Animal lovers, don't miss your chance to discover the grizzly bear! Leaving Banff behind, you'll take a ride in a gondola for a great view of grizzly country, then take a chairlift to visit the grizzly refuge where you can observe an orphaned grizzly bear as it romps and plays in a natural bear habitat.
Inclusions & Exclusions
✔ Professional guide
✔ Return transport from Banff
✔ Pick up from the public bus parking located behind the Mount Royal Hotel
✔ Visit to a grizzly bear refuge
✔ Chairlift ride
✔ Gondola ride at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort
✔ Lunch at Eagle's Eye Restaurant, Canada's highest restaurant
✔ Small group size (up to 24 guests per guide)
✖ Optional gratuities
Departure & Return
Departure:
,
All guests must wait at the public bus parking located behind the Mount Royal Hotel at 138 Banff Ave.
You must be ready 5 minutes prior to the tour pick-up time of 8:12am.
Return: End right where it started.
Itinerary
1
Takakkaw Falls
Visit Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park (when access permits), to see Canada's second highest waterfall tumbling 254m (830 feet) in one stretch and 384m (1,260 feet) in total. The falls can be admired from the parking area or from an optional short 0.5km (¹⁄₃ mile) walk on a paved trail from the parking area to the base of the impressive falls.
Duration: 30 minutes
2
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort
At Kicking Horse Mountain Resort you will take an enclosed sightseeing gondola with glass windows up to 7,700 feet with panoramic views of the Rocky Mountains, the Columbia River Wetlands and the quaint town of Golden. At the top, you'll enjoy a gourmet lunch from your choice of menu items with a non-alcoholic beverage and dessert at Eagle's Eye restaurant, Canada's highest restaurant.
After a leisurely lunch and enjoying the mountain top views, you'll descend back down the sightseeing gondola, and take a four-person open-chairlift chairlift partway up the mountain to the Grizzly Bear Refuge, the largest enclosed grizzly bear habitat in the world. At the refuge you'll meet Boo, a bear with paws the size of hubcaps, a mouth full of sharp teeth and enormous muscles moving beneath his shaggy fur, in his 20-acre habitat in the Rocky Mountain bush. You’ll hear his personal story and learn about grizzly bear behaviour from the knowledgeable guide while you watch him explore, hunt and forage just like his wild cousins. After the tour, you'll descend back down the open-air chairlift.
Duration: 3 hours
3
Emerald Lake
There will be a brief stop at Emerald Lake, famous for its jade-coloured waters and surrounded by the breathtaking Rocky Mountains.
Duration: 20 minutes
Additional info
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• Early and late season bookings may be subject to itinerary changes, the Takakkaw Falls Road typically opens late June. Alternative stops are usually the Spiral Tunnels and Natural Bridge..
• Infant rates do not include food.
• Group bookings of 9 or more guests have a 7 day cancellation period.
