Heli-hiking in Banff National Park, Canada

You might have heard about heli-skiing, but have you heard about heli-hiking in Banff national park, Alberta, Canada?

Heli-hiking is the art of using a helicopter to transport yourself to hard-to-reach hiking spots and start a trail, all whilst enjoying from above a unique bird’s eye view of surrounding mountains, glaciers, lakes and forest lands as you fly to the starting point of your trail.

Heli-hiking was an optional added bonus on my Trek America road trip tour across the Rockies of the Canadian wilderness on the Mountie tour.

If you happen to be travelling with Trek America, I can highly recommend booking the heli-hiking tour as an add-on to your trip and I’ll explain why within this blog post.

Fly with Rockies Heli Canada

I went to the Rockies Heli Canada company who are based in Alberta and are recommended by Trek America.

The drive is an hour and a half north from Lake Louise or an hour and half drive south from the Columbia Icefield.

The drive offers a rustic, raw view of the mountains and the spectacular Abraham Lake, it’s a worthy stop of activity if you happen to be driving this route.

They have been doing scenic flights, heli-hiking and mountain adventures since 1999 and run a professional, friendly and safe helicopter business.

I was very impressed with the whole operation, and would highly recommend flying with them if you happen to be on your Trek America trip through the Rockies.

See the Canadian Rockies the way they were meant to be seen!

Enjoy a helicopter flight over the Canadian Rockies

Travelling in style is always a bonus on any hike, but travelling by helicopter is a pretty incredible experience.

Alberta and Banff National ark makes for a perfect location to try a scenic helicopter flight as the area has so much natural beauty to offer. It’s really worth getting a bird’s eye view to see it all and take it all in.

You can choose from three spectacular helicopter sight-seeing flight tours ranging from 20 – 55 minutes in length. All flights offer glaciers, waterfalls and mountains along the way. As the Canadians say, this trip will make you say “oh my!” for sure.

Enjoy the view from your seat on your scenic helicopter flight

A trek in Canada wouldn’t be complete without passing by a scenic waterfall with a stunning backdrop of the surrounding mountains.

Why not enjoy the view from above in your helicopter seat?

Time to start the hiking trail

Once you’ve landed close to the start of the hiking track, your guide will be preparing everything to get ready for the trail ahead.

Your guide also happens to be your helicopter pilot (multitasking at its best) and is full of information along your hiking trail.

Along the trails you might spot half-cut tree stumps along the way.

They’re used to mark out the track when winter comes, and the path is filled with snow so you can still find your way along the route in winter months.

They will be sure to tell you all about the animal tracks in the area, as well as popular flora and fauna along the route and what is edible along the way.

Time to get your feet wet and do a Canadian river crossing

You truly can’t beat the look and feel of the Canadian outdoors, it’s unique and special to amuse yourself by taking a heli-hike.

Don’t forget to get your feet wet and take a dip in the Canadian river and do a stream crossing.

The water will be ice cold and refreshing, and making a Canadian river crossing is an important part of any Canadian hike out in the wild. You simply can’t beat the refreshing feel of ice cold water at your feet.

Time for a waterfall

At the end of the trail you will find a stunning waterfall with a Rockies mountain backdrop to top it all off. Can it get more stunning than this!

End of your hike with a nice glass of bubbles

All great hikes should end with a reward, and if you’re lucky your hike captain might have packed a few bottles of bubbly to pop open at the end.

Be sure to give heli-hiking a try on your next trip to Canada

Heli-hiking is a bit fancier and upmarket, but it’s fun to try this different type of hiking in the summer months when heli-skiing isn’t possible and enjoy the great outdoors of the Canadian wilderness on your next trip to Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada.

Thank you for passing by and reading about Heli-hiking

I hope you found this blog post useful and you got a wonderful introduction and taste of what heli-Hiking in Canada is all about.

Check out my heli-hiking video