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Coleman Creek Day-use Area in Banff National Park

Picnic area · Banff National Park

Coleman Creek Day-use Area

A creekside picnic break on the long Icefields Parkway drive.

Type
Picnic area
Nearest trail
6.2 km
Audio stories
2 nearby
  • Parking
  • Picnic tables
  • Restrooms
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

Bison by Helicopter

Overview

About Coleman Creek Day-use Area

Why stop

  • Riverside tables with nearby cliffs to scan for goats

Heads up

  • Summer-only use

Map

Where it is

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Full map
Picnic areaColeman Creek Day-use Area52.11060, -116.97097
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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 Coleman Creek Day-use 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 area

Bison by Helicopter
0:00 / 0:31
“Banff's wild bison comeback included a helicopter ride. In twenty seventeen, sixteen plains bison from Elk Island National Park were flown into remote Panther Valley in shipping containers.”

Plays on the road 0.4 km from Coleman Creek Day-use Area in the Parkwolf Banff Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • How Frost Breaks a Cliff
  • The Hare’s Built-In Snowshoes
  • Weeping Wall Viewpoint beneath Cirrus Mountain
  • Sunset Pass Trailhead: Lookout or Meadows
  • 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 Coleman Creek Day-use Area

A creekside pauseColeman Creek Day-use Area is a small riverside picnic stop on the Icefields Parkway, 102 km…

Coleman Creek Day-use Area is a small riverside picnic stop on the Icefields Parkway, 102 km from Lake Louise and 131 km from Jasper. Its draw is a quiet break beside the creek, especially if you are already making the long drive. It is listed for summer use only, so do not plan on it as a winter stop.

Bring your own food and waterThe site has picnic tables and outhouses.

The site has picnic tables and outhouses. Pack food and drinking water before leaving Lake Louise or Jasper; services are sparse along the parkway. Day-use parking can fill quickly, so use a designated stall rather than stopping along the roadside.

Look to the cliffsNearby cliffs are worth scanning for mountain goats. A sighting is a bonus, not a promise.

Nearby cliffs are worth scanning for mountain goats. A sighting is a bonus, not a promise. The creek, pale gravel bars and forested slopes make this a restful pause rather than a full outing.

picniccreekwildlifeicefields

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 Coleman Creek Day-use Area

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

ChallengingSunset Pass Trail16.2 km · 6.5 hr · 6.2 km awayA steep forest climb opens onto remote meadows beneath a high pass.ChallengingSunset Lookout Trail9 km · 3.5 hr · 6.2 km awayA steep climb to a former lookout above two braided river valleys.

More stops nearby

Sight · 5.6 km awayWeeping Wall ViewpointSnowmelt falls give way to winter ice columns on this cliff.

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.

4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

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