With epic mountain scenery, abundant wildlife and far fewer crowds than nearby Banff, Jasper has to be one of the best places to hike in the whole of Canada. Although there are some easy hikes in the area (and we did a couple) the best ones come with a little effort. You’ll be spoilt for choice with any Jasper hike though as you’ll see canyons, mountains, glaciers and lakes, and each one is worth every last puff up those hills!

Here’s a few of our favourite Jasper hikes.

*The view from the top of the Wilcox Pass*

The best hikes in Jasper

These are the 7 best hikes in Jasper:

Sulphur Skyline
The Path of the Glacier (Mount Edith Cavell)
Edith Cavell Meadows
Bald Hills (Maligne Lake)
Maligne Canyon
Parker Ridge (Icefields Parkway)
Wilcox Pass Lookout (Icefields Parkway)

What you need to know before you hike

The majority of the best hikes in Jasper are about 45 minutes to 1.5 hours from Jasper town and are usually around some of the most popular lakes or spots in the park. A couple are along the Icefields Parkway which are a great way of breaking up the journey if you’re coming from Banff.

Be warned - “easy” in The Rockies is still uphill, just not for hours on end! The Path of the Glacier and the Maligne Canyon hike are the easiest of all these, but if you have the time and fitness (or fancy seeing the best views in Jasper) we highly recommend the Sulphur Skyline, Edith Cavell Meadows and Bald Hills. These were not just some of our favourite Jasper hikes, but some of the best we did in the whole of Canada.

1. The Sulphur Skyline

Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 8.8km return
Elevation: 685m
Time: 2hr 45

Why we love this Jasper hike: the view from the summit is sublime and you can finish with a dip in the hot spring at the end!

The Sulphur Skyline trail is one of the most popular (even with locals) in the area for good reason. The views above the tree line are epic and you can see the mountain tops for miles in all directions. It’s a hike where your effort is rewarded with a big payoff at the end.

It’s pretty much a steep grunt all the way, with very little flat track to recover, but the trail is in excellent condition and the gradient is never too brutal. You just need to keep plugging away and you’ll find yourself at the top before you know it!

The hike is predominantly through forest, with the odd peek out at the mountains, until you are just below the summit. This is when the views start to completely open up. It’s nothing to what you will see from the top though which is mind bogglingly gorgeous. In fact, it ended up being one of our favourite photography spots in Jasper.

*Jasper hikes - The summit of the Sulphur Skyline*

We’ve published an individual post for the Sulphur Skyline Trail, so check it out if you want a more in-depth guide to this incredible hike.

Getting to the Sulphur Skyline Trail

The Sulphur Skyline Trail starts from Miette Hot Springs which is an hour outside of Jasper. The hot springs have a large car park, but if you go on a weekend try to arrive in the morning as the hot springs are popular!

2. The Path of the Glacier

Difficulty: Easy (but steep)
Distance: 1.6km return
Elevation: 70m

Why we love this Jasper hike: the glacier and glacial lake view is incredible for very little effort.

We combined this walk with the Edith Cavell Meadows hike, which we highly recommend as an epic combination, but in case you want something shorter we’ve listed them separately.

The Path of the Glacier trail is suitable for everyone and the paved track is wheelchair friendly, although this is the Rockies and that doesn’t mean it’s flat!

*Jasper hikes: The view from the Path of the Glacier*

You’ll start ascending immediately and it’s pretty steep but the views begin immediately so you know it will be worth it.

It’s a short trail and it won’t be long before you make it to the main lookout with panoramic mountain and glacier views as well as a birdseye look at an ice berg strewn lake.

To say it’s spectacular is an understatement and it’s well worth the journey from Jasper!

*Jasper hikes - the trail at Path of the Glacier*

Getting to Path of the Glacier

The Path of the Glacier trail heads from the parking lot at Mount Edith Cavell. The parking lot is a 40 minute drive from Jasper along a slow and winding road.

3. Edith Cavell Meadows

Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 8km including the Path of the Glacier Trail
Elevation: 562m
Time: 3 hours

Why we love this Jasper hike: the views get better and better with each step and the meadows have beautiful wild flowers in early summer.

The Edith Cavell Meadows trail is one of those hikes where you take twice as long as you should as the views are just that good. At every turn you’ll see this incredible mountain, glacier lake and sublime alpine scenery. You’ll quickly feel like you’ve walked deep into the wilderness.

*Jasper hikes - the moraine on the Edith Cavell Meadows hike*

We recommend combining this trail with the Path of the Glacier for a truly mind blowing hike. To get to the meadows you’ll first walk alongside a moraine which you should definitely rock hop up for the best views of the glacial lake on the whole trail.

You’ll then head into the forest before hiking uphill to three different lookouts, each one is a little steeper than the last and each one offers better and better views.

If you still have the energy there is a final scramble up to an even higher viewpoint on an unmaintained trail which offers the best views of all.

If you want a more detailed guide, check out our post all about the hikes around Mount Edith Cavell.

Getting to Edith Cavell Meadows

The Edith Cavell Meadows trail heads directly from the Path of the Glacier. The parking lot for both hikes is a 40 minute drive from Jasper along a slow and winding road.

4. The Bald Hills track

Difficulty: Moderate to hard
Distance: 15km including the ridge line loop
Elevation: 715m
Time: 4 hr 15

Why we love this Jasper hike: the ridgeline is phenomenal and there was no one else on it! There’s also a chance to see moose.

The Bald Hills trail will seem an unlikely contender for a spot on our best Jasper hikes list when you discover the first 6km is all fire trail through forest with almost nothing in the way of views.

