The Rocky Mountain parks have a reputation problem, and it is partly deserved. On a July weekend the parking lot at Lake Louise is full before sunrise, the Johnston Canyon catwalks move at a shuffle, and the Icefields Parkway pullouts look like a mall on Boxing Day. Yet Banff National Park covers 6,641 square kilometres and Jasper another 11,000, and the crowds concentrate on perhaps a dozen spots. Walk fifteen minutes past those spots, start two hours earlier, or shift your trip by three weeks, and the mountains are as empty as they were a generation ago. Here is how we do it.
Understand the shuttle system before you arrive
The single biggest change in recent years is that you can no longer simply drive to Moraine Lake. The road is closed to private vehicles, and access is by shuttle, by commercial bus, or by bicycle. In general terms, the park runs shuttles from a park-and-ride at the Lake Louise ski area to both Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, and seats are reserved online, with a share released well in advance and another share released a couple of days before. A connector bus links the two lakes so you can visit both on one booking.
What this means in practice is that the crowds at Moraine Lake are now metered. If you hold an early seat, the first hour at the lake is quiet. If you prefer to keep your own schedule, ride a bicycle up the 12-kilometre road from the village; it climbs about 400 metres and takes most people an hour. Book the shuttle the moment your dates are fixed, and treat the booking like a flight.
Larch Valley in the last week of September
Larch Valley is the walk that justifies the whole trip, and timing is everything. The trail leaves the Moraine Lake shore, switchbacks up through spruce for about 2.4 kilometres, then opens into a hanging valley of alpine larch, the only conifer in these mountains that drops its needles. For roughly ten days, usually the last week of September into the first days of October, those needles turn a deep gold against the grey limestone of the Ten Peaks. The round trip to the valley is about 8.6 kilometres with 535 metres of gain, and pushing on to Sentinel Pass adds another 200 metres of climbing over loose scree.
Two cautions. First, this is grizzly habitat, and from late summer the park often imposes a group access restriction on the trail, meaning you must hike in a tight group of four or more. Check the current conditions before you go, and if you are a couple, join another party at the trailhead. Second, snow can arrive any day after mid-September. Carry traction devices and a warm layer even if the valley floor is dry.
Johnston Canyon at seven in the morning
Johnston Canyon is popular for a reason: a limestone slot carved by a creek, with steel catwalks bolted to the walls and two waterfalls, the Lower Falls at 1.1 kilometres and the Upper Falls at 2.6 kilometres. It is also a parking nightmare by mid-morning. Our rule is simple. Be on the trail by seven. The light in the canyon is soft, the spray hangs in the air, and you will pass perhaps a dozen people on the way to the Upper Falls. Then keep going. Beyond the Upper Falls the crowds vanish and the trail continues another three kilometres to the Ink Pots, a meadow with seven cold springs that bubble up in shades of blue and green. By the time you return, the catwalks are packed and you are having lunch.
Wilcox Pass and the Columbia Icefield from above
Halfway along the 232-kilometre Icefields Parkway, thousands of people a day stop to look at the Athabasca Glacier from the road. Almost none of them walk Wilcox Pass, which starts at a small campground on the Jasper side of the park boundary. The trail climbs steadily through subalpine fir for about two kilometres, breaks into open tundra, and reaches the pass at roughly four kilometres, about 400 metres above the parking lot. From the ridge you look straight across the valley to the Athabasca and Dome glaciers and the icefield spilling between the peaks.
Bighorn sheep graze the meadows here, sometimes within thirty metres of the trail. Do not feed them, do not approach them for a photo, and give any ram with a full curl a wide berth. Weather on the pass changes fast; we have been snowed on in August. Allow four hours for the eight-kilometre round trip and bring gloves.
Bald Hills above Maligne Lake
Maligne Lake, 48 kilometres from Jasper town on a dead-end road, is the classic Jasper postcard, and its boat tours draw the coach crowd. The Bald Hills trail starts from the same parking lot and, within a kilometre, leaves every one of them behind. An old fire road climbs about 5 kilometres to a former lookout site, then a rougher path continues onto the open ridge. The full loop is roughly 10 to 13 kilometres depending on how far along the ridge you wander, with 500 to 600 metres of gain. The view down the 22-kilometre length of Maligne Lake, with the ranges stacked behind it, is the finest we know in the park that does not require a backcountry permit.
Caribou once used these hills, and parts of the Maligne Valley carry seasonal closures to protect the remaining herd. Respect the signs. The same road offers Maligne Canyon at the bottom, a 50-metre-deep gorge that is spectacular and busy; walk it late in the evening when the tour buses have left.
Bears, spray and the etiquette of empty trails
Both parks are home to black bears and grizzlies, and the quieter the trail, the more likely you are to meet one. Every one of us carries bear spray, on the hip or chest, never buried in a pack. It works at close range, roughly five to ten metres, and it works only if you can reach it in two seconds. Make noise on blind corners, hike in groups, and keep dogs on a leash. If you see a bear at a distance, stop, speak calmly, and back away the way you came. Never run.
Trail restrictions change through the season: group minimums, area closures for bear activity, and the caribou closures in Jasper. The park posts them at trailheads and online, and a five-minute check the night before saves a wasted drive. One more thing. The reason these trails are quiet is that they demand an early start, a real climb, or a little planning. Keep them that way. Pack out everything, stay on the path through the meadows, and leave the larches for the next person to discover.