BANFF NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 153

Campgrounds
Lake Magog is the park's main facility area, such as it is. A designated camping area on
a low ridge above the lake's west shore provides a source of drinking water, pit toilets,
and bear-proof food caches. Open fires are prohibited. Sites are $10 per person per night.
No reservations are taken, but even those who visit frequently have told me they've never
seen it full. Also at the lake are the Naiset Huts, where bunk beds cost $25 per person per
night (book through Mount Assiniboine Lodge at 403/678-2883, 8:30am-2:30pm Mon.-
Fri., www.assiniboinelodge.com ) . The cabins contain nothing more than bunk beds with
mattresses, so you'll need a stove, cooking utensils, food, a sleeping bag, and your own
source of non-gas-powered light.
Information
In addition to the government agency responsible for the park (Ministry of Environment,
www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks ) , park information centers in Radium Hot Springs, Lake
Louise, and Banff provide information and up-to-date trail conditions.
SIFFLEUR WILDERNESS AREA
This remote region on the Alberta side of the Canadian Rockies lies south of Highway 11,
which crosses west-central Alberta between Rocky Mountain House and Saskatchewan
River Crossing, in Banff National Park. It is completely protected from any activities that
could have an impact on the area's fragile ecosystems. That includes road and trail devel-
opment: No bridges have been built over the area's many fast-flowing streams, and the few
old trails that do exist are not maintained. Elk, deer, moose, cougars, wolverines, wolves,
coyotes, black bears, and grizzly bears roam the area's four main valleys, while higher,
alpine elevations harbor mountain goats and bighorn sheep.
The main trail into the 41,200-hectare (101,800-acre) wilderness begins from a parking
area two kilometers (1.2 miles) south of the Two O'Clock Creek Campground at Kootenay
Plains. The area's northeastern boundary is a seven-kilometer (4.3-mile) hike from here.
Even if you're not heading right into the wilderness area, the first section of this trail,
which passes through Siffleur Falls Provincial Recreation Area to Siffleur Falls, is worth
walking. The trail crosses the North Saskatchewan River via a swinging bridge, then at the
two-kilometer (1.2-mile) mark crosses the Siffleur River, reaching the falls after four kilo-
meters (2.5 miles); allow 70 minutes one-way. These are the official Siffleur Falls, but oth-
ers lie farther upstream at the 6.2-kilometer (3.9-mile) and 6.9-kilometer (4.3-mile) marks.