FIT TRAVELS
HIKING CANADA: THREE OF CANADA'S BEST PARK HIKES
by Josephine Matyas
From the Green Garden Trail in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland to Forbidden Plateau in Vancouver Island's Strathcona Provincial Park, B.C, Canada offers a variety of incredible hiking options.
Among the best hiking destinations in Canada, here are just three:
PARC NATIONAL DE LA GASPÉSIE, QUEBEC
In the heart of the Gaspé Peninsula, a region including more than 3,000 kilometres of coastline extending along both banks of the majestic St. Lawrence River, Gaspésie National Park is a "sea of mountains." This unique hiking destination is a swell in the final leg of the Appalachian Mountain Range with over two-dozen summits of more than an imposing 1,000 metres in elevation. "This is a park for hikers," explains my Parcs Québec guide. There are more than 140 km in trails that range from a one-hour stroll to a 10-day backpacking expedition. Sixteen huts scattered along the trails make hut-to-hut hiking a major draw to the park. If you're just passing through, the ranger station recommends the short Sentier du Mont-Ernest-Laforce trail. It will take an hour or two, but promises spectacular views from the rocky crest of the hike, and is an excellent area for spotting moose. The shop in the Visitor's Centre even rents out equipment like hiking boots, walking sticks and camping gear. Besides the spectacular views from the volcanic Chic-Choc Mountain Range that snakes through the park, visitors are on the lookout for the native herd of caribou (these beautiful creatures are only found at elevations above 900 m). Its a wildlife spotters dream. Gaspésie National Park is the only park in North America where you can expect to see deer (along the riverside), moose (in the forest) and caribou (at the higher elevations).
More on hiking in the Gaspé region of Quebec
PLAIN OF THE SIX GLACIERS, LAKE LOUISE, ALBERTA
Considered one of the most romantic hotels in the world, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is a hiker's dream location. Step from the back door and there is a selection of trailheads that spread out before you like a fan. The half-day trek to the Plain of Six Glaciers is the second most popular hiking trail, and a classic, in Banff National Park. Hiking guide Bruce Bembridge looks the part: he carries a large pack loaded with rescue gear and a wide-brimmed Pony Stetson style hat, adopted by the area's mountain guides at the turn of the century. Bembridge works with the Chateau Lake Louise's Mountain Heritage Program, a reintroduction of a time-honoured Swiss guiding tradition that dates back to 1899. Most tourists stick to the relatively flat trail that skirts the shoreline of aqua blue Lake Louise and in short time the crowds thin out. In the distance, framing the far end of the lake, is Mount Victoria, resting directly on the Continental Divide. Soon, the inevitable climb begins, and the trail narrows to a stony path lined with scrub-height fir trees and a gentle drop-off to the rocky moraine below. The stone outcrops along the side of the trail are perfect for spotting nimble white goats scrambling along the ledges. At trail's end there is a popular resting spot - the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse. In clear weather it's possible to see six glaciers from this spot Pope's, Victoria, Hanging, Valley, Lefroy and Aberdeen. The Teahouse has been a stopping point for hikers since 1927, when it was built by two of the original Swiss mountain guides to serve as a halfway house to Abotts Hut. On a busy summertime day, the Teahouse staff will serve up bowls of homemade chili and soup, chocolate cake, scones, sandwiches made on fresh bread and, of course, tea to three or four hundred hikers.
More on Fairmont's Summer Hiking Program in Banff National Park
WRITING-ON-STONE PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA BADLANDS
The sign in the Visitor's Centre at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park captures the essence of this sacred site: Everything that casts a shadow has a spirit. "There's always a feeling when I get here. I feel giddy because as the sun hits the rocks I always see something new," says Sheldon First Rider, a member of the Blackfoot tribe and an Interpreter with the provincial park. "I am inspired and awe-struck by the energies of this place." Tucked into the remote Canadian Badlands, Writing-on-Stone is sacred geography to the Blackfoot people. First Rider describes the fragile environment of rocky outcrops and Alberta prairies as "an open cathedral." The two-hour interpretive hike he leads takes in the largest concentration of rock art, petroglyphs and pictographs found anywhere on the Great Plains. We follow the narrow, sandy trail winding along the base of the towering rocks. The sun is unrelenting and whenever possible we scramble for bits of shade. The trail is lined with sparse clumps of blue gramma, a classic short grass of the Prairies, clumps of sage and the occasional dangerous spines of prickly pear cactus. This is Prairie rattlesnake country. Along the walk, First Rider points out drawings of snakes, deer, bison and people on the rocks. To us, everything was important - the animals, the insects and the trees. The rain and wind provide a type of natural sculpting of the fragile sandstone cliffs. It's an outdoor museum of art. But to First Rider, the significance looms even larger: "Our stories shown here are like bibles to us. They are our culture and our history."
More on hiking in Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park
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Josephine Matyas is a travel writer based in Kingston, Ontario. She can be found online at Writers Without Borders.
