Sight · Banff National Park
A Bow River picnic break with a ridgeline to read.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Banff Tour Guide
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
Storm Mountain Lookout: Lunch above the Bow“Up ahead is Storm Mountain Lookout, a picnic stop above the Bow River on the Bow Valley Parkway. I'd stop here if you've brought lunch: the tables overlook the river and wooded ridgeline.”
Plays as you drive up to Storm Mountain Lookout in the Parkwolf Banff Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“…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
Storm Mountain Lookout is a roadside viewpoint and picnic area on Banff's Bow Valley Parkway (Highway 1A), where a few picnic tables sit above the Bow River. It's a good break on the scenic drive when you want to eat outdoors and look across the river to the wooded ridge. Use Highway 1A; Storm Mountain Lodge is a separate place on Highway 93 South.
Interpretive signs outline the ridgeline, so give them a minute instead of treating the skyline as one wall. The Bow River bends through the forest below, with a railway following the near bank. For a photograph, keep the river's curve and railway in the foreground with the ridge behind; the layers show how broad the valley is.
Wildlife
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.
Keep exploring
ChallengingTwin Lakes Trail from the Trans-Canada Highway17.1 km · 5.5 hr · 2.2 km awayA long forest climb to Lower Twin Lake from the highway.
ModerateCastle Lookout Trail7.4 km · 3.5 hr · 2.4 km awayA steady climb to a vanished fire lookout above the Bow Valley
ChallengingRockbound Lake Trail17 km · 6.5 hr · 2.5 km awayTwo lakes and Castle Mountain cliffs reward a long alpine climb.
ModerateSmith Lake Trail3.2 km · 1.5 hr · 2.5 km awayA short forest climb to a tucked-away lake and ridge view.
ModerateSilverton Falls Trail1.8 km · 40 min · 2.5 km awayA quick climb to a waterfall tucked into a narrow rock gorge.
EasyCopper Lake Trail1.4 km · 30 min · 2.6 km awayA short forest path to clear water and a mountain backdrop.
ChallengingPanorama Ridge East Trail19 km · 8 hr · 5.9 km awayA forested lake approach opens onto a steep, faint larch ridge.
ModerateTaylor Lake Trail12.6 km · 4.5 hr · 5.9 km awayA steady forest climb ends at a glacial lake beneath jagged peaks.
Sight · 1.4 km awayCastle Cliffs LookoutA short platform brings Castle Mountain's cliffs close.
Scenic pullout · 2.1 km awayCastle Junction Bridge ViewpointA quick bridge stop for Bow River and Castle Mountain views.
Sight · 2.7 km awaySilverton FallsShort waterfall spur with an exposed, rocky finish.
Campground · 2.8 km awayCastle Mountain CampgroundA wooded, no-service base along the Bow Valley Parkway.Parkwolf’s Banff ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
