Parking
Use the Lower Bankhead parking area off Lake Minnewanka Scenic Drive; the viewpoint is above the loop, connected by a steep flight of about 70 steps.
Overview
About Lower Bankhead Interpretive Trail
Why go
- A compact loop packed with surviving mine equipment and interpretive stops
Heads up
- The stairway between parking and the circuit is not step-free
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Banff map
Full mapElevation1,419–1,461 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
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 Lower Bankhead Interpretive Trail, 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 trailhead
Lower Bankhead: Where the Town Went0:00 / 0:33
“You’re approaching Lower Bankhead, where a coal-mining town has become a walk among concrete walls, foundations and old machinery.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Banff Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Upper Bankhead: Lunch or C-Level Cirque
- Two Jack Campgrounds: Lakeside or Main
- Two Jack Lake: A Picnic by Mount Rundle
- Lake Minnewanka: Shore, Boats and a Sunken Village
- 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.”
Trail guide
Hiking Lower Bankhead Interpretive Trail
The short versionLower Bankhead Interpretive Trail is an easy loop of about 0.75 mile (1.
Lower Bankhead Interpretive Trail is an easy loop of about 0.75 mile (1.2 km) from the Lower Bankhead parking area, down to the former coal-mining townsite and back. Allow 30–45 minutes if you want time to read the plaques. Most of the lower circuit is level, but the start and finish include about 70 steps between the viewpoint and the ruins. Come for the mining history and surviving equipment, not a row of intact ghost-town buildings; much of Bankhead was removed after the mine closed.
Follow the lower circuitTake the stairway down from the viewpoint to the lamphouse, then follow a mostly firm,…
Take the stairway down from the viewpoint to the lamphouse, then follow a mostly firm, hard-soil path with exposed root patches through the old-growth spruce. Stay on the signed interpretive loop at the junction beyond the Tipple; the right branch heads toward Cascade Ponds, a separate connector, while the steep climb toward Upper Bankhead and C-Level Cirque is a different hike. The return to the parking area is uphill on the same stairs.
Read the industrial remainsThe Pacific Coal Company laid out Bankhead as a company town in 1903–04, and mining was…
The Pacific Coal Company laid out Bankhead as a company town in 1903–04, and mining was underway by 1904. A briquetting plant opened in 1907 to turn crumbly anthracite into a more useful fuel. After labor disputes, difficult mining conditions and weak coal markets, the mine closed in June 1922. Along the loop, look for the lamphouse, machinery, foundations, boiler-house and briquette-plant ruins, plus a small mine locomotive and its cars. The locomotive is the standout photo stop; step back enough to fit the cars in the frame.
Dogs may come on the trail but must stay leashed and under control; Banff's leash limit is 3 metres.
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.
