JASPER NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 350

• Trailhead: Jasper-Yellowhead Museum, Pyramid Lake Road
Numerous official and unofficial hiking trails weave across the benchland immediately
west of the town of Jasper. From the far corner of the parking lot beside the museum, a
well-marked trail climbs onto the benchland. Keep right, crossing Pyramid Lake Road, and
you'll emerge on a bluff overlooking the Athabasca River Valley. Bighorn sheep can often
be seen grazing here. If you return to the trailhead from here, you will have hiked seven
kilometers (4.3 miles). The trail continues north, disappearing into the montane forest until
arriving at Pyramid Lake. Various trails can be taken to return to town; get a map at the
park information center before setting out.
Mina Lakes
• Length: 2.5 kilometers/1.6 miles (50 minutes) one-way
• Elevation gain: 70 meters/230 feet
• Rating: easy
• Trailhead: Jasper-Yellowhead Museum, Pyramid Lake Road
Lower and Upper Mina Lakes lie on the benchland immediately west of the town of
Jasper. The trailhead is the same as the Pyramid Lake Loop, except instead of keeping
right, you'll need to take the first left fork (signposted as Route 8 to Cabin Creek West),
which climbs up onto the bench, then crosses a treeless 100-meter-wide (328-foot-wide)
corridor, cleared to act as a firebreak for the town. Cabin Lake Road passes along the
firebreak, leading west (left) to man-made Cabin Lake and east (right) to Pyramid Lake
Road. Continuing straight ahead, the trail climbs gradually through a typical montane
forest of lodgepole pine, Douglas fir, and poplar before emerging at Lower Mina Lake.
After a further 500 meters (0.3 mile) and just beyond the end of Lower Mina Lake, the
upper lake and a pebbly stretch of beach are reached. The distance given above is to this
point, but with a map in hand, it's possible to continue along the shore of the upper lake;
two kilometers (1.2 miles) beyond the end of the lake the trail forks—looping back along
Cabin Lake Road via Cabin Lake to the left and to Riley Lake to the right.
Patricia Lake Circle
• Length: 5-kilometer/3.1-mile loop (90 minutes round-trip)
• Elevation gain: minimal
• Rating: easy
• Trailhead: 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) along Pyramid Lake Road