Best trails in Kootenay National Park

Fairly easy hike up to Dog Lake. Fun crossing of the Kootenay River over 2 foot bridges. Peaceful serene lake, with magnificent views of the Rocky Mountains.

Peak larch season in the Rockies! Really busy all the way to the lake in good weather, with several fallen trees on the trail. The view from the pass with lots of golden larches is absolutely stunning. Numa Mountain is an additional hike with few false summits and beautiful views of the Kootenay valley.

The trail was mostly dry and in very good condition. No snow on the trail, just a few short wet spots. Trek up is mostly sheltered but a bit chilly and windy in the bowl so bring layers as the temp changes quickly when the sun is behind clouds. Still lots of snow in the bowl. Found one rock with fossils. There are a few small waterfalls on Stanley Peak. Lots of boulders at the base of the bowl to sit and enjoy a lunch and 360 views. An easy to moderate 3-4 hour hike with nice views of Stanley Peak, Storm Mtn, and the Kootenay Valley.

Hiked 15-Dec-2024 -- skier packed powder trail all the way to the end. Great quality snow... depth off trail variable but I measured 50cm in one place. Park at the Continental Divide lot on the east side of Hwy 93 and cross the road to the trail (just past the Banff-Kootenay boundary sight). The route follows the stream - which is not frozen - for pretty much the entire way, often times right next to the stream bank or over it. If you are traveling on foot, tread lightly, because with the current snowpack you will punch through in several places. It's better to have extra floatation like skis or snowshoes until we get more snow and more people have packed down the trail.

Some incline, but very well marked until the painted pots. They are not much. Nice bridge over the Kootenay River that has great pics ops. We stopped to dip our feet in. I would not want to do this when it is hot bc the mosquitoes would be horrible.

Parking: Super easy to find from the Floe Parking area. The lot was full but cars were parked on the side of the road. Didn’t seem to cause any issues. Bathroom available in the lot too. The trail is directly across from the parking lot. Trail: Full disclosure, we didn’t do the whole trail. We make it to about mile 4, but when it came time to ascend Isabelle peak we couldn’t find any trail. Were experienced hikers but not in bushwhacking. So instead we continued on Ball Trail to where Kootenay meets Banff which was beautiful. You’ll walk through a bear friendly valley to get there. We saw what looked to be black bear prints and older scat along the river, but that was the extent. Just be cautious. We turned around at the border of the parks and clocked 11.5 miles exactly. Took us about 7 hours total. Overall a great hike with a lot of beautiful views. A good challenge with a lot to see.