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| The Alpine Club of Canada's Bow Hut, Banff National Park |
Searching for a New Backcountry Hut to Visit this Summer
It's getting increasingly challenging to find new destinations close to Calgary that that don't require a multi-day road trip just to reach the trailhead. Many of the huts also require glacier travel or significant mountaineering experience, which eliminates them for the time being with a 10 year old.
- To see a full list of the other huts we've already visited (with links to the stories I've written) scroll to the bottom of this guide.
One new hut that was well within our abilities with a ten year old child was the Bow Hut perched on the edge of the Wapta Icefield along the Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and Jasper. And, we've actually attempted to reach this hut several times, but have always been rained out and ended up canceling. - which actually wasn't much different this time except that we gambled on a bad weather forecast, committed to the trip, and won with much better conditions than expected.
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| It was a soggy hike in, but we reached the hut in time for the sun to come out |
Information and Stats for Visiting the Bow Hut
General Location: On the east side of the Wapta Icefield, above Bow Lake in Banff National Park
Trailhead: Bow Lake on the Icefields Parkway
Hiking Distance from Bow Lake to the Hut: 8 kilometres one way with 400 metres height gain
Time it took us to reach the hut: It took us 4 hours to reach the hut on the way in (3 hours on the way out)
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| Hiking in on the Bow Lake Trail |
Difficulty of the hiking trail: The approach is not a hard one, but you do have to cross a giant chockstone (the crux of the trail because a fall would be fatal) which you'll see a photo of below. The trail is also a mountaineering access route (the hut was built to allow climbers to reach the glacier and peaks above) so expect some route finding once you leave the official hiking trail for Bow Glacier Falls.
For a complete route description follow this link to the ACC website.
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| Crossing the giant chockstone en route to the Bow Hut |
Cost to spend the night: $30 per night for Alpine Club of Canada members, $40 for non-members. Children are half price. A wilderness pass is also required for each adult at a rate of $9.75 per night.
Booking spaces: Follow this link to make a reservation. A booking can be made up to a year in advance if you are a member. (30 days for non-members)
Sleeping Capacity of the hut: 30 people in a shared sleeping room (the room is divided into upper and lower sleeping platforms - like large bunk beds)
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| Hiking up the rough trail above the Bow Glacier Falls turnoff |
Layout of this hut:
This is one of the BEST ACC HUTS for layout!! There are two separate rooms (one for sleeping, and one for eating/cooking/socializing) and they are separated by a long hallway to keep the bedroom nice and quiet.
Both rooms are on the same level so you don't have the issue of hot air rising and people suffocating in the loft while others are freezing on the main level huddled around the fireplace.
The outhouse is also reached from the inside just off the hallway so you don't have to go outside in the middle of the night.
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| The hut has two separate rooms for sleeping and eating with a hallway connecting them |
What to bring with you:
Guests at an ACC hut have to bring their own sleeping bags, food, basic overnight gear, headlamps, and slippers or inside shoes. Other than that, the hut comes equipped with sleeping mattresses, propane stove tops (with a full size propane oven) and lanterns, cooking supplies and all dishes, and the bathrooms were stocked with toilet paper. There is also a wood fireplace which helps to dry wet clothes.
Other than that, consider this a backpacking trip and plan your food accordingly. (There is no fridge at the hut.) You'll also have to boil water to drink or bring a water filter for the creek.
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| There were lots of creek crossings on the way in! |
Hiking in to the Bow Hut
Our hike in took about 4 hours and was pretty soggy towards the end (we arrived at the hut soaking wet.) Honestly though, it could have been worse and it only really started raining in our last half hour.
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| Climbing the stairs up towards the Bow Glacier Falls turnoff from the lake |
My husband and I knew the route well so there were no challenges with directions, but we knew it would be a little scary getting our son across the giant chockstone, so we'd brought a short length of rope and his harness for this section. My husband belayed him across to ensure complete safety (you only get one shot at raising your kids and bringing them to adulthood in one piece.)
And while the chockstone may not look that "bad" from the photos, it's super hard to get up onto it from the approach side (as you can see the big climb up in the photo below) and a fall off the top would be fatal.
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| A photo of the chockstone crossing from our hike out |
Other than that, the only other challenge came with the frequent creek crossings but we were pros at this by the end. (I recommend good waterproof footwear and hiking poles!)
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| One of the creek crossings on our hike out |
Day Trip Plans from the Hut
We were originally planning to spend two nights at the hut until the weather forecast convinced us to just do a shorter one-night trip. In hindsight, the weather ended up being better than expected once we reached the hut and we could have spent the full two nights.
In a full day from the hut, there are many options for exploring. We had been hoping to do an easy glacier traverse to summit Mt. Thompson (an easy walk up mountaineering objective) with another family. The other family pulled out of from the trip though after seeing the weather forecast, and so we chose to do something easier.
For families wanting to explore around the hut (without getting on the glacier) there are a couple of fun options which include visiting an ice cave and hiking to the top of a nearby family-friendly summit called the Onion.
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| There are several fun options for families wanting to explore around the hut without getting on the glacier |
Climbing the "Onion" from Bow Hut
This is the most popular objective for most hikers looking for a non-technical summit to reach from the hut. Pretty much the entire group staying at the hut with us had made it up to the top at some point during their visit.
We arrived at the hut in the rain, but within an hour, the skies had cleared, we were dried off, and we'd had our first dinner. We decided to head out to hike up to the summit of the Onion before having a late second dinner.
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| The sun came out and we climbed up above the hut to begin hiking towards the Onion |
The Onion is located roughly 300 metres above the hut (making for a height gain of 700 metres from the highway.)
