How to Hike the Asulkan Valley Trail in Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park is a severely underappreciated national park in Canada, and the Alsulkan Valley Trail showcases some of its best features. The alpine hike takes hikers through a temperate rainforest to the high alpine and the foot of a glacier. Along the way, the trail moves through a deep valley with cascading waterfalls, vibrant wildflowers, and is flanked by towering peaks.

Like many of the trails and objectives in Glacier, it’s challenging, but those who put in the effort are surely rewarded. At its terminus, the trail leads to a lateral moraine with tremendous views and the charming Asulkan Hut, managed by the ACC. Those after a backcountry trip can even book the hut and spend a night in the wilderness or use it as a launch pad for high-alpine adventures.

Asulkan Valley Trail Description

The trail starts at the popular Illecillewaet Campground, which has a limited amount of day-use parking. The campground is busy and is the starting point for a variety of hikes in the park, so securing a spot can be difficult. While our on-the-trail experience was quiet, we still had to park along the road leading up to the parking lot when we arrived mid-morning.

From the parking lot, the trail passes through an old-growth forest full of hemlock and cedar trees. Right at the start is the historic ACC Arthur Wheeler Hut. Another building of note is the remains of the Glacier House, which was once one of Canadian Pacific’s great hotels in the mountains. Some of the hotels that remain are Banff Springs and Chateau Lake Louise.

After passing the historic site, the trail begins its journey through the forest. Not long after, and only 600 meters into the trail, it’s worth taking a detour to the “meeting of the waters,” where two of Parks Canada’s famous Red Chairs are located.

Otherwise, the trail continues along the valley bottom, slowly gaining elevation before crossing the Asulkan Brook with a nice wooden bridge at around 1.6 km. After the bridge, a small fork has a sign marking the way to Glacier Crest or Asulkan Valley.

After the sign, the trail begins its ascent up the valley, progressively getting steeper until it reaches its end. The trail works its way through the forest over the next 2.5 km until it reaches 4km, where you emerge in a subalpine meadow.

As the trail progresses along the brook, it gets rockier. You’ll also start getting wonderful views of the valley, surrounding peaks, and waterfalls. With all the meadow and rocks, the valley is a hotspot for wildlife, with frequent bear closures and lots of small animals like marmots and pikas.

This continues more or less the same along the brook over the next kilometre. After that, the trail crosses over a small metal bridge at the 5.5 km mark and begins its journey up a large lateral moraine. The first 500 meters of ascent is fairly simple, but it quickly gets steep.

At 5.8 km, the trail really starts to get steep and moves along the narrow top of the very steep lateral moraine. It is undeniably the crux of the trail and requires sure footing. We’d highly recommend hiking poles for most hikers to help with the ascent and, most importantly, the descent. The good news is that views from the moraine are wonderful, with panoramic views in every direction of the valley and surrounding peaks.

The trail remains steep until its terminus along a small bump atop the moraine. This is a nice spot to stop for a picnic, but we suggest venturing an extra hundred or so metres to check out the ACC Asulkan Hut. It is managed by the Alpine Club of Canada and operates as a base for mountaineering and ski touring. Reservations through the ACC are required to spend the night in the cabin.

After we briefly checked out of the cabin, we continued up a short hill north of it to take a break. This hill offers the best views of the cabin, glacier, peaks, and valley. After resting, the return journey is the same as the ascent, which requires a careful descent on the loose moraine.

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Trailhead

Many trails, including Asulkan Valley, start at the Illecillewat Campground. Park your car here. There are plenty of signs to help you on the right path.

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Trail Duration

Even though Alltrails registers the Asulkan Valley hike at just under 14km, my watch clocked nearly 17km, with 900 meters of elevation gain. We did venture up to the Asulkan Hut, which we highly recommend you do if you’re already putting in the effort here.

We were on the trail for 5 hours, including a 30-minute “summit” snack stop near the hut. Estimate for this hike to take you anywhere between 5-7 hours, depending on your pace and fitness.

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How Hard is the Trail

Like most trails in Glacier National Park, the Asulkan Valley trail is difficult. While the trail’s beginnings only have you gaining elevation moderately, the last 2km or so are quite steep and will definitely get your heart pumping.

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Don’t Forget Bear Spray

You should have a bear spray on you on any hikes in Western Canada, but especially here. Bear sightings are frequent around this area and bear spray is imperative.