“ Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.”

- Richard M. Nixon

Castle Mountain Lookout Trail Hike

Elevation: n/a

Round Trip time: 3:20

Difficulty: Easy

Height Gain: 530m

Round Distance: 7.4km

Date: May 29 2010

How to get to Castle Mountain?

If you are coming from the east you will want to head west along the number 1 (Trans-Canada highway) until you reach Castle Junction, roughly half way between Banff and Lake Louise. You will see the highway 93 turn off (Radium). You will want to take this turn off and follow the road to the right crossing over the bridge. In about a kilometer you will come to Castle Junction which intersects with the west-east running Bow Valley Parkway. Make a left here and in about 5km you will want to make a right turn into the parking lot.

From the west it is a little quicker and a bit more scenic if you get on the bow valley parkway near Lake Louise and follow it all the way to the parking lot at about 21.5km.

You can also get turn by turn directions by using our 'Get Directions' function at the top.

Castle Mountain Lookout Trip Log

This is one of the earliest spring hikes that you can do in the lake Louise area. The trail is usually hikable at the end of April or beginning of May till late fall. The trail is on the South west slope of Castle Mountain and we only came across a couple of tiny patches of snow when hiking through the forested part of the trail in May. Steep but short, the views at the lookout are rewarding.

The trail starts at the north end of the parking lot. The first part of the trail is wide and steadily climbs through a dense forest. About 1.5 km in you come across an abandoned miner's cabin on your left hand side.

Further past the cabin the trail turns into a single track path and views of the Bow Valley begin to peak through the openings of the forest. The path leads you up switch backs the last 100m leading you to the remnants of old Mount Eisenhower fire lookout.

Click here to view in Virtual Bubble Picture of a mini 360 letters

360 VR from Castle Mountain Lookout

Looking from the lookout, you can see the huge Bow Valley Parkway below while the Castle Mountain cliffs loom behing.

Please be patient as it may take a little longer to load then a picture.

To use the VR bubble, simply click and drag in any direction.

Only the concrete foundation of the lookout remains. Ahead of you, the panoramic view of the Bow Valley is outstanding, stretching out from west to east, while behind you have the towering cliffs of Castle Mountain.

As a reminder, due to the southern exposure of Castle Lookout; It has a very high tick population even very early in the season. Always check yourself and your friends over very carefully for these little buggers.

GPS Plotted Route

Currently unavailable for this route. Sorry!

If there is any change to the route you feel others should know about, shoot us an e-mail from our contact page.