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Hiking to Castle Lookout in Banff – Fondue With A View
June 26, 2012
Picture time as we approach the fire lookout
Take a look at the beautiful and moderate 3.7km hike up to the Castle Mountain Fire Lookout, located in between Lake Louise and Banff, just off the Bow Valley Parkway. But this is no ordinary hike…this is Fondue With A View!
Jeff from real Banff joined our guide Joel Hagen from Great Divide Nature Interpretation-as well as a group of international journalists-and were rewarded for our efforts with a chocolate fondue at the top of the climb!
Our guide, Joel, put on the chef hat before making us an incredible fondue
The Castle Mountain Lookout is a 3-4 hour round trip hike to the location where the old fire lookout was (ironically, it has since burned down). In the mid -1900′s there were several fire towers erected around the park where spotters could see any potential fire dangers over a wide viewing area.
The trail head for the hike is located just about right in between Banff and Lake Louise on HWY 1-A, aka the Bow Valley Parkway. This drive is beautiful winding road and there is a good chance of spotting some wildlife. On the day we filmed the hike, our group spotted a young grizzly bear and a huge black bear-all visible from the safe confines of our vehicle.
This young Grizzly seemed to be smiling at us from the roadside on the way to the hike!
Fondue With A View was also selected by the Canadian Tourism Commission as part of the ‘Signature Experience Collection‘; those once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences found across Canada.
Hi Jeff,
Gosh that was a great day out. Love your video – might have to embed it straight on my blog. You and Joel were fab hosts and this trip was definitely a highlight of my Banff experience:)
Thanks for that-thought you would like the video-that’s a pretty shot of you at the top of the hike!
Hope to see you in our neck of the woods again.
-Jeff