the ridge. It’s a steep hike near the end, but you can see all the way to Mount Baker, with bursts of colour in the forest below. I really like continuing a few kilometres along the ridge towards Thurston Mountain, but the peak itself is pretty uninspiring, so I usually turn around when I hit the forest. The hike is 9km to Elk Mountain and back, and 15km to Thurston. There’s over 1000m of elevation gain, so it’s a good workout! (photo taken in mid-October)

Illal Meadows – 16km, 750m gain

This trail is a bit of a drive and makes for a long day as a day hike, so start early! Illal Meadows is located off the highway along the Coquihalla Summit Rec Area and involves an extra half hour of driving along the Tulameen FSR. The trail starts with a 3km hike up a decommissioned road, and then it’s a steep ascent through the meadows to the alpine. There are lots of small trees and shrubs changing colour and the meadows turn yellow and red. Continue to the base of Jim Kelly Peak, where you have the option to do an additional ascent (it’s a scramble!) or head back the way you came. (photo taken in late September)

Snow Camp Mountain – 17.5km, 900m gain

This is a beautiful hike any time of year. In the summer, the meadows are filled with wildflowers, and in the Fall, the meadows turn yellow and have gorgeous views looking out over the Manning Park backcountry. The trail starts from Strawberry Flats and hikes steadily uphill for 5km. There’s a fantastic viewpoint at the top of Despair Pass, but continue on through the trees to reach the ridge going up to Snow Camp Mountain. I find this trail doesn’t get crowds in the Fall and is a really gorgeous hike. (photo taken in mid-September)

Larch Tree Hikes

If BC isn’t known for it’s Fall colours, it’s definitely known for the larch trees! Larch trees have needles like a pine or fir tree, but these needles turn yellow in the Fall and fall off. There are some really beautiful larch tree hikes on the West Coast. Most of them are located in the Rockies or Washington State, but if you’re willing to drive a little distance, you’ll be rewarded! In the interest of transparency, the only hike in this section I’ve actually done in the Fall is Mount Frosty, the other trail descriptions are based on trips I took in the summer. That’s why my photos don’t show any Fall foliage.

Frosty Mountain – 18-22km, 1000m+ gain

This is probably the most well known larch hike in the province, mostly by virtue of the fact that it’s close to Vancouver, so it attracts very large crowds. Definitely arrive early in the morning to get parking and get ahead of the mass of people (or go on a week day). The larch trees generally only turn yellow over the span of 2-3 weeks, so you can expect it to be busy during that time. Frosty Mountain itself is a really big hike, but you don’t have to go all the way to the summit to see the larch trees. After a big climb up to the campsite, you’ll eventually pop out in the larch meadow. But continue to the top of Mount Frosty for some really epic views! (photo taken in late September)

Sentinel Pass – 8-12km, 500-700m gain

The Sentinel Pass trail is a really popular trail in Banff National Park and requires a bit of advance planning to visit. The hike starts from Moraine Lake, which is one of the most popular locations in Banff. You can no longer drive to the lake, so you need to arrange to take the Parks Canada shuttle. From the lake, hike up a set of switchbacks to reach the larch meadows and continue on towards Minnestima Lakes. You don’t have to hike to the top of Sentinel Pass, but it’s a nice add on to enjoy the views looking back towards the lake and the surrounding Mount Temple area. It’s roughly 3.5km to reach the meadows, or 12km round trip if you go to the top of the pass and back. (photo taken in early August)

Floe Lake – 28km, 1000m gain

I would say that Floe Lake is the Moraine Lake of Kootenay National Park. It’s extremely popular, though much less accessible as you can’t drive all the way to the lake. This is a big hike for a single day, so I’d recommend camping one night at Floe Lake if you’re able. That said, it’s a big uphill to the lake and would likely be considerably faster with only a day pack. The larches are actually located above Floe Lake, so you’ll be rewarded with the beautiful view at the lake, but need to push another 3km uphill after the lake to be rewarded with a view of both the larch trees and Floe Lake. In total, be prepared for an almost 30km day, so leave before sunrise. (photo taken in late August)

Lake O’Hara – 7km, 200m gain

Of all the hikes on this list, Lake O’Hara is probably the most exclusive. There’s a permit lottery for bus shuttle passes up and down the 11km access road. You can hike all the way from the base if you’re prepared for an almost 30km day (like Floe Lake), otherwise, the shuttle saves you a lot of time. From the bus stop, you can do a 7km loop around the lake and up to the Opabin Prospect Lookout, which is the most renown view in the park. If there’s no ice, you could also consider hiking the famous alpine circuit, but I wouldn’t attempt it on a slippery day and you might prefer to have more time to enjoy the larches around the lake. (photo taken in early September)

Hiking Near the North Cascades

One of my favourite things to do in the Fall is cross the border and go hiking in the Mount Baker Wilderness area of Washington State. If you drive a little further into the cascades, there’s some really awesome larch hikes like Maple Pass, Blue Lake and Easy Pass. I haven’t done any of these yet, because there are so many colourful hikes to explore closer to Vancouver by Mount Baker.

As a disclaimer: I wrote this blog post at the end of last Fall season. I personally have decided not to travel to the US right now (but I really hope to feel safe doing so in the future). It’s out of my personal comfort zone right now, but no judgement either way, here are some of my favourite Fall hikes south of the border.

Chain Lakes/Ptarmigan Ridge – 12-19km, 600m gain

These two trails share a trailhead from the ski parking lot at Mount Baker. Grab a parking pass online before crossing the border, or pick one up from the visitor centre. If the road is open all the way to Artist Point, park at the top and do the Ptarmigan Ridge hike. If the road is already closed for the season, park at the base and do the Chain Lakes Trail. Both hikes go up towards Artist Point and cross a ridgeline into the backcountry. The Ptarmigan Ridge trail heads out towards the base of Mount Baker, while the Chain Lakes trail goes behind Table Mountain and climbs to the top of a saddle before heading back down to the base. Both hikes are incredibly scenic and colourful in the Fall. Chain Lakes is a 12km loop trail, while Ptarmigan Ridge is 19km out and back to the Portals viewpoint. (photo taken in mid-October)

Yellow Aster Butte – 13-15km, 700m gain

Yellow Aster Butte has gotten incredibly popular in the past few years. Pick up a parking pass online or at the visitor centre, and then drive up a gravel road to get to the trailhead. There’s limited parking, so get there early to avoid the crowds. The trail climbs up through the trees for 3km before you reach the alpine and the beautiful yellow aster meadows. It’s 3km further to get to the sub-peak, and another 1km from there to the true peak. This area can get snow early, so plan accordingly. (photo taken in early October)

Winchester Mountain – 5km, 400m gain

Winchester Mountain is the final hike on the list, and the only trail that requires 4×4 to reach the trailhead. This trail starts at the campsite for Twin Lakes and hikes up to the peak of Winchester Mountain, where there’s an old fire lookout. The trail is only 5.5km round trip and is located past the parking lot for Yellow Aster Butte. So if you don’t have 4×4, you could add on 3.5km to hike up the road each way (or try and hitch a ride on the way up). The entire trail hikes through colourful meadows while the trees change colour. It’s an easier hiking option with a huge payout. (photo taken in early October)