Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park
Hiking to Mt Assiniboine
Mt Assiniboine is one of the most iconic peaks in the Canadian Rockies. With picturesque lakes and glistening glaciers, this is a spectacular area to go backpacking. At 3618m above sea level, Mt Assiniboine towers over most other peaks in the area and is the 6th tallest mountain in British Columbia.
Climbing Mt Assiniboine is a serious mountaineering objective, that should only be undertaken by experienced mountaineers. Thankfully, there are a number of stunning hikes in and around the provincial park, that are much more accessible and enjoyed by thousands of hikers every summer.
The hiking season in the Canadian Rockies is very short, the best time to visit this area is from July- October. If you do choose to visit in June, you can expect to find snow covered trails and frozen lakes. Personally; my favourite time to visit this area is in late September. This is prime larch season, which is when all the larch trees turn golden and flood the area with colour.
How To Get Here
Visiting Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park is a little more challenging than visiting some of the other parks nearby, such as Banff NP. There is no road access into the park, which means the only way to visit is to hike or fly.
Hiking -To hike into this park most people start at either the Mt Shark Trailhead or at Sunshine Village.
Mt Shark trailhead is in Kananaskis, which is around a 1 hour drive from Canmore or 2 hours from Calgary. The Mt Shark Trailhead is the shortest access point to hike in from, but this is still a long hike that is generally done over two days. You will need to purchase a Kananaskis parks pass if you want to park at this trailhead.
Sunshine Village is the 2nd access point for hikers. At only 20 minutes outside of Banff, this is the closest trailhead to a nearby town. Hiking in from Sunshine is a much longer hike and almost always takes 2 days. Sunshine Village operates the Gondola during the summer for sightseeing. This can save you hiking up the ski area, but it’s still a very long hike from the ski area to Lake Magog. You will also need to purchase a parks pass to start at this trailhead as it’s in Banff National Park.
For those feeling a little more adventurous or just want to take a lesser known trail. There is another access point on the 93S, but it’s much less frequently travelled and I won’t cover it in this guide as it’s rarely used.
Flying in -The alternative option to hiking is to fly in. There is a helicopter that operates flights into Assiniboine during the summer. Rates are around $200 CAN each way with most people choosing to fly in then hike out. You can also have your gear flown in or out which will make the hike much easier and faster. The flights must be booked through Assiniboine Lodge and you can find more information on the flights here.
Where To Stay?
There are a range of options for accommodation when visiting Mt Assiniboine and I’ll cover most of them here.
Lodges – The most expensive option is to stay at Assiniboine Lodge. This is a very luxurious option but is a great way to explore the area if you have the funds to do so. This lodge always sells out very quickly so you need to book well in advance.
Huts – Along with the lodge there are also a number of huts you can book here too. These are a little less luxurious than the lodge, but still provide plenty of home comforts when you are in the middle of the backcountry. This is a little cheaper than staying in the lodge, but still much more expensive than camping. You can book both the the Lodge and the Huts at the Assiniboine Lodge website.
Camping – The cheapest and most accessible option is to camp at one of the campgrounds. Booking the campgrounds can be a little confusing. Some are in British Columbia and run by BC Parks, but others are in Banff National Park and run by Parks Canada. They both use different booking systems which can make it difficult to get all the campgrounds you want.
Campgrounds
Below are all the campgrounds you are likely to use and details on how to book them. They are listed in order from Sunshine Village to Mt Shark.
Howard Douglas Lake – This is beautiful campground in Banff National Park and is 12km from the Sunshine Village Trailhead. To book this campground use Parks Canada Reservations Website.
Porcupine Campground – This is 7.6km past Howard Douglas Lake and is in BC. The campground is operated by BC Parks and is free to use with no prior booking required.
Og Lake – 8km past Porcupine is Og Lake Campground. This is in Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park and is booked through the BC Parks Reservation System. This is a very exposed campground with little shelter from the Sun or the Wind.
Lake Magog – This is the main campground in the park and is 6.5km from Og Lake. It’s a huge campground by backcountry standards but is fully booked for most of the season. This is booked through BC Parks and reservations are on a rolling 2 month window.
Allenby Junction – 8km From Lake Magog and is in Banff National Park. This is a good option if you are hiking Assiniboine Pass, but I’d recommend using the more scenic Wonder Pass route.
McBride’s Camp – 12km from Lake Magog and it’s a good option to break up the trail in or out. This is in Banff NP and is booked through Parks Canada.
Marvel Lake – 13.5km from Lake Magog and the best campground on this side of the trail in Banff NP. This is where I would camp if I was choosing one of the campgrounds in this area. I would only book one of the other sites if this one was full or if I was hiking over Assiniboine Pass.
Big Springs – This is the final campground on the trail and is only 9km from the Mt Shark Trailhead. If you are looking for an easy first or last day then this could be a good option. This is still in Banff NP so you booking using the Parks Canada Reservation System.