It took us approximately 2 hours round trip to reach the summit, to stop at the ice cave on descent, and to make it back to the hut.
For us, this meant that we did a total of 6 hours of hiking on our first day and had completed the full 700 metres of height gain. For a more relaxing day I recommend spending a second night at the hut and hiking up to the Onion on your rest day.
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| Fun hiking on rock ribs towards the Onion |
The hike up the Onion is a "route" and there is no official trail. For that reason I suggest you talk with other visitors at the hut before heading out. Anybody at the hut will be able to point you in the correct direction to reach the Onion.
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| Tarn, Bow Glacier, and Mt. St. Nicholas en route to the Onion |
Step one for reaching the Onion was to hike up above the hut, heading towards a small glacier tarn, and then making our way up lots of fun scrambly rock ribs on the lower slopes of the Onion past some waterfalls.
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| The rock was so much fun to scramble and we found these cool pools of water |
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| Lots of fun scrambling on rock up the Onion |
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| This was some of the most fun scrambling I've done in a long time! |
We were always rewarded with views of the Bow Glacier and St. Nicholas in the background (a peak I'm rather partial to after climbing it years ago.)
And if you pay attention to the Bow Glacier in the photo below, that was our descent route off the Onion rather than scrambling back down the rock.
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| Climbing above the Bow Glacier with St. Nicholas in the background |
I don't recommend following our descent option though unless you have significant experience on glaciers, and can determine if this section of the glacier is safe at the time of your visit (when we were there, there was significant snow coverage on the glacier, and it had been well traveled. We were very secure that we wouldn't be falling into any crevasses.)
Also know that if you are going to descend the glacier, there is an ice cave at the bottom of it. You don't want to fall into the cave (which is full of water.) Make sure you know exactly where the cave is when choosing your descent line.
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| The views were incredible the higher we got! |
We continued climbing higher until we had the option to get on a snow field below the summit. When faced with snow Vs. rock, we always choose snow as long as it's safe to do so - and this snow was totally safe to be climbing. We were just on snow-covered rock here (not glacier.)
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| Climbing up the snow field below the summit of the Onion |
It was easy walking up the snow (and we had good boots that kept our feet relatively dry.) Plus, look how incredibly gorgeous this was!! I felt like we were on a mountaineering expedition just hiking up this snow - and now I totally want to go back next summer.
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| Climbing up a snow field above the Bow Glacier |
Once we reached the edge of the snow field, it was just a plod up rock to the summit where we found a large cairn overlooking Bow Lake.
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| Ready to start the final climb up rock to the summit |
The Summit of the Onion
The summit was gorgeous looking down on Bow Lake. We didn't have a lot of time at the top though since we got such a late start, so I definitely want to return next summer.
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| Looking down on Bow Lake from the summit of the Onion |
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| Onion Summit with my boys looking back on the Wapta Icefield |
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| Summit of the Onion |
Descending the Bow Glacier to the Ice Cave
We wanted to go visit the ice cave on our way back to the hut, and since it was at the base of the glacier, there was no faster way to reach it than by running straight down the glacier.
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| Hiking down the Bow Glacier back to the Bow Hut |
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| We really did run down the glacier! It was so much fun!! |
The glacier was in great shape when we were there for a quick run down and the snow was nice and deep to cover anything up. - and running down this glacier was so much fun!! It was a highlight of our entire summer so far.
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| My husband loved leading us down the glacier |
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| Approaching the tarns again and the ice cave at the bottom of the glacier |
The Ice Cave at the bottom of the Bow Glacier
And no, you can not explore inside the cave. It's filled with very cold deep water.
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| We found the ice cave below the Bow Glacier |
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| You don't want to be running down the glacier and suddenly end up falling through into the cave! |
Back at the Hut and Hiking out the Next Day
We got back to the hut, finally had an official dinner, and watched as it continued to "not" rain - the weather forecast totally changed once we arrived at the hut!
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| It was overcast but dry the whole night at the hut |
The next morning it was still sunny and we had a gorgeous hike out! We definitely should have stayed for two nights!
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| It was a gorgeous morning for our hike out |
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| Hiking down the steep trail from the hut |
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| Back to the creek crossings |
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| In this photo you can see the Bow Hut to the left and the rounded summit of the Onion to the far right |
You can see the rounded summit of the Onion in the photos above and below.
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| Hiking down below the rounded summit of the Onion |
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| There is a lot of rock traversing on this hike (wear good hiking boots!) |
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| The creek with the chockstone crossing |
It only took us 3 hours to hike out and we headed straight to Lake Louise for lunch.
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| Hiking down the staircase below the junction with the Bow Glacier Falls Trail |
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| Back at Bow Lake |
For more information on this hike or to make a booking for next summer, please visit the Alpine Club of Canada's website.
Resources and Recommended Reading (other huts we've stayed at)
Family Backcountry Cabin Camping in the Canadian Rockies
Backcountry Cabin Camping with Kids - Elk Lakes Cabin, BC
Summer Backpacking Trip to the Asulkan Cabin, Rogers Pass
Backpacking in the Bugaboos (and our first family glacier traverse) - Conrad Kain Hut
Backcountry Cabin Camping with Kids - Stanley Mitchell Hut, BC
Easter at the Wheeler Hut, Rogers Pass
The Easiest Family Winter Backcountry Trip (Wheeler Hut, Rogers Pass)
Winter at the Cameron Lake Cabin, Waterton Lakes National Park
Easter at the Elizabeth Parker Hut, Lake O'Hara
Winter Camping with Kids ( No Tent!!)
Snowy Adventures in Elk Lakes Provincial Park
Raising Tough Kids - Our Annual Winter Backpacking Trip
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