Banff

Johnston Canyon Icewalk

Badge of ExcellenceBanff, Canada

4 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Experience the winter wonderland of Banff’s Johnston Canyon on this ice walk tour. Join a professional guide on a hike along the canyon’s steel walkways, to visit the beautiful lower and upper waterfalls, and learn how this majestic canyon was formed. Your excursion includes round-trip transportation, ice cleats, and a hiking pole, plus a light snack and hot chocolate to help warm you up.

Enjoy frozen beauty of the Johnston Canyon Icewalk®
Look out for the various types of wildlife which inhabit the area
Learn about the history and geology of the area from your knowledgeable guide
Warm up with a cup of hot chocolate while you admire the views

What's Included

Professional guide
Ice cleats
Hiking pole
Maple cookie snack, hot chocolate
Small group size (up to 12 guests per guide)

Optional gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Mount Royal Hotel
138 Banff Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1A7, Canada
All guests must wait at the public bus parking located behind the Mount Royal Hotel at 138 Banff Ave. You must be ready at the pick up point at least 20 minutes prior to the tour start time.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Explore the unique ice-covered waterfalls and beautiful scenery of Banff’s renowned Johnston Canyon during this ice walk. Strap the provided ice cleats, and hike on steel walkways along the canyon’s edge for winter adventure.

Your adventure is available in the morning or in the afternoon and begins with a pick up from Banff. Then, venture out to Johnston Canyon to begin your hike. As you set out, keep an eye out for winter wildlife, and listen in as your guide shares details about the canyon’s history and geology.

Continuing on along the frozen path, you reach the canyon’s breathtaking lower and upper icefalls, trapped in beautiful layers of ice by the arctic air. Finish your invigorating walk through this icy environment with a warm cup of hot chocolate and a snack before heading back to Banff.

Note: The return distance of the hike is about 3.4 miles (5.4 kilometers), and elevation gain is 443 feet (135 meters).

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Minimum age is 8 years. All children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied by someone 18 years and older.
All adults must sign a waiver prior to the tour. A waiver must also be completed by the parent or guardian of any child under the age of 18.

Guests should dress in ski wear for this trip including hats, mittens, and warm boots. A detailed list of items to wear and bring is provided on your voucher.
A moderate level of fitness is recommended to ensure that you enjoy the tour.
Please note that this tour stays on the trail and does not traverse the ice due to safety concerns.
Group bookings of 9 or more guests have a 7 day cancellation period.
In accordance with our Cold Weather Policy, if safety conditions deteriorate, we may cancel the tour, offering guests the option to receive a refund or reschedule for another date or time.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Bob_H

Our tour guide was the best! Very knowledgeable, and extremely professional and accommodating! The canyon was beautiful!

Reviews

5.0

409 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 409 reviews

The most beautiful Hike of your life!

Katie_D, Apr 2024

Probably the most beautiful hike I have ever been on! Stunning views the whole way and an very enjoyable walk. Lovely to have a break for some hot chocolate and a cookie!

Challenging but rewarding!

Alexandra_B, Apr 2024

This trek was amazing! I definitely wouldn't have walked this trail without a guide. It was very icy (as advertised!) and the ice cleats were crucial to the experience. Our guide was very knowledgable about the area and the geology. This is not a beginner hike! Be prepared to slip

Walking the rail!

Brian_E, Apr 2024

Neil was solid. He was knowledgeable and spent time speaking to everyone connecting and making the trip fun.

Beautiful!

Becky_M, Mar 2024

The canyon is beautiful! The hike is a perfect length for exercise, but not too intense. Ice spikes were definitely needed

Experience cannot be told must be seen.

Bob_H, Mar 2024

Our tour guide was the best! Very knowledgeable, and extremely professional and accommodating! The canyon was beautiful!

Great Banff Experience

Susan_P, Mar 2024

Emma was a great guide. Loved that everything was provided: pick up, drive to Canyon, cleats, hiking pole, hot chocolate, cookies, drop off. Emma was very informative and patient. Good pace for all.

