Beautiful Winter Hiking at Grassi Lakes, Canmore, Alberta (without the crowds!)

Living near the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, I often have the opportunity to go on amazing local hikes. One of the most popular sites in the area, for good reason, is the Grassi Lakes hike in Canmore. It is close to Banff, and because of it’s popularity, it can get extremely busy in the peak season. Here’s how we were able to experience it without any crowds!

If you want to visit this gorgeous location without any crowds… do it in the winter! My parents and I decided to try out this hike in the winter (January), and we really weren’t sure what we were going to find when we got there. But, we were pleasantly surprised by how doable it was and how beautiful the lakes were even in the winter. It was so peaceful and quiet without a ton of other people around! The lakes weren’t frozen, and their gorgeous turquoise colouring was still visible.

It was a great experience for us, so I wanted to share how our winter hiking experience went so you can be encouraged to give it a try too! You know what else was a huge bonus in doing this hike in the winter? We were able to find a parking spot easily, and we didn’t have to be there at 6 am to get one!

We found that it was necessary to wear ice spikes on our shoes as some areas were quite slippery, and as most hikes go, you are walking on an incline. This is a relatively easy hike in the summer, and other than needing the ice spikes to provide better traction, it was easy in the winter too!

This hike has two trails, an easy one that goes up a gradual incline on a wide path (shown here), and the other trail has steeper areas and includes a “staircase” made out of rocks, which passes by a waterfall. The steeper trail is closed in the winter due to very icy conditions. This trail is fairly short (about 2 hours round trip if you are just going up to the lakes and back down), and definitely family-friendly!

Here’s what the trail conditions looked like on the trail (the easier trail that is open in the winter):

Once you reach the lakes, there are a few benches where you can sit and enjoy a snack, hot drink, or lunch while enjoying the gorgeous scenery, the peaceful quiet, and the mountain air. Enjoying the peace and quiet is not so easy to do in the summer! (Although, the scenery is still gorgeous then too.)

Here are some additional photos to enjoy:

We also took an unofficial trail that leads to a popular spot for ice climbers, and were able to get a view of the waterfall from there.

I definitely recommend doing this hike if you are traveling in Alberta (or if you live here)! It’s a great activity to do if you’re visiting the Banff or Canmore areas in the winter months, and would be one of my most highly-recommended activities. You may even find that you enjoy the experience more with less people around 🙂