Although the “leaf-peeping” season of late September is not as big in the Canadian Rockies, where I live, as it is in New England, the Instagram-fueled crowds have arrived here, too. So many thousands now flock to view the golden yellow larch trees that this time of year has come to be called Larch Madness.
While international tourists visit well-known places like Banff, locals and weekenders from Calgary, just an hour away, often head to the provincial parks of Kananaskis Country, south of Canmore, Alberta. In some ways, Kananaskis has better hiking than Banff, because the trails start at a higher altitude and you get out of the forest and into the subalpine sooner. This weekend, a viral video on Instagram showed an endless line of cars parked along Highway 40, which leads through K-Country, as it’s called for short.
The people in those vehicles had all come to look at the larches along a couple of easy trails near Pocaterra Ridge.
Before Instagram and before COVID, hiking the Pocaterra Ridge trail, above, in Alberta’s Kananaskis Country was a quiet experience. Photo: Jerry Kobalenko
Larch + mountains + blue sky
The Rockies don’t have the brilliant red maples of eastern North America to pair with the bright yellows of other trees, but the yellow larches and aspens contrast dramatically against the mountains and the blue late September skies.
Until recently, Larch Madness only existed in a few places. Larch Valley, in Banff National Park near Lake Louise, always drew hordes of novice hikers, bear bells tinkling on their day packs. Sunshine Meadows, accessible by gondola from the Sunshine Village Ski resort, was also popular.
Larch Valley. Photo: Jerry Kobalenko
Many professional landscape photographers had long considered nearby Yoho National Park’s Lake O’Hara as the best day-hiking area in Canada, especially in late September. It was always a little tricky to book a spot on one of the limited number of buses that drive the 11km gravel road to Lake O’Hara (no bikes allowed), but it could be done. Once there, you had easy access to the Opabin Plateau’s many different levels and ponds and views and larches.
Opabin Plateau, Lake O’Hara, Yoho National Park. Photo: Jerry Kobalenko
Instagram + COVID
In recent years, social media and the COVID pandemic have brought about significant changes. People saw beautiful photos online and wanted to duplicate them. And during the COVID lockdown, people in Calgary had little to do besides drive to the mountains. During that year or two, many discovered the place for the first time. They have never forgotten it.
A lottery system for bus tickets now governs all day trips into Lake O’Hara. Because of the vastly increased traffic, cars can no longer drive to Moraine Lake, where the short hike to Larch Valley begins. Here too, a shuttle is required.
If you don’t mind crowds, all those areas still deliver. If you do mind them and want to enjoy the larches without company, there remain areas known only to locals, not on Instagram or in AllTrails, where the larches are even better than those in Larch Valley, and where you never see a soul.
Even if you’re not a local, one trick never fails: If you study the topo maps and pick a 25 to 30km loop, you will almost never have to share what you see. All the crowded places involve short, easy hikes.
There remain places in the Rockies where you can have the larches all to yourself, but it’s not easy to find these hidden spots, because they aren’t on social media or AllTrails. Photo: Jerry Kobalenko
Photo: Jerry Kobalenko
The busiest places all feature easy access, so a long hike reliably eliminates the crowds. Photo: Jerry Kobalenko