Day Hikes From Lake Magog
Nub Peak
Nub Peak is one of the most iconic hikes in Mt Assiniboine. If you are only going to do one hike, then this is the one you will want to do.
There are a number of different ways you can hike this trail. Most hikers just take the most direct trail up to the Nublet. This is a viewpoint on Nub Peak that follows an easy trail and has great views of Lake Magog.
For those looking for more of a challenge, you can continue onto Nub Peak. The views from the top are fantastic and it’s well worth the extra effort.
Taking the direct route to the peak is the most common option. But I prefer to do loops and there’s a great loop you can do here that really maximises the views on trail.
If you head over to FATMAP using the map on the right, you will find full details on the route I recommend with a GPX track that is available to download.
Windy Ridge
Windy Ridge is a great day hike from Lake Magog. This is a moderately challenging hike with a good trail almost the entire way to the summit.
Although this is a long trail, it mostly crosses flat meadows before finally gaining elevation 5km into the hike.
The trail tops out at the Col between Windy Ridge and Og Mountain. You could summit either peak from here, but Windy Ridge is only a quick 5-10 minute scramble from the Col.
The views from the col are outstanding. Even if you don’t want to scramble to the peak, it’s still an awesome hike.
There’s a GPX track and more information on this route on FATMAP. Use the map to see full details about this route.
Sunburst Peak
Sunburst Peak is an awesome scramble in Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park. This route is one of the most challenging hikes in the area and should only be attempted by experienced hikers.
This route require lots of scrambling. If you haven’t scrambled in the Canadian Rockies before, then I wouldn’t attempt this unless you are going with someone who is experienced.
The trail starts at Lake Magog. There’s no defined trail going up here so you need to be confident with route finding. I have a gpx track on FATMAP that you can see on the right. This is what I think is the best and safest route up and also has cairns to help with navigation.
This is a pretty quick hike and only takes a few hours to complete. I would recommend taking a helmet as the trail is very loose and it’s inevitable that you will encounter rockfall.
Wonder Pass Viewpoint
Wonder Pass is one of the highlights of any trip to Mt Assiniboine. This is the route I recommend taking to hike out to Mt Shark.
There are two ways to visit this viewpoint. You either just hike the viewpoint as an out and back from Lake Magog, or visit the viewpoint when hiking out to Mt Shark.
The route I have on FATMAP shows the route to Mt Shark via the viewpoint. If you are day tripping from Lake Magog, retrace your steps back to Lake Magog.
In my opinion, this is one of the best views in the entire park. Too many people skip this viewpoint, as they are worried about the long hike out.
This viewpoint is not something you don’t want to miss…the view is epic!
The trail over Wonder pass is well defined and easy to follow. The trail to the viewpoint is a little harder to follow. Use the map on the right to see the exact route.
Trailheads
So you have booked your accommodation, you know which day hikes you want to do… but which trailhead should you start at?
Well that depends on a number of factors which I will cover here. First, lets cover the option of flying in or out…
If you want to fly in but hike out, which is a very popular option, then it makes sense to hike out to Mt Shark. You can get the flight from the trailhead so you wouldn’t need to car shuttle and it is possible to hike out in a single day. You could also have your bags flown out knowing you don’t need anything as you will be hiking out that day. If you exit to Sunshine Village you would almost certainly need 2 days, I’ll explain why further down.
Now let’s say you plan to hike in and out…
In this situation you really can go either way. But you will need a car shuttle unless you hike in and out to the same trailhead. Generally, I’d advise to start at Sunshine Village and finish at Mt Shark. There are a number of reasons for this which I’ll list below…
- You will want to use the Sunshine Village Gondola which is only open during the day.
- Using the Gondola saves you lots of elevation when your backpack is at it’s heaviest
- You can camp at Porcupine Campground which requires no reservations and is free to use
- When you exit to Mt Shark you will have time to visit the Wonder Pass viewpoint as the trail is mostly downhill. If you hike in from Mt Shark it’s unlikely you will have the time or energy to visit the viewpoint.
So when should you start at Mt Shark?
The only time I’d recommend starting at Mt Shark is when you are either flying in, or hiking in and out to the same trailhead. The hiking trail from Mt Shark is a much easier trail and it’s a great option if you are short on time or don’t want to tackle the more challenging trail to Sunshine Village. This is also a better trail for dogs as the trail from Sunshine Village has lots of scree and sharp rocks which can damage their paws.
If you do decide to start at Mt Shark and finish at Sunshine, expect the hike out to take 2 days. The hike from Lake Magog to Sunshine Village is a long one. If you was also hoping to take the Gondola down then you would need to arrive at the Ski Area before they close, which is unlikely to happen. I have hiked out this way and it is possible to do it in a day, but I still decided to camp at Howard Douglas Lake.
More Information
If you are looking for more information on the specific routes, check out my full guidebook below on FATMAP. You will find plenty of extra information here about the trails, including all the GPX tracks that are available to download.
Have a Question?
If you have any questions about anything I’ve covered here or suggestions for things to add… then get in touch and I’ll try my best to answer them.