| Tunnel Mountain Panoramic views Distance 2.3 km (1.4 mi) Trailhead Follow St. Julien Road (turn east off Banff Avenue via Moose or Wolf Street); shortly after you pass the angled junction to Grizzly Street turn left (uphill) to the parking lot with the trail sign, just north of the Banff Centre. Options You can shorten the hike by driving to the upper trailhead (the trail sign on Tunnel Mountain Drive, south of the junction with Tunnel Mountain Road); this way, you miss the steepest section of trail and reduce the height gain by 45 m. Of the many other trails at Banff you can take, the closest is the Hoodoos Trail, starting on Tunnel Mountain Drive.
In 1858, James Hector named this diminutive peak The Hill. In 1882, Major Rogers planned to construct a tunnel through this mountain for the railway line, not realizing he could easily avoid the problem of the cliffs above the Bow River by following the Cascade River and going north of The Hill. When CPR General Manager William Van Horne saw Rogers' plans he was furious. "Are we going to hold up this railway for a year and a half while they build their damned tunnel? Take it out!" So the tunnel was never built, but the mountain name commemorates Rogers' intended folly. There used to be a fire lookout on the peak, called King's Lookout because King George VI and Queen Elizabeth hiked there in 1939. Connoisseurs of mountain beauty have a deep affection for this trip. James Outram recommended hiking up Tunnel, commenting, "the view will never be forgotten." He went up it in 1900, his first climb in the Rockies. A year later, he made the first ascent of Mt. Assiniboine. Thus in one year, Outram became the first man to climb both the highest and perhaps the lowest summits in Banff Park. Others have praised the trip. The late Jon Whyte chose Tunnel as his favorite hike near Banff. The ashes of famed wildlife artist Carl Rungius are scattered on Tunnel Mountain, a site his closest friends considered appropriate for a man who loved the view of Banff and the Bow Valley. Stoney Indian Noah Cecil said his grandfather helped carry a dying tribesman atop Tunnel Mountain, and erect a teepee for his departing spirit, commenting, "A man's a long time dead. On mountain he see more." (Harriet Hartley Thomas, From Barnacle to Banff) No one loved this hike more than Anne Ness who went up Tunnel more than 8,000 times! For forty years she climbed it every day, missing only a few times in bitterest winter. Some days, she climbed it twice: first during slack time at work; then again in the evening. Norman Sanson is renowned for his 1,000 ascents of Sulpher Mountain; Anne Ness' record deserves similar recognition. Not everyone shares this passion for hiking or superb scenery. One friend asked Anne, "Don't you find it boring?" But as A.O. Wheeler pointed out, "Although only 5500 feet in altitude above sea level, the summit is a magnificent viewpoint, covering the Bow River valley both east and west. The chief advantage is that, set at a position. . . midway between the valley bottom and the crests of the encircling mountain ranges, it does full value in perspective to the depths and to the heights." When Jim Brewster was a small boy, he was given a horse to round up his father's dairy cows. Many mornings, he found the steed at the top of Tunnel Mountain. He was convinced it went there to watch the sunrise. Leonard Leacock used to hike here to listen to the massed pipe band when Banff hosted the Highland Gatherings (before 1930). Although Leacock hated the sound of the bagpipes, he found them thrilling from a distance. Marching bands can still be heard from the site on ceremonial occaisons such as Canada Day, July 1, but I find this distance too great to thrill to the small bands I have heard in recent years. Most of the grade is easy to moderate; there are a few short steep sections, especially near the trailhead. After you reach the summit ridge, views open east to Lake Minnewanka, Mount Aylmer and the Fairholme Range. This is a hike for all seasons. The west-facing slope at the start loses snow early, so except for a few weeks when the path is icy this trail makes a great spring training climb to get in shape for longer trips. In summer, cool shady sections combine with scenic openings to provide delight. So many people now do this trip from the Banff Centre in winter, that the trail is usually packed. Douglas firs can be seen all the way to the summit. Beside the trail, Crocuses bloom in May. Mule deer frequent the slopes. Photographer Halle Flygare got a superb picture of a cougar on the mountainside. Be wary of the sheer cliffs near the summit ridge, especially if the trail is icy. Among the mountain's victims is a twelve year old boy killed in 1952 when trying to take a shortcut from the summit to the campground. Bikes are not permitted on the trail. Trail From the parking lot, you climb steeply, zig-zagging to a viewpoint where you cross Tunnel Mountain Drive. You continue to switchback upwards and the rewards increase as you gain height. You are almost in line with the Banff Springs Hotel when you reach the summit ridge. The trail moves to the east side of the mountain where there are breathtaking viewpoints atop the sheer cliff en route to the summit. Trail Section
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