Outdoor Video Magazine

Length: 48km
Time: 3/4 Days
Book: None I could find, parks office has details
Elevation: 1400m-1400m = FLAT!
Date done: April 14th 2006
Effort: Medium
Rating: 8/10
Notes: Lots of grizzly tracks on trail - beware! Rating applies to April, could be plain/boring in summer
Map: Can be done without

If you don’t want to go uphill but love mountains, this is the hike for you. Also for an early spring hike it is perfect. This trail takes you through spectacular mountain scenery whilst hardly gaining any height at all. It has some superbly situated campgrounds, and is well maintained. I did this in April of 2006, and the parks people thought you we were crazy for trying to go backpacking at that time of year. But the low elevation and the low snow levels for that year meant that trail was in perfect condition for hiking right up until the last few kilometers approaching Fortress Lake. By then there was some old, crusty, thigh deep snow to battle through. The days were very warm and sunny…and the nights and mornings a little chilly to say the least. Fortress Lake was still fully frozen over.

Day 1 - 6km (half day)
Starting from the Sunwapta Falls car park on the Icefields Parkway, follow the trail over the falls and through some rather repetative forest to the first campground, only 6km from the start. From here there is your first view of the mountains to come. It is a gorgeous area with a nice lake as well as a river, and it provides some excellent photography opportunities at sunrise.

Day 2 - 18km
Following the trail onwards, I recommend breaking out to the river to your right occasionally to get the best views. You can even hike along side the river on a fairly decent game trail all the way to the next campground, a total of 15km from the start. Or you can stick to the true trail that takes you through the trees and limits your views somewhat. This campground is in a lovely spot too, with yet again a gorgeous lake nearby and two rivers. We had lunch here.

Crossing a suspension bridge It is now another 9km to the third and final campste at Fortress Lake. The trail becomes slightly narrower but remains very clear, and rises and drops in places. Eventually you come out to the main river bed, where you have to ford. This was no problem for us, but during high-water this would be impossible. If the water is low, this huge river bed gives you a good chance to soak up the views of the mountains on all sides. On the farside, the trail becomes less distinct as it winds along the trees by the river. This is where we started to pick up some bad snow that made the going tough. It is possible to stick to the river bed for a clearer walk though, just keep an eye on the path. Eventually it swings away from the river and heads toward Fortress Lake passing through gorgeous mossy forest (welcome to BC, you actually over the Continental Divide now). The final campground is perfectly situated above the lake with some stunning views. A shame the lake was still frozen in early April.

Day 3 - 18km
You know have to retrace your steps all the way home. If you want you can stick to the river all the way to the first campsite, or you can follow the main trail. Or mix the two. We decided to take the river back for some variety. In retrospect, I think this was slower and more tiring too. Maybe it’s just cos we were out in some VERY hot sun (it was April, but it must have been around 20C!!), or maybe it was the hour long game of frisbee we had! The river bed is sandy, flat, and huge. One day I would like a full Ultimate Frisbee game here, haha. The open views were amazing, and it was excellent for avalanche watching. We must have seen about 20 in one day. We spent the third night back at the first campsite.

Day 4 - 6km (quarter day)
We hiked the final 6km back to the car, and enjoyed a leisurely drive back through Jasper in some stunning weather.

This would make a gorgeous cross-country ski in winter and you can actually take bikes as far as the second campground (it’s a recognised MTB route in the park).