On August 6, 2024, we hiked in to Hidden Lake Campground in Banff National Park. We planned to set up a base camp there for three nights and try to reach the summits of some of the surrounding peaks.
Planning
There are many sources of information on scramble routes up the peaks in the area. Alan Kane’s book “Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies” was our main source of inspiration.
Useful Apps
- AllTrails – “Hidden Lake Trail” gets you to the campground
In addition to Alan Kane’s book, David P. Jones has published guidebooks with alpine climbing routes on many of the peaks in the Canadian Rockies. His book, “Rockies Central, The Climbers Guide to the Rocky Mountains of Canada Volume 2” describes the routes in this area.
Permits & Passes
Reservations are required and a permit must be obtained to stay at the Hidden Lake campground. Because it is part of a popular loop in the Skoki area of Banff National Park, it fills up quickly.
Backcountry camping reservations in Banff National Park typically open for the summer in January or February. Search the Parks Canada website for Reservation Launch dates to find out the date and time that reservations will open.
If you are looking to book specific dates, particularly long weekends, you should go to the website on the Reservation Launch Date about 10 or 15 minutes before the time that reservations will open and set up your log-in.
Then, when reservations open, you will be randomly assigned a place in the queue along with everyone else who is logged in. Don’t despair if you are assigned a spot way down the list and told you will have to stand by for half an hour or more. I have been a crazy way down the list, like number 10,438 in line but I still get my reservations if I’m patient and stick with it. It does help to be a bit flexible with your dates too.
If you aren’t particular about dates, it may be possible to get a campsite after the reservations have been open for a while but the sooner you get on it, the better.
Reservation Website
Reservations are made here: Banff National Park backcountry camping reservations
When it is your turn to book your campsites, you will see a page that looks like this:
You can then select your arrival date and the number of people in your party. The access point “Fish Creek Trailhead” is the designated access point for Hidden Lake campground which is also known as “Sk5”. Hitting the “Search” button will take you to a screen where you can scroll down “Available Zones” to find Hidden Lake. You will be allowed to book for up to 3 nights maximum, assuming there is an available campsite.
You can also scroll down to see a map with the campgrounds around the Fish Creek Trailhead. If you click on Hidden Lake Sk5, you will be able to open a calendar and see which dates are available.
Here is how it looked on August 11th. There are a few nights available in August but if you want 3 in a row, you are looking at September when the temperatures are likely to be chilly.
The Hike In to the Campground
The Fish Creek parking area is also the parking area for Skoki Lodge. The hike to the campground is about 8 km distance and 660 meters elevation gain. The trail is well maintained and the ascent is steady but mostly gradual.
The trail starts on a gated road that leaves the parking area and heads toward the ski resort. This road is the Ski Out run that takes skiers back to the road if they miss the last chair lift.
Hiking up the road, the skies were gray and we expected rain. The forecast suggested that this would be the worst weather day and each day after would improve.
After a while, a pretty creek can be seen on the right side of the road.
We passed a fenced area for horses. It was empty on the way in. A few days later when we hiked out, there were at least six horses there. Very pretty animals.
A small cabin is across and up the road from the horse area.
As we passed the base of the ski runs, a helicopter arrived to bring supplies in to Skoki Lodge.
After crossing the ski runs, the trail enters the forest. Here looking back at the first creek crossing.
Fireweed blooms in bright patches along the side of the trail.
A local resident stops to pose for a photo.
Low clouds hide the summits.
The trail crosses a bridge over the creek and views open up to the peaks around Hidden Lake.
Mount Richardson is on the left. The col between Mount Richardson and Pika Peak is in the center of the photo.
A historic cabin – The Halfway Hut – appears just off the trail.
It is not for overnight stays but for skiers who want to stop and warm up on their way to Skoki Lodge or, as we figured out the next day, a place for rain-soaked hikers to dry out.
Shortly after, the turn off to Hidden Lake. We were surprised it took us only three hours to get there.
The Campground
The campground was empty when we arrived. Being the first, we got our pick of the sites.
We chose the “money site”. It was open enough that light breezes took some of the bugs away. It had a view of the creek below.
The sound of the creek lulled us to sleep at night.
After setting up, we relaxed in the sun.
The Lake
After a rest, we decided to hike to the lake.
Mount Richardson is in the distance.
The lake is a tourquoise jewel set in velvety green meadows studded with bright wildflowers.
The distant mountain in the middle of the photo is Pika Peak. On the right is East Pika Peak which does not have a scramble route.
A waterfall streams down the rock face behind the lake.
From the lake, we check out the south ridge ascent route on Mount Richardson.
The route follows the lake to the left, into green meadows. It turns up left through the meadows and climbs green slopes onto the ridge on the left side of the photo.
The route looked so inviting. We decided that we would go for Mount Richardson first the next day. If we had the energy and the weather permitted, we could drop down onto the col and head up to Pika Peak.
We settled in for our first night in the tent, excited to go for our first summit of the trip the next morning. Click here read about our first summit:
To get our packing list and our menu, go back to the main Hidden Lake page.