Fantastic adventure

Katrina_L, Mar 2024

Absolutely amazing experience. Our guide was lovely, funny, knowledgeable and patient. Canyon is a beautiful place.

Johnston Canyon, A MUST DO!

Cannon_K, Mar 2024

Nicole, our tour guide, was incredibly knowledgeable of Banff and the Johnston Canyon trail. She was very fun and it was a pleasure to be guided by her. The trail is immaculate, just make sure to be very cautious around ice, this dumb guy slipped and scraped some skin off his hand. Overall a fantastic tour and I can't wait to return to Alberta in the summer time to do this trail again!

Beautiful, peaceful, worth the effort

Rebecca_M, Mar 2024

The entire trip was fantastic. The coach ride up is comfortable. The coach and ice cleats were like new. The scenery beautiful, and the trail is in excellent condition. The hike itself is a gradual uphill, with some undulating terrain. Brief parts may be a bit challenging if you're not accustomed to elevation, but there are abundant areas to stop if you want to catch your breath and enjoy the view. Our guide, Max, was perfection. He gave the right amount of information and made sure everyone was comfortable. We traveled at the right pace for the group, and he was happy to chat with our teens (and others) along the way. We gladly left a 25% tip.

Beautiful Winter Hike

Emily_C, Feb 2024

Johnston Canyon is a must do for Banff visitors! Our guide, Jeff, was knowledgeable both about the canyon and about Banff in general. If you can in the winter, the provided ice cleats were a huge help.

Easy, fun, enlightening….

Erich_S, Jan 2024

You can do this short, easy walk by yourself for free, but unless you’re a forestry, biology, geology, anthropology, history or wildlife expert you’ll be missing out on the true experience by not going with a hired guide. It’s well worth the cost. And you’ll be smarter at the end of the trip.

Banff Johnston Canyon Ice Walk

Richard_B, Jan 2024

Our guide was very knowledgeable as well as entertaining. The trip is very strenuous but my artificial hip held up.

Worst company. ZERO hospitality

Nomso_M, Jan 2024

Only interested in money. Did not get to tour as the pick up time when booking was different. We arrived at the time indicated in booking (8:30am) but was told bus left at 8:22am and even though they had spots available at night, they refused to accomodate us.

Informative, good exercise, fun.

Greg_B, Jan 2024

Fantastic tour. Our guide Sebastian was friendly and knowledgeable, and made a real effort to connect to our group. Our group was a fun mix of Canadians and Americans, and we all helped each other out and shears photos on the us in the way back. We got lucky — encountered a grey wolf as we approached the canyon. Sebastian modified our schedule so we could observe the wolf. Fantastic! If you have the time while in Banff to do this your, do it!

Wonderful

Tara_S, Dec 2023

Max was a great tour guide and very knowledgeable. Our family of 11 had a great time, the hike was breathtaking!

Highly recommend

Linda_S, Dec 2023

Matt was our guide. He is awesome. Very patient and considerate. I highly recommend trying this hike if you can walk a few miles. I have never walked this far much less uphill and downhill in snow. It is so pretty.

AMAZING

Miki_M, Dec 2023

Our experience was amazing and our guide was one of the kindest people I have ever met. I will surely recommend this tour to everyone. Thank you

Wonderful adventure

ANTONIO_S, Dec 2023

Amazing place, wonderful guide “Bobby” & great conditions allowed us to enjoy each moment 😀😀😀 We had the opportunity to take wonderful pictures and walked without getting exhausted.

Awesome tour and guide....

Jennifer_S, Dec 2023

Awesome tour and guide. It’s definitely a challenging hike but well worth it! You can stop when necessary and take a short rest. Absolutely recommend this!

Stunning

Sarah_M, Dec 2023

Our guide Rob was superb lots of local knowledge and super friendly couldn’t have asked for better. The walk is stunning breathtaking glorious should I go on. An easy walk in the crampons that are supplied and a gentle undulation means it’s enjoyable for even those of us that are less than at peak performance! Thanks Rob xx

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