Cycling the Banff Legacy Trail

I cycled the Banff Legacy Trail the first weekend in September. The Banff Legacy Trail connects Canmore and Banff, built for commuting but largely used for leisure. The trail follows the Trans Canada Highway, but most of your time on this trail you won’t see much or hear the traffic on the highway with many sections of the trail having trees as a barrier.

If 70 kms (43.5 miles) sounds too difficult for you, then an alternative easier and shorter route for you would be to cycle Banff to Canmore, then take the city bus from Canmore back to Banff. The shorter route is about 28 kms (17.4 miles) and will avoid the challenging section of Canmore to Banff avoiding climbing more hills, so keep this in mind if you don’t cycle often.

Below I have detailed the stops that I took along the way. If you are interested in seeing the exact route that I took, I have included a screenshot of my route at the end of this post with a link to my activity on Strava.

Start

Parking lot of Visit Alberta Information Centre

I started earlier in the morning to avoid crowds on the trail and the heat forecasted in the afternoon. If you find you typically pass cyclists, I recommend an earlier start to avoid the cyclists later in the afternoon which are leisurely cycling with their family or friends. On your return to Canmore, you’ll likely encounter more groups of people, I found I was a bit tired from the first half, so I didn’t mind slowing down at times due to congestion on the trail.

Stop 1

Mount Rundle

This spot is easy to locate as there is a set of 2 Adirondack red chairs facing the mountain side. It’s the perfect point to take your first break and take in the perfect view you will have of Mount Rundle.

Stop 2

Town of Banff

At some point I accidentally left the Banff Legacy Trail and ended up cycling on the main street in Banff. With the streets so quiet being earlier in the morning, I took a short break to capture a photo in the middle of the street before continuing. I wasn’t sure how to get back on the trail, so I did end up cycling on the bridge that leads to the T intersection with the Fairmont Banff located to the left. I realized this was not the way I needed to go so turned around and followed the path along the Bow River.

Stop 3

Vermillion Lake

When I arrived at Vermillion Lake the docks were empty with no one around. I knew it wouldn’t stay this quiet later so stopped here to sit on the dock alone and enjoy the mountain views across the lake. The water was calm, making it very peaceful and allowing me to ground myself.

Mid-way turning point

On the road leading to Johnston Canyon, I turned around at the part where the road divides. If you continue to bike past here, keep in mind you won’t be able to turn around until the other end where the road joins up again to ensure you are following cycling laws. You also don’t need to go this far, it’s no longer part of the Banff Legacy Trail, however I was determined to cycle at least 70 km’s that day which is why I did go this far.

Stop 4

Backswamp Viewpoint

If you’re lucky (like I was) there was a train passing through adding to the view of the mountains and marsh behind the Bow River and train tracks. If you’ve been to Banff and surrounding area before, you know it’s not uncommon to see a train passing through as they come often and they are very long not moving too fast. While at this stop, you can read the signage which provides a history on the marsh and even how the name of the mountain came to be.  

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Stop 5

Lunch break at Vermillion Lake Dock

On my way back I found an empty dock and stopped to eat my packed lunch – a sandwich and clementine. As I enjoyed the view eating my sandwich, I saw some movement in the distance of the lake, initially thinking it was a duck that had flipped in the water for food. As it started to move closer to me, I knew it wasn’t a duck and suspected it may have been an otter but wasn’t certain as I had never seen an otter before. The cute little otter ended up swimming right up to me almost putting on a show before swimming under the dock, popping up the other side and then shortly disappearing into the marsh part of the water.

Seeing the otter put a huge smile on my face, really making a memorable experience. Now, this does lead me to remind you to anything you pack in, pack out! I support the leave no trace program to minimize our impact on nature for animals and others continue to enjoy.

Stop 6

Beer at Three Bears BANFF

My last stop on my journey was a brewery, Three Bears Banff that I saw an ad for a few weeks back on my Instagram feed– the photos alone made me want to check it out – so I stopped in for a beer. Three Bears did not disappoint, I sat on the upper floor with their roof removed for the summertime allowing you to enjoy the sun shining in feeling more like an outdoor patio than being indoors.

If you have never sat in a restaurant alone, I highly recommend you try it at least once in your lifetime. I sat at the bar which allowed me to chat with the bartender while he prepared the other guests drinks – which mostly consisted of cocktails and was quite funny considering it is a brewery.

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By the time I returned to my car, I was exhausted but felt very accomplished with my day. I drove back to Calgary with a smile on my face, proud of completing a 70 km bike ride, my furthest distance in a trip to date.

If you want to see the exact route I completed, you can click on the link below where you will be redirected to Strava – Strava is the app I use to record my cycling activities. Otherwise, I have also included a screenshot of the route below, however the screenshot will only show the completed route on the map.