Sentinel Pass via Larch Valley Trail
6.9 mi
Distance
3 hrs 16 min
Time
terrain
2,421 ft
Elev Gain
Overview
This is a moderate - difficult (at the pass) out and back trail to Sentinel Pass in Banff National Park.
This trail goes by Minnestimma Lakes.
The most popular fall hike in the Rockies, famous for the vast amount of larch trees. Trail starts with steep switchbacks on well maintained wide trail up to the larch forest. Gorgeous hike through the forest and up past 2 small lakes to the pass.
Getting Started
Arrive early as the Moraine lake parking lot fills up fast. Check Banff website for shuttle information. Park at Moraine lake and go right at the lake. Trails are well marked with signs
Sights to See
Rate this Hike
★★★★★
Sept 2024, Using the trail network shown on Gaia, my wife and I planned a one-way hike from Moraine Lake to Lake Louise via Sentinel Pass. We took a shuttle to Moraine Lake and started our hike just after sunrise. Up to Sentinel Pass, it was a moderate hike with spectacular scenery and followed the Gaia path. However, once at Sentinel Pass the trail seemed to disappear. There was no signage indicating the continuation of the trail and just rocks where the trail should have been. Then we noticed people scrambling down those rocks and realized that the trail had been wiped out by a rockslide. We continued down the rocks and progress was slow (I broke a hiking pole while descending the rocks). It took an extra 1-1/2 hours to reach a point where the trail was not covered (probably 1.5 km from Sentinel Pass if the trail had not been damaged). The remainder of the hike was enjoyable, and we reached Lake Louise later than planned, but before our daily parking pass expired. We noted that Parks Canada had great signage along the trail, except for the top of Sentinel Pass. Had we known the conditions we would have brought heavier gloves for the rocky descent or perhaps planned an alternate hike. I'm glad we started early and planned for a full day of hiking.
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FOUND CELL PHONE!
I found a Samsung cell phone on Sentinel Ridge on Monday, September 21, 2020. If you lost yours, please contact me with identifying characteristics of the phone so I can get it back to you. It’s locked and on airplane mode so unfortunately I’m not able to see notifications, contacts, provider, etc.
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Public Tracks
Canoe Rentals to Sentinel Pass, AB, Canada
Janet, Dan and Leah hiked in the cold and rainy afternoon to the bottom of Sentinel pass and a beautiful lake in a high Alpine meadow. We saw lots of brown ground squirrels and a mule deer.
