Facilities around the exhibit
Parking, restrooms, a gift shop and picnic area are listed for the wider Cave and Basin site, not inside the exhibit room itself. No food service was verified in the exhibit, so arrange a meal separately.
Overview
About First World War Internment Exhibit
Why stop
- A compact stop that connects Banff’s history with a wider national story.
Heads up
- Easy to miss, and the visit is mostly interpretive displays rather than camp remains.
Map
Where it is
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Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
Facilities around the exhibit
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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Banff Tour Guide
Your drive to First World War Internment Exhibit, 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 tourRecorded for this place
Cave and Basin: Springs and Stories0:00 / 0:34
“Cave and Basin National Historic Site is coming up, with a small cave, warm mineral springs and short boardwalks. I'd allow two to three hours for the exhibits and walks, rather than just ducking into the cave.”
Plays as you drive up to First World War Internment Exhibit in the Parkwolf Banff Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Historian Who Designed Locomotives
- Banff Park Museum and the Gardens
- Vermilion Lakes: Docks and Wetlands
- The Muskrat’s Winter Breathing Hole
- 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.”
Guide
More about First World War Internment Exhibit
A compact exhibit with a difficult storyThe First World War Internment Exhibit is a 1,000-square-foot interpretive space beside Cave…
The First World War Internment Exhibit is a 1,000-square-foot interpretive space beside Cave and Basin National Historic Site. Touchscreens, mixed media, photographs and display panels explain Canada’s wartime internment system and its camps in Banff. It’s a useful stop if you want to understand a harder part of the park’s history alongside the hot springs story.
Find it behind the complexThe exhibit is tucked behind the main Cave and Basin buildings, along the way toward longer…
The exhibit is tucked behind the main Cave and Basin buildings, along the way toward longer trails, so it can be easy to walk past. Look beyond the main building before you leave. Its access arrangements aren’t clearly separate from the historic site, so check before planning this as a standalone stop.
The Banff campsCanada interned 8,579 people it classified as “enemy aliens” during and just after the First…
Canada interned 8,579 people it classified as “enemy aliens” during and just after the First World War, from 1914 to 1920. Banff’s camp began at Castle Mountain in July 1915, moved to the Cave and Basin area that November, and closed in July 1917. The exhibit sets that local story inside the wider national system.
Labour that shaped the parksWith park budgets cut, Dominion Parks Commissioner J.B.
With park budgets cut, Dominion Parks Commissioner J.B. Harkin secured approval to use internees as low-cost labour. People held in the camps cleared land and built roads in several western parks. That history complicates the usual park origin story: some roads visitors use were built through the work of incarcerated people.
What the visit feels likeThis is a small, self-guided exhibit, not a preserved camp.
This is a small, self-guided exhibit, not a preserved camp. Expect touchscreens, historic photographs, text panels and mixed-media displays; few physical traces of the camp sites remain. If you’re looking for original camp buildings, there isn’t much left to see.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Banff
123 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
150 sightingsBrown BearMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
44 sightingsGray WolfMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
12 sightingsRiver OtterMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
69 sightingsMooseMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
466 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 9 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Banff. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
