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Baker Creek Picnic Area in Banff National Park

Picnic area · Banff National Park

Baker Creek Picnic Area

A shaded creekside pause for lunch and a short leg-stretch.

Type
Picnic area
Nearest trail
5.8 km
Audio stories
6 nearby
  • Picnic tables
  • Restrooms
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

Baker Creek: Cabins, Café and a Public Picnic Stop

Overview

About Baker Creek Picnic Area

Why stop

  • Shaded creekside setting

Map

Where it is

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Full map
Picnic areaBaker Creek Picnic Area51.34913, -116.06528
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Plan your stop

Before you go

8 active Banff alerts

  • ClosureJohnston Canyon Trail and Day Use Area closedJohnston Canyon Trail and Day Use Area are closed to all traffic and travel through December 11, 2026, because construction work requires protecting public and workers’ safety.Official details
  • ClosureBaker Lake and Hidden Lake campgrounds closed to campingCamping is prohibited at Baker Lake and Hidden Lake campgrounds through December 1, 2026, because a grizzly bear entered campsites and investigated tents and gear; the closures reduce risk to…Official details
See all 8 alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Banff Tour Guide

Your drive to Baker Creek Picnic Area, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Banff National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

See the Banff audio tour

Recorded for this place

Baker Creek: Cabins, Café and a Public Picnic Stop
0:00 / 0:31
“Baker Creek is coming up, with creekside cabins and a separate public picnic area. For a simple break, I'd choose the picnic tables east of the resort, where a short paved path follows the creek.”

Plays as you drive up to Baker Creek Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Banff Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • An Osprey’s Grip on a Fish
  • The Pause Before the Fox Pounces
  • The Scratches Beneath the Ice
  • The Meadow Made by Snow
  • 185 audio storiesacross Banff’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Grizzly Bear, Brown Bear, Gray Wolf, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 162 trails, 90 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
★★★★★
“…Loved the commentary as you drove thru. I’m sure the app can do more than I know but the tips were very helpful. I’m gonna use it when we go to Banff next month.”
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4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Guide

More about Baker Creek Picnic Area

A quiet place to pauseBaker Creek is a public picnic area on the Bow Valley Parkway, beside Baker Creek and separate…

Baker Creek is a public picnic area on the Bow Valley Parkway, beside Baker Creek and separate from the nearby resort of the same name. It’s a low-key place to stop for lunch and stretch your legs, not a major destination that needs its own detour. The site has picnic tables and outhouses.

Follow the creek a littleA short paved path follows the creek, making this a brief leg-stretch after eating rather than…

A short paved path follows the creek, making this a brief leg-stretch after eating rather than a full walk. The shaded creekside setting is the draw; come for a meal break and a little time by the water.

Find the public picnic areaThe picnic site is east of the resort with the same name, so make sure your map pin is for the…

The picnic site is east of the resort with the same name, so make sure your map pin is for the public day-use stop, not the lodging property. Site-specific parking capacity, fees, accessibility, and drinking-water details weren’t established. Bring what you need for a meal, and don’t count on the nearby resort’s facilities as picnic-site amenities.

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Wildlife

Wildlife in Banff

All Banff wildlife maps
Grizzly Bear123 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapBrown Bear150 sightingsBrown BearMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapGray Wolf44 sightingsGray WolfMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapRiver Otter12 sightingsRiver OtterMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapMoose69 sightingsMooseMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapBlack Bear466 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 9 PMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Banff. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Baker Creek Picnic Area

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

ModerateTaylor Lake Trail12.6 km · 4.5 hr · 5.8 km awayA steady forest climb ends at a glacial lake beneath jagged peaks.ChallengingO’Brien Lake Trail16.7 km · 6.5 hr · 5.8 km awayA long forest climb ends at a rough lake beneath Mount Bell.ChallengingPanorama Ridge East Trail19 km · 8 hr · 5.8 km awayA forested lake approach opens onto a steep, faint larch ridge.

More stops nearby

Lodging · 0.3 km awayBaker Creek by BasecampCreekside cabin stays come with firepits and a grab-and-go café.Campground · 3.1 km awayProtection Mountain CampgroundOpen mountain camping, with flush toilets but no showers.Picnic area · 4.4 km awayTemple ViewpointTake a picnic break where the Bow River bends through Banff.Sight · 7.1 km awayMorant’s CurveA river, railway curve and high peaks in one frame.

Parkwolf’s Banff ranking

Top sights in Banff

All 90 places
  1. 1Lake LouiseSight
  2. 2Moraine LakeSight
  3. 3Peyto Lake ViewpointSight
  4. 4Johnston CanyonSight
  5. 5Banff GondolaSight
  6. 6Cave and Basin National Historic SiteSight

Take Parkwolf to Banff.

The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.

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