Goat Creek to Banff Springs XC Ski Trail

When people say they skied from Canmore to Banff, they are usually referring to this cross-country ski, which actually starts at the Goat Creek Parking lot on the Smith-Dorrien.

The hardest part of this xc ski route is figuring out how to plan your shuttle, as it’s a long trip if you go there and back (though there are many cross-country skiers that do the return trip).

We normally leave our cars at the Spray River Trail parking lot (near the Banff Springs Hotel) and get a Taxi to pick us up and take us to the Goat Creek Parking Lot, which is on the Smith-Dorrien above the town of Canmore. The drive takes about 25-30 minutes and taxi fares are usually $75-$125 depending on how many people there are.

We prefer to ski from Goat Creek to Banff as the route has 1394ft of descent and only 574ft of ascent, making it a more pleasant day out.

From the Goat Creek parking lot, the route enters the trees on a clear path. The first 1640ft of the path is often in terrible condition, with footprints as day trippers explore this path before returning to their cars.

If the route has been recently track-set this will be a great day skiing. Unfortunately, the trail is not track-set as often as many other xc ski trails in the area. It also sees a lot of use from snowshoers, hikers and backcountry skiers, who unfortunately often obliterate the XC Ski tracks that have been set. This means it can be a pretty rough trail if it hasn’t been track-set recently.

The trail goes up and down, and is very clear as you ski north along the Goat Creek trail. The early part of the route has fairly easy descents, and can be fun in good conditions. You get very nice views to your right up at the various subpeaks of Mount Rundle.

After about 4.0mi of xc-skiing you will get to a big hill that descends to Goat Creek Bridge. This hill is the crux of the xc ski trip, and can be very, very challenging, especially if the snow is hardpacked. The track goes down and around a bend, and then immediately comes to a bridge over Goat Creek. If it’s hardpacked it’s both very fast and very hard to get any stopping power on your skis. There have been accidents here, and it is recommended that you remove your skis and walk down this path the first time you do this trip.

After the bridge you ski around to your left, eventually crossing another bridge at roughly 5.6mi over the Spray River. Once over the bridge the trail usually improves, as Parks Canada track sets their portion of the route more often than Alberta Parks.

Follow the ski trail as you head up a hump before continuing the path on the western side of the Spray valley.

At roughly 8.4mi from the start come to a picnic area, with a partially covered shelter. From here the trail splits, make sure to stay on the left-hand path signed for xc-skiers. There is a separate path for snowshoers and fat bike users.

Follow this route and in 3.4mi you end up the Spray River parking lot, where you left you car, just down from the Banff Springs Hotel.