backcountry Banff for a newbie

I'm interested in any info on good backcountry routes in Banff. I'm looking to spend about 5 days at the end of July. I'd like to get away from "the crowds" as much as possible.

Heh heh. You said "Banff" and "Away from Crowds" in the same sentence.. Fail.

Ok, it's actually not that bad but from someone who spends a lot of his time up north in Jasper, Banff often feels like a zoo to me

Having said that much of the actual backcountry isn't terribly crowded. (the day use trails will be, particularly in the lake louise and banff townsite areas) If you are backpacking in the park you do need to check with the park office and get permitted. You can either do it on a daily basis or buy a yearly wilderness pass (the break even point is about 5 days I believe - I don't look because I always buy one

Depending on how many days in a row you want to be out, you may want to think about the Skoki area (middle of banff park) or at the far northern end of banff, Nigel pass, then through to Jonas and Poboktan (Jonas and Poboktan are actually in Jasper park) - You may see that hike described as part of the "Brazeau Loop". The Mount Assiniboine area is also nice but you can expect a fair number of people there. (and helicopters)

If you're just looking for other stuff "Near Banff" there are
some other good possibilities in the area, Peter Lougheed Provincial park which is adjacent to banff has some nice stuff . An in and out to Turbine Canyon and back out would be a very nice trip you could do overnight or in a couple of days.

One other excellent possibility you may consider nearby is the Rockwall Trail in Kootenay National park in BC (also adjacent to banff). Rockwall is pretty spectacular and will have less people on it than anything in banff. it's about 5 days at an average pace.

For reference, here's a Nigel Pass hike:
http://bofh.ucs.ualberta.ca/beck/pictures/nigel07/

Here's Rockwall:
http://bofh.cns.ualberta.ca/beck/pictures/rockwall2007/

Hi there,

My wife and I traveled to Banff in the summer about 5 years ago with our two boys who were then 10 years old. We backpacked the Skyline Trail in Jasper, which is about 28 miles. We're pretty slow hikers with the kids and we did not have lightweight gear at the time (think Kelty Super Tioga and a Eureka four-person tent), so I think we did it in 4 days. Surprisingly, we did not see a lot of other hikers. The mountain views were wonderful. We also stayed in Lake Louise for awhile. The dayhikes were really lovely (e.g. going to the Teahouses), but there were plenty of people. We also went mountain biking in a recreation area near Banff, which was a lot of fun. It's a beautiful place. You can't go wrong.

Well, Skyline's in Jasper (on the high part of the trail you look down on the Jasper townsite), and is quite a drive (4 hours ish) from Banff townsite. If you do end up that far north, it is very very nice - I do it a lot.

here's one with good weather:
http://bofh.ucs.ualberta.ca/beck/pictures/skyline2007/
and not so good weather:
http://bofh.ucs.ualberta.ca/beck/pictures/skyline2008/

Skyline tends to be "popular" when you book it. (i.e. it may be hard to get the actual campsites you want) but if there is any sort of weather there will be nobody there at all because people show up unprepared and wimpy.

I've had hikes where parks canada told me the sites were all full, and I went and ran into three bailing irishmen with rented gear on their way out on the first day, and one local like me the rest of the time. the rest of the trail was deserted. (I actually pray for crappy weather the first day of a skyline hike because it chases everyone else off it

Heh heh. You said "Banff" and "Away from Crowds" in the same sentence.. Fail.

I sincerely hope this is not universally true. I hiked in Banff for 11 days in 1978 and stayed a few days in the area just north of Pulsatilla Pass. It remains as probably the most remote spot I have ever visited. There were places east of there even further in and less visited, but I liked Pulsatilla so well I never ventured those extra days further in.