Stick with us though because once you do reach the ridgeline all is revealed, and you get the best views of Maligne Lake you could possibly imagine, as well as the spectacular snow capped mountains surrounding it.

The lake is beautiful from any angle, but is at its best from the ridge and summit of the Bald Hills Trail.

*Jasper hikes: the views of Maligne Lake from the Bald Hills Trail*

A lot of people focus solely on the summit and overlook the stunning ridgeline loop you can add to this hike. The ridgeline offers views of the neighbouring valley and hiking from there to the rocky summit is the highlight of the whole trail. It is well worth the trudge up the fire trail to get to.

There’s also a good chance of spotting wildlife on this track.

*Jasper hikes - getting a little too close to a local moose on the Bald Hills Trail!*

If you want a more in-depth guide, then check out our post all about the Bald Hills Trail.

Getting to the Bald Hills Trail

The Bald Hills Trail starts opposite a big car park at the end of the road to Maligne Lake. It takes about 50 minutes to drive from Jasper town.

5. Maligne Canyon

Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 5.8km return
Elevation: 190m
Time: 1 hour 10

Why we love this Jasper hike: the deep canyon walls and incredibly powerful water are a truly mesmerising sight.

Maligne Canyon is to Jasper what Johnston Canyon is to Banff, but mercifully it’s a little bit less crowded!

The deep blue water gushes through the steep canyon walls with such power that when you’re near it the mist will cool you down which was blessing for us hiking here on a surprisingly hot day.

There are five main lookout points (bridges) on the trail (technically there are six but very few people go that far), but if you are short on time or energy you only really need to see the first four for the absolute best canyon views.

After the fourth lookout you will predominantly be heading alongside the river which is pretty in itself but it no longer feels like a canyon and therefore only necessary if you fancy a peaceful riverside walk.

There are quite a few steps at Maligne Canyon, on the way out it will be downhill and on the way back it’s of course all uphill so it’s worth factoring that in when you decide if you want to go as far as lookout five (a bridge over the river).

We enjoyed the whole walk to lookout five but our favourite section was definitely between one and four.

Getting to Maligne Canyon

Maligne Canyon is the closest to Jasper town of all the trails in this guide and is just a 15 minute drive. Be warned though, the car park here fills up quickly. You may want to avoid the middle of the day!

6. The Wilcox Pass Lookout

Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 3km return
Elevation: 183m
Time: 55 mins

Why we love this Jasper hike: the chance to sit in those iconic red Parks Canada chairs and take in an absolutely incredible view.

The Wilcox Pass is a short and relatively easy hike to an epic view of the Columbia Icefield. The reason to do this hike is for the view at the lookout and far fewer people opt to see the glacier from here (choosing to go to the Toe of the Glacier instead) which makes it incredibly quiet and peaceful.

You can choose to just hike for 3km return to the lookout, or continue for another 6 km (return) to the pass itself.

We wanted to hike the whole trail but unfortunately the weather turned really nasty, and we only made it to the lookout which is marked by two of Parks Canada’s iconic red chairs.

You start the hike in a pretty stretch of forest as you make you way fairly gently uphill. There isn’t a lot of flat track but it’s not overly steep. It’s a good trail but there are some rocks and tree roots to watch out for.

After around 1km the trail opens up to reveal some spellbinding views of the Athabasca Glacier and surrounding mountains.

The track becomes flat at this point as you follow it although the side of the cliff which gets you closer and closer to those spectacular glacier views. The chairs at the end make a great spot to sit and take it all in.

Getting to the Wilcox Pass

Wilcox Pass is 1.5 hours from Jasper (100km) along the Icefield Parkway and is one we recommend doing if you’re driving to or from Banff.

7. Parker Ridge trail

Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 6km return
Elevation: 250m
Time: 2-2.5 hours

Why we love this Jasper hike: the views from the top completely blew us away and that was in some pretty nasty weather too!

Parker Ridge actually falls under Banff National Park but it’s closer to Jasper so we’ve included it here too. It was our favourite hike along the Icefields Parkway and one of the best views to effort ratio hikes we did in the whole of Canada!

As with most Rockies hikes it’s uphill most of the way but it’s not too steep for the majority of the trail. The reward for getting up those switchbacks is some of the best views in the whole area. We actually couldn’t believe how good it was and even hiking on a wet gloomy day we couldn’t stop smiling when we got to the top.

The glacier, the river and the mountains were all breathtaking and definitely our favourite stop along the parkway.

If you want to read more, check out our detailed guide to the Parker Ridge Trail.

Getting to the Parker Ridge Trail

The Parker Ridge Trail is about 1.5 hours from Jasper along the stunning Icefields Parkway. You can add it to the many other things to do on the Parkway, but a lot of people choose to use it as a stop on their way to or from Banff.

Essential info on Jasper hikes

Bear safety on Jasper hikes

Grizzlies and black bears may be present on any of the hikes mentioned and we’d recommend carrying bear spray in the very unlikely event you had a bear incident. It’s a good idea to make noise around any blind corners as surprising a bear can lead it to behave unpredictably. Having said that if you are hiking in high season most of these Jasper hikes are very well trafficked and bear encounters are unlikely.

Moose, caribou and elk can also be potentially dangerous and you should keep your distance if you spot them.

Best time to take on Jasper’s hikes

The trails are most heavily trafficked in summer when the snow is often melted and the roads are all open. We’ve included more information on each one in our individual trail guides. Maligne Canyon becomes a winter wonderland during the long snowy season and can be hiked with the proper gear year round.

We would actually love to return to Jasper just to experience this as we think it looks even more beautiful! You can hike independently or with a guide depending on how confident you feel and if you have the right gear.

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