Snowshoe to Rockbound Lake

This is an amazing trail, but not for the feint of heart!

The trailhead is located on the Bow Valley Parkway (Highway 1A) in Banff National Park, AB at the Castle Mountain sign. The trailhead is marked by an information sign in the north of the parking lot and the trail initially heads north - not to be confused with cross-country ski trails that also utilize parts of this trail. Once past the fork to Silverton Falls, it's only one path through the forest for the rest of the trip.

And what a forest it is! The path is fairly well defined although it can be difficult to follow when there is fresh snow - just look closely for footprints. This hike is full of local flora and fauna - chickadees and sparrows flutter between spruce trees adorned with mossy green, brown, and black old man's beard and lime-green wolf lichen. The forest is totally captivating but peaks of Castle Mountain/Eisenhower Peak - one Banff's most impressive mountains - will get you excited for the full reveal. Once it is, it can be tough to keep your eyes on the trail! This is a pretty special place, and making it up the headwall to Rockbound Lake just adds to the wonder.

The trail to Rockbound, however, is a slog. The first 7.5 km took me 2.5 hours, whereas the last kilometre to Rockbound took 45 minutes. It's only about a 100 m elevation gain, but it gains it quick even with the help of the switchbacks. And since it's relatively untouched, that powder becomes very deep to the point where my snowshoes were acting more like skis. Rockbound Lake is literally that: a lake surrounded by rock. When the lake isn't covered in snow, it is a deep blue.

All in all, the snowshoe to Rockbound Lake has its difficulties, but as always in the Rockies, "the rapture you'll experience trivializes the effort you'll expend."