Cascade Amphitheatre Trail is a 7.7 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail located near Banff, Alberta, Canada that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as difficult. The trail is primarily used for hiking, bird watching, and mountain biking and is best used from June until August. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
Please see the park page here for information about current COVID-19 and road closures: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/banff/visit/covid-19-info One of the trails on the Cascade Amphitheater Trail in Banff. It is a difficult trail with amazing views and full of wildflower meadows.
March 3, 2021February 28, 2021Trail was in great condition today. Only 3 groups out so had the trail to ourselves. Snowshoes were used but mostly just for the heel lift support. Very deep in the amphitheater.
January 11, 2021Great hike. We made it just to the start of the Ampitheatre. We had on kahtoolas and not snowshoes. We were fine on the main trail but needed snowshoes to go deeper into the Ampitheatre. Awesome trail. 14km from parking lot to turnaround and back.
November 25, 2020Did it November 21st. We used microspikes for the first part of the trail and had to use snowshoes on the second half of the trail. At the amphitheatre, snowshoes are definitely not an option! Very nice trail but we expected to see the peak and the views on the lake. Unfortunetaly, the trail (we followed the Alltrail map) does not go all the way to the peak where you see viewpoints of the lake. I am not sure either it is possible to reach this point in that time of the year!
November 25, 2020Tough little hike with great views. Came across a bear on the trail, but he paid me no mind. I attempted to keep going up the summit but had to turn around. I made a video on YouTube of the hike, just search Maps With No Roads on YouTube if you want a look at what the trail is like.
November 7, 2020So let me start off by saying, we didn’t know until AFTER the hike that this is a known cougar habitat! About 1km in we ran into some big paw prints. We’re not zoologists but it looked like a pretty big cat. With that out of the way, the hike was great. Not TOO challenging and definitely worth the effort. We were pretty happy to check it out with the snow on the ground because the last 1/4 of the hike became a winter wonderland. If you’re comparing this to some of the smaller hikes nearby such as the Tunnel Mountain Hoodoos or Johnson lake, I’d rate this as moderate. But if you’re comparing it to something more similar like Cory Pass / Mount Edith, I’d rate this hike as easy compared to those.
October 19, 2020October 10, 2020October 6, 2020October 4, 2020October 4, 2020Fab 360 views at the top and gorgeous of Lake Minnewanka. Loved walking around the amphitheatre. Chilly on the final ascent so would echo everyone’s recommendation about layers and gloves. Conditions were dry today and no snow at the top. Trail generally well marked with orange markers - deviated two or three times from the trail but quickly realised and found the path again. Would definitely recommend this!
October 4, 2020We parked at Mt Norquay. To get to the trailhead, follow the service road (marked as X-Country trail on the ski map) to the Mystic chair. The trail, which heads down into the forest, starts just past the chair on the right. The first part to the river is easy. The next part is a long ascent via switchbacks. At the top, there is a meadow in an amphitheatre. It was very nice and so peaceful. We did the hike in October so no bugs but also no wildflowers. We saw evidence of bear on the way but did not encounter any. We ran into a group of hikers who did the hike two days later and they were followed by a bear (they had the video to prove it!). It took us 2.5 hours in and 2 hours back.
October 1, 2020Trail is well marked, a bit of a walk from the start point. only saw 3 other groups all day. the uphill to the top is a challenging one. even the downhill was quite the workout. views of the amphitheatre were gorgeous, well worth the climb.
October 1, 2020September 29, 2020September 27, 2020A nice display of fall colours.
September 24, 2020September 21, 2020Little steep but not difficult till Cascade Amphitheater. Also, the view here is not that great. Need to go to Cascade Mountain to see nice view. Very light traffic so carry bear spray as we saw few bear poop on the trail and a person spotted a bear too
September 20, 2020September 15, 2020Moderate incline through the forest most of the way and beautiful panorama in the end.
September 14, 2020September 13, 2020September 12, 2020September 12, 2020September 12, 2020Fresh green flagging in trees and orange squares through higher sections made route finding very easy. A tough hike as always, and the climb back into Norquay at the end is never welcome. Pack for cold wind at the top. No snow on route at all.
September 10, 2020Great workout!
September 9, 2020Not much of a view until you get to the top, but it's a nice little hike. 3.5 hours car-to-car including breaks.
September 8, 2020Great View. 15 cm snow on top. Quite challenging
September 6, 2020Only got to the amphitheatre due to inclement weather, so I can only speak to this part of the trail. Very easy to follow and mostly in forest. Uphill most of the way with some steep incline at parts, so poles are very helpful. It wasn't very busy today which was nice. Pretty straightforward overall, but again, I can't speak to the summit itself.
September 5, 2020
