World Traveller 73 
Walking the Bow Falls River Trail, Banff National Park, Canada.
We had a day visit through Banff, after spending the weekend hiking in the Lake Louise area. After a wonderful stay at the Fairmont Lake Louise, today’s objective was taking MrsWT73 on her first visit to Banff, Alberta, Canada. Since no visit to Banff would be complete without a walk through the Bow River Trail, we set out on this mission immediately upon our arrival in Banff.
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Walking the Bow Falls River Trail, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
After visiting the Fairmont Château Lake Louise, an completing a number of walks in the area that included the Lake Louise Lake Shore Trail, and the Fairview Lookout Trail, we had our sights set on a day visit to Banff and the Bow Falls River Trail.
About the Bow Falls River Trail:
The Bow Falls River Trail is among the most popular and easily accessible trails within the town of Banff, Alberta. Visitors to the Bow Falls River Trail will be rewarded with a relaxing view of the Bow River along a mostly level path.
The Bow River Trail is quite popular as a result of it’s proximity to Banff. If you only have time to complete one trail walk within the town of Banff, the Bow River Trail will likely be towards the top of your list.
Getting to the Bow Falls River Trail:
The Bow Falls River Trail is located within Banff National Park. To enter (and park your vehicle) in the park, you’ll need a daily park pass from the Banff National Park entry gates.
During the time of our visit, the admission fees were $10.50 CAD per person per day. In our case, we passed through the park gates at around noon, and were given a twenty eight hour pass lasting until 4 PM the next day. If you are a regular visitor, or are staying a longer period of time, an annual pass may be a more economical version for you at $72.25 CAD for a single person or $145.25 CAD for a family.
The Bow Falls River Trail is an short 1.2 kilometre trail that runs up along the eastern side of the Lake Louise lake. The trail is mostly flat, with the exception of the area near Bow Falls which has about ten minutes of elevation gain based on the use of stairs.
Since the town of Banff has mostly paid parking within the commercial area, we elected to park for free at the train station. With a short walk through town. we opted for a walk along Bow Avenue where we’d take in the Bow River on our walk out outwards the Bow Falls.
The trail and walking took us about 45 minutes to get from the train station out towards the Bow Falls.
Starting at Bow Valley River:
After departing the Fairmont Château Lake Louise we drove over to the town of Banff, Alberta. We had some spectacular views of Mount Rundle from the Trans Canada Highway from the Vermillion Lake lookout.
We parked at the free Banff Train Station parking lot. From the train parking lot, we set along the Bow Valley walkway which ran on the east side of the Bow Valley River.
We were treated to spectacular fall views. Firstly, it was amazing to see that the town of Banff is in a completely different climate zone than neighbouring Lake Louise. With fall like temperatures, as compared to Lake Louises’ winter climates, we were treated to a much milder fall walk.
It’s these types of mountain and river views that Canada is famous for, and the Bow Valley trail is no exception to this expectation. With a partial fall freeze on some elements of the river, the crispness of the images came through with a full sun West facing exposure on this portion of the trail.
The Bow Valley Trail led us towards the top of Banff Avenue. We had sight lines towards Cascade Mountain which dominates Banff Avenue.
After crossing the Bow Ridge Bridge on Banff Trail, we crossed into the more known part of the Bow River Falls trail.
Walking the Bow River Trail:
When we crossed the bridge over to the Bow River Trail, we ended up in a shady trail walkway. During our fall walk, the surfaces of the trail were damp; likely a a result of this area getting very limited sun exposure due to it’s eastern facing orientation.
We eventually had some stairs to navigate down (and up) as we eventually made our way to the famous Bow Falls.
Viewing the Bow Falls:
The Bow Falls themselves are a smaller rapid type of waterfall. They will never be as large as some of the larger Canadian waterfalls that I’m used to seeing on the West Coast, or the other dramatic waterfalls like Niagara Falls in eastern Canada.
Despite this, the Bow Falls are among the most popular natural tourist attractions in Banff. Our November visit had a bit of ice forming at the edges of the water falls, making this experience look like a very wintery one.
From the Bow River Falls trail, we were also able to spot peek – a – boo views of the Banff Springs hotel. The Fairmont Banff Springs was peeking out through the forest of trees. We didn’t take the time to explore the hotel, and ended up just returning towards Banff after viewing the falls.
The Fairmont Banff Springs hotel appeared majestic, but also reminded me of the Overlook hotel from the horror movie “The Shining”. I can’t be the first person to make that comparison, even if the exterior of the hotel looks a little different.
Returning to Banff Avenue:
After viewing at the falls, we returned to Banff on the same Bow River Trail that we took out to Bow Falls. We navigated back down (and up) the stairs, with great river views.
We eventually came across the Banff Pedestrian Bridge, which was really pretty. We were able to take a few photographs of this neat viewpoint area.
Eventually, we returned back to town getting the very last winter light of the day as it lit Cascade Mountain. The views up Banff avenue are amazingly iconic.
After the hike, we returned to our car, and headed onwards for a week’s stay at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel & Suites Calgary West.
My Thoughts on Walking the Bow Valley River Trail:
The Bow Valley River Trail was a warmer climate walk than our Lake Louise winter hiking experiences. Despite being only one hour apart, the two areas were in completely different climate zones.
The Bow Valley River Trail has always remained a favorite of mine when visiting Banff. It’s a great nearby escape from the town of Banff.
World Traveller 73 
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