Finding Solitude in Banff National Park: The Skoki Valley

This post may contain affilitate links. This means if you click on the link and make a purchase, I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Any opinions expressed are my own.

We planned a trip to see the Canadian Rockies.  I’d never been to Banff, but it’s a popular spot.  My first objective while planning this vacation was to find some time away from the maddening crowd.  Objective achieved.

Canadian National Parks

How are Canadian parks different from US National Parks? 

In many ways they’re similar.  Huge areas preserved primarily for nature-based recreation.  A variety of campgrounds, lakes, and trails provided for people to get back to nature.

But in Alberta parks, at least, there are entire towns within the Parks. Entire towns. Like Jasper. Banff. Waterton. Just sitting there providing all sorts of services, with pricetags ranging from not-cheap to too bloody expensive.

To be clear, this is not just a village atmosphere run by a Parks concessionaire, as most lodges are in the US National Parks. These are legit towns, which have their own ordinances and taxes and actual citizens. They operate in tandem with Parks Canada.

On the one hand, this makes it easier to get a hotel INSIDE your park without booking more than a year prior to your trip. There are more hotels, after all.

On the other hand, there are loads of folks staying in one place.  It’s a town, after all, so it might not give the feeling that you’re in a remote destination 

Basically, it can just be a different vibe.

Especially if you’re talking about a very popular destination…

Banff National Park

Banff National Park is a very popular destination. For good reasons:

It’s Canada’s first National Park.

It’s beautiful! Fulls of glaciers, glacial lakes, wildlife, and mountain views for days.

It’s enormous. The park includes the towns of Banff and Lake Louise, two towns very popular with people looking for access to the outdoors or looking for great shopping, fancy hotels, and instagram backdrops. (I’m sure this Venn diagram has overlap… but not a lot.)

It’s very accessible from Calgary, a large urban area (with an international airport).

And so, Banff is very popular. And great, too! But don’t expect to be alone if you’re staying in either town.

Options for getting away from the crowds:

(1) Wake up early. Seriously, the vast majority of people are not on the trail at 7am. Be in the minority. Get out of bed, y’all.

(2) Do harder (or just longer) hikes. Lots of people do hard hikes in these parks, true, but not nearly as many who just go to overlooks and paved trails…

and the single best tip if you seriously need some alone time?

(3) Go to the Skoki Valley*.

Skoki Valley

Hiking for about 7 miles behind the Lake Louise Resort will take you up to Ptarmigan Lake and over Deception Pass. When you descend, you’re in the Skoki Valley, where you won’t encounter more than 25 other people.

It’s pretty awesome. You should do it.

There’s a campground. I can’t tell you much about it, except there’s a camping option here for budget-minded folks. If interested, you can read about a backpacking loop, which will take you to both the Merlin Meadows campground (near the Skoki Lodge) and another spot at Baker Lake.  The trail is well-described on AllTrails, too.

But since I just like being a special snowflake, I opted to stay at the lodge. Yep, a lodge. For no more than 25 people.

Skoki Lodge

This is it, the hidden gem of Banff National Park. The Skoki Lodge, a tiny rustic getaway from anything resembling a crowd.

And yes, this is still in Banff National Park!

It’s managed by the Lake Louise Resort, but it’s hidden miles away in the wilderness. Given the effort involved, you’ve gotta really want to stay here.

Remarkable* amenities include:

No cell service.

No electricity.

No indoor plumbing.

Nope… no lights. No showers. And, to confirm that suspicion that just snuck up on you… nope, there are no toilets here.  

But I’m not crazy. This place is a truly memorable experience. You’ll always remember that time you stayed in that backcountry lodge with the outhouses and the gas lamps.  

*Remarks include, but are not limited to, “we paid HOW MUCH for this room???”  And if you do make this remark, everyone will hear you.  These walls are original build, folks. Everyone hears everything.

Cost

Also, I said that the campground was for the budget-minded traveler. Skoki Lodge isn’t. It’s not cheap, and a minimum two-night stay is required.

It’s pretty pricey, at about $1200 for 2 nights. But some rooms do hold more than two adults, so it becomes more reasonable as group size increases.  

Noise

This place is old. They served their first guests in 1931, and the character of the building remains true to its historic roots.

There is no sound-proofing. This leads to a lot of folks heading for the outhouse at the same time in the middle of the night.

If you’re a light sleeper, try to get a cabin instead of a lodge room. And definitely bring ear plugs.

Meals

Meals are provided and included in the room rate. 

They serve breakfast and dinner, with all guests seated in the lodge at a specific time. The food is really quite good. We enjoyed every entree we were served.  And the bread and desserts were especially tasty.

They also provide lunch options to pack for taking on the trail – sandwiches, cookies, bags of trail mix.

After 2pm, a tea is provided with warm soup and other snacks. Plus, someone is happy to prepare a coffee, tea, or cocoa at any time when requested.

Beer and wine are also available, but they are not included in the room rate. 

Customer Service

On your hiking day, the staff will provide loads of advice about local trails based on your interest/abilities.

Generally, the staff is very helpful and pleasant. The rooms stay clean, and the meal service is quite good. 

Rooms have varied configurations, but the website shows these accurately. The site also provides information about getting there, inclusions, and packing lists. 

We found the customer service for the registration (in the town of Lake Louise) to be friendly and helpful as well. 

The Journey

Genuinely, a great amenity of staying in the Skoki Lodge is that guests hike to and from the lodge through beautiful, serene, and blissfully uncrowded wilderness. 

And to make the journey more pleasant and less of a chore, guests of the Lodge are provided the option to take a shuttle up the forest road (and back, on the return day).  This cuts out about 2 miles of the most boring bit of the hike, and it’s all uphill on the way to the lodge. 

The hike can be an out and back or a loop.  We chose to do a loop, taking Deception Pass on the way to the lodge.  If you haven’t saved waypoints, it’s just easier to find (better marked), if nothing else. Deception gives a great overview of the valley below, including the distant Skoki Lakes.

On the way back to Lake Louise, we took the Packer’s Pass route, which follows a stream to a boulder field.  It is great fun. The scenery is lovely. And you climb up the side of a waterfall.

And then you pass the most beautiful blue glacial lakes you’ll see in Banff National Park. Eat your heart out, Moraine Lake.  The Skoki Lakes are easily more idyllic that your insta-crowds would have anyone believe.  

This hike is worth doing, period.  Just lovely.

This is a Recommendation, I Promise!

Please understand that much of the above amenities are described with tongue firmly planted in cheek.  You might even think “whew, she is NOT selling this place”, which is fair. I would be terrible at marketing.

But hey… let’s be honest. Plenty of people wouldn’t want to stay in this play due to cost.  Some wouldn’t want to pay this cost for a place without electric or running water. It’s realistic to see those details and know they’re important. I don’t say those things to be off-putting. I’m saying them to be transparent. This destination simply isn’t for everyone.

But if you’re interested in novel experiences, this might be for you.

If you’re interested in disconnecting from modern life, you should definitely give it some consideration.

If you like great, and not too terribly hard, hikes in the wilderness away from most people, this should be on your to do list.

This lodge is a luxury, although it’s a luxury with the limitations of a backcountry wilderness lodge constructed in 1931. Would I go again?  Definitely. But only if I could snag a cabin room, just to limit noise while sleeping. 

Otherwise, the scenery can’t be beat. The food is surprisingly good. The service is friendly and helpful. And the relaxed and restful atmosphere is a great value if quiet and nature are what you’re desperately seeking. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a contrast to the Banff town experience.