Sinclair Canyon

Sinclair Canyon is a narrow roadside gorge at Kootenay National Park’s southern gateway. Highway 93 passes between steep reddish walls known as the Redwall Fault. It’s a quick, memorable look at the road cutting through rock. Keep it on your drive if you enjoy dramatic road scenery; the higher view takes a separate walk.

Look up at the cliffs and down toward Sinclair Creek, where the water runs beneath the highway crossing. The tight walls make the road feel small by comparison. For a photo, include a slice of Highway 93 or a vehicle below the cliffs; that gives the rock faces a sense of scale. Use the designated public viewpoint when it is open.

The Banff-Windermere Highway opened in 1923. Today its 94-kilometre route through Kootenay links this southern gateway with valleys and two mountain passes farther north. Sinclair Canyon is an early reminder that this drive is about the road’s close encounter with the landscape, as much as the views beyond the windshield.

The Juniper/Sinclair route is a 6-kilometre return walk for a bird’s-eye view of the canyon. It’s a dedicated outing rather than a quick add-on to the drive, so decide whether you want the brief roadside look or the longer perspective from above.