Banff Day 1 Part 1: Sunshine Meadows

Today was day 1 of our trip, but I wanted to share some photos of the view around our condo. As I mentioned in my first post, we decided to stay in Deadman’s Flat so we were closer to Bow River. My husband loves to fish, so it was an easy walk to some great fishing spots. There is also a little bridge area and runoff water area to walk along:

I thought it would be fun to start our trip at Sunshine Meadows. I read a lot about it and figured it would give us some beautiful views without a difficult hike. We arrived at the gondolas around 8:30am which was perfect timing. I had preordered our tickets and had them printed and ready to go. We jumped on the gondola (the gondola holds 8 people) and off we went:

The view on the climb up was incredible! Once you reach the top, there is a coffee shop and a restaurant. At this point, you hop onto a chairlift and take that to the very top where you can walk around and see the meadows and lakes! The chairlift was awesome and we got to see such beautiful sites on the lift. We were in awe as we were whisked to the top:

Once you reach the top of the gondola and chairlift, you have a choice of two paths, one to the right and one to the left. They both take you to the lakes at the end of the path. Once you reach the lakes, you have a choice to continue on several paths that can lead you back to the bottom of the chairlift, Here are some of the views at the top. This path is super easy to navigate and isn’t terribly long. Both of my boys did a great job of walking and staying on the trail. They also loved the pika, or what we were told was pikas. They were friendly and would run to the trail to see us as we hiked past. We reminded our boys constantly to stay on the path and NOT to feed the animals.

The lake views at the end of the trail were the prettiest and most awe inspiring thing I’ve seen in a long time. We stood for a while and just looked around, even my noisy children were silent as they gazed around. There were two guys who work for Sunshine at the platform area and they were willing to take your picture with the beautiful background. It was nice to have someone to take a group shot. When we finished, my mom, MIL and youngest decided to take the trail back to the chairlifts and the hubby, oldest and I decided to hike back to the bottom of the chairlift. It was a great choice and if you are feeling adventurous, the hike isn’t too bad.

It was a long hike down, but well worth the effort. We saw the lakes at a better angle and were able to see such beautiful landscape. The walk wasn’t terrible and because the weather was so beautiful, it didn’t feel too bad at all. I’m glad I made the hike and the pictures we were able to take were amazing. When we reached the overlook of the lake, we had a nice couple ask if we wanted them to take our picture and we did the same for them. We met people on the various trails in Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper that were so nice! Always willing to take a photo or strike up a conversation. We took the chairlift down and then the gondola to the bottom. We decided to eat lunch in the town of Banff. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, we saw some long horn sheep with babies so we made sure to take a few photos as we pulled away. If you visit Banff, drive to Sunshine Meadows! #sunshinemeadows #banffsunshinemeadows

Read about our restaurants visit in Banff and our river float next!