🏔 Andy McKay

Early in the year, we booked the Rockwall, a hike in Kootenay National Park. Since I was heading over towards the Rockies, I thought I'd in another hike. So beforehand I had the opportunity to do the Skyline Trail. I learnt about the trail from Taryn. I booked it from the south towards Jasper, which turns out to be the most popular way.

Skyline trail is right on the edge of the forest fires that occurred in Jasper in 2024 and the damage is visible everywhere around Jasper. Most of the trail that I hiked is undamaged, apart from the last 8km which was burnt out.

Skyline trail heads to 2,500m which is one of the highest trails you'll find in the national parks. To hike in the park, you will need a National Park pass and you'll need to book your campsites in advance.

Day 1: Maligne Lake 👉 Snowbowl

I started out heading out from Maligne Lake and the trail goes uphill for 12.36km up to the Snowbowl campsite. You'll pass two other campsites on the way, but both of those are so close to Maligne Lake trailhead that I didn't want to stop there. Snowbowl campsite is one of the most popular campsites as a result. The climb up is pretty relentless until you pass Little Shovel campsite and crest Little Shovel Pass.

The result is that you are hiking in forest and shade most of the way. Around Little Shovel Pass, you get some nice views as the trees thin out.

The campsites I stayed at in the park had tent pads, bear caches, toilets and picnic tables. Toilets in both campsites had buckets to collect the poo and then seem to get picked up by helicopter. Unfortunately when I was there Snowbowl toilets hadn't been emptied recently and were kinda full.

My only regret is that I assumed the trail would give me a nice view of Maligne Lake and it didn't. So take the time to enjoy the beautiful Maligne Lake before you head out on the trail.

Day 2: Snowbowl 👉 Tekarra

Day 1 was nice, but didn't feel too epic - but day 2 definitely delivered. The trail keeps climbing between the mountains until you hit Big Shovel Pass and thats where it gets good. Amazing views of down into the valley, lakes and soaring peaks on either side as you walk through a barren rocky landscape. Again this gave me New Zealand vibes similar to the Alpine Crossing.

Then it's up to the main ridge at 2,500m called The Notch. The climb up is on a bit of a scree slope, but I never felt exposed or worried and didn't have any problem. At the top you get an amazing view back where you came (see picture 👇) and also out across the valley. Sadly at that time there was smoke and haze in the distance which obscured the mountains in the distance.

The ridge continues with more amazing views back along the valley.

Sadly the ridge comes to an end and you head down into the valley again. Snowbowl to Tekarra campground is 19.43km and an elevation gain of 744m, the hike down into the valley takes you into trees, with streams and a beautiful campsite. The sun was shining, so I got a few hours of sunbathing before the sun vanished behind the trees.

Both campsites are tucked away on mountainsides and sheltered, which is what you need in a campsite, somewhere safe and sheltered in bad weather. Sadly none of them had good sunrises or sunsets, as the soon was hiding behind mountains a lot of the time.

Day 3: Tekarra 👉 Signal

This hike is mostly downhill down past the Signal campsite and down to the car park near to Jasper. The first 4km is quite nice as you stay at over 2,000m and enjoy lovely views and trees. Then 8km from the end you hit a logging road. From then on it's a consistent downhill on the logging road. Sadly all the trees for the last 8km were burnt in the forest fire, so it's a slightly depressing hike down.

Summary

A really nice hike, day 2 was an absolutely amazing day. The other days getting there were great outdoor hikes, but didn't have brilliant views given the smoke in the distance. After day 2 in the campsite, I was a mentioning to one hiker that I was a little disappointed by the smoke. She then said something that cheered me up:

Doing the hike in three days was a nice pace for me. I could see tackling this all in one day at my current level of fitness, admittedly it's a long day. Anything more than three days would be too much.

I enjoyed the hike and if I was in the area, I'd do it again. However I probably wouldn't do the approx. 9 hour drive from Vancouver for this hike alone.