Epic Travel → North America → Canada → Banff National Park → Grotto Canyon

♦ Intrepid Top Pick!

Location: Near Dead Man’s Flats, south of Canmore, Alberta

Distance: 6 km roundtrip to the cave and hoodoos

Elevation Gain/Loss: ~60 meters

Time Required: ~3 hours

Red Tape/Notes: Entry into Banff requires a daily fee of about $10 per person (or ~$20 per family/group). You can do this hike without ice cleats, but you’ll probably fall down a lot, so we’d recommend them. It’s easy enough to rent some in town. Most descriptions of this trail stop at the junction with Grotto Falls (like this one on AllTrails), but this Trailpeak post and Hiking with Barry both describe the hike all the way to the hoodoos.

What’s Nearby?: Johnston Canyon, Ink Pots, Bow Falls, Fairmont Banff Springs

This is a great hike, especially in winter! The first part of the hike is rather meh (about the first km), but once you reach the creek, it’s pretty fantastic. The water is completely frozen over, so you’re walking on a wide ice pathway that snakes through the canyon (hence the recommendation for ice cleats) for another kilometer or so, before the canyon junction at His and Hers (frozen waterfalls, suitable for ice climbing). Grotto Falls is to the right of this junction, and it’s possible to explore somewhat further up canyon this direction, though it’s more challenging. Continuing to the left, past His and Hers, for another kilometer or so will bring you to some hoodoos and a cave in a meadow clearing. We were pressed for time when we did this hike (okay, really we just wasted entirely too much time sliding down frozen sections of the creek), and turned back after exploring up canyon to the right, but will definitely be back to visit the hoodoos and cave!

Epic Travel → North America → Canada → Banff National Park → Grotto Canyon