7-Day Rocky Mountain Hiking Tour

Meet your guides at the Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel and travel west into Banff National Park. Stop briefly in Canmore to purchase any last-minute supplies before continuing to the campsite near Lake Louise.

After a detailed tour orientation, set up your tent with help from your guide. Enjoy a welcome dinner and spend the evening getting to know your fellow travellers around the campfire.

Today, hike among the mountains surrounding Lake Louise, beginning directly from the nearby campsite. Admire the lake and its dramatic cliffs in the morning light. If conditions are right, listen for ice breaking from the distant cliffs and crashing safely across the valley, with the sound echoing through the mountains.

Learn how these commanding rock walls drew early Swiss visitors who helped pioneer mountaineering in the Rockies approximately 150 years ago. The route will likely climb high above Lake Louise and visit a historic alpine teahouse that once welcomed the area’s earliest travellers and remains in use today.

After the hike, continue to Moraine Lake, one of Banff National Park’s most sought-after and difficult-to-access attractions. Admire its striking blue water reflecting the majestic peaks rising behind it.

Travel from the Lake Louise campsite into the heart of the Rockies and explore the Icefields Parkway, one of the world’s most famous and photographed mountain roads.

Continue into Jasper National Park to see the Athabasca Glacier, part of the Columbia Icefields. Walk to the base of the glacier or join a guided hike to an elevated viewpoint for sweeping bird’s-eye views and a picnic lunch. Alternatively, book an optional guided glacier walk for a closer look at the ice.

On the return journey to Lake Louise, stop at Peyto Lake and photograph one of Banff National Park’s most recognizable landscapes.

Discover why Yoho, a local Indigenous word expressing awe, is a fitting name for this remarkable national park. Travel into the Yoho Valley and admire Takakkaw Falls, the second-highest waterfall in British Columbia. Watch glacial water cascade from the cliff and occasionally turn to mist before reaching the ground, sometimes creating a rainbow across the valley.

Follow the Iceline Trail as it climbs to a mountain bench overlooking the falls. Continue beneath Emerald Glacier for close-up views of the immense ice formation and its meltwater streams. Take in a landscape of towering peaks, glaciers and alpine lakes in every direction.

If time permits, stop at Emerald Lake after the hike to admire the scenery, swim in the lake and see one of the Rockies’ most exclusive lodges. Afterwards, continue to Banff and establish a new camping base.

Venture into the wild and unspoiled valley of Kootenay National Park. Learn how the absence of a railway through this valley limited human interference while the surrounding national parks were being established. Discover how wildfires were controlled near railway corridors but allowed to burn naturally here, shaping the mountain landscape seen today.

Hike the Stanley Glacier Trail from the valley floor into a hanging valley surrounded by sheer rock walls, dramatic peaks and imposing views of Stanley Glacier. Explore an area near where remarkably intact fossils were discovered within an ancient seabed layer known as the Burgess Shale.

After the guided hike, return to Banff for dinner before visiting the local Sulphur Mountain Hot Springs for a relaxing soak in the warm mineral water.

Spend the final full day of the camping tour exploring the remote wilderness south of Banff. Travel beyond the usual coach-tour routes into an uncrowded area reached by an unpaved road.

Follow the Chester Lake Trail into the alpine and arrive at a pristine lake beneath a massive mountain wall. Admire the surrounding wildflower meadows and, if time permits, continue to Elephant Rocks to explore their unusual formations.

Return to camp for a final group dinner, share favourite memories and photos from the tour, and relax around the campfire.

Enjoy a final breakfast before packing up camp and loading the van. Travel through Yoho National Park toward the famous mountain town of Banff, then stop for a relaxing soak in the historic mineral springs that first drew travellers to the area.

After the hot springs visit, leave Banff and continue to downtown Calgary for drop-off at 2 p.m.