Larch Season in Banff National Park
Larch Season is a special time in the Canadian Rockies. It is the peak time to see the larch trees change from green to golden before dropping their leaves for the winter.
During larch season, you will find plenty of beautiful trees along the trails within Banff National Park. Larches tend to grow at higher elevations and are a bit harder to see in person. This guide will show you a couple places to see the larches in Banff.
Banff is a beautiful park in Canada finding the larches is an even better experience. To see the larches up close, I recommend ‘The Valley of the Larches’ and ‘Floe Lake to Numa Pass’ trails. Both of the trails are moderate to difficult with a lot of elevation gain.
The Valley of the Larches trailhead is located at Moraine Lake and is a very popular hike - you will run into A LOT of people on the trail up to the larches. Once you get to the top of the trail, you can add on and hike ‘Sentinel Pass’ which takes you up even higher to see some of the rock formation. Be prepared that the summit of Valley of the Larches and onward up Sentinel Pass can get very cold and windy! Be prepared and bring a jacket, food, water, check the weather, and know your limits.
Floe Lake is located on the West side of Banff and is a good drive out of town to get to the trailhead. Go early because this is a long hike (~14 miles) and will take a while to do as a day hike. The trail is very exposed so bring sunscreen or a hat that covers you face, extra water and food, and know your limits. Once you make it to Floe Lake, stop there and go for an alpine swim or keep trekking up to Numa Pass - this is where you will see the most larch trees and will get an even better view of the towering mountains in the area.
Seeing the larches while they were turning was a total stroke of luck for me while I was in the Canadian Rockies and now I cannot wait to go back to see them again. It is always a bit of a chase on when they turn depending on weather, waterfall throughout the year, early snow, etc. Keep an eye on the ‘larch watch’ sites to know the status of the larches in real time!
