sunshine meadows

expected crowds when we arrived at the parking area, but the mountain is expansive and opens up to three separate areas at the top, yielding wide open runs and short lift lines. Amazing views of the areas gorgeous peaks in all directions.

Enjoyed the mountain. Highly recommend ski tour with mountain guides. 3 hours. You learn the mountain and have fun skiing without thinking. True vacation!

In the summer it is best if you take the bus from Sunshine village up to the top. You can walk if you like but it is about 5K on a gravel road - Let the bus do the work.At the top it is a short hike to rock island lake. The wild flowers there are spectacular and there are trails that wander around where skiers will be in the summer. I think there are 10k or more of trails at the top.Getting down is a little painful - on busy days there can be crowds wanting to get the bus ride. When you get to the lodge you could be in for an hour or more wait. So plan ahead a bit.

Thoroughly enjoyed 5 days of skiing at Sunshine. Great weather and great snow. Lots of runs to suit our ability (Intermediate) and not at all crowded. Quite often we had a whole piste completely to ourselves.

This is a must do hike in the area to see natural beauty. There are wild flowers and natural lakes. Book a bus to the top and wear layers for changing weather.

This area does of course serve as a ski resort in the winter, but we enjoyed it at its summer best. The journey up and down in the old school buses is quite an experience, but is the only practical way of getting to the starting point. There are several choices of route, and they are quite well marked. The views are of course worth the effort. There are food and loo facilities both ends of the bus ride.

We did this in summer of 2014, after reading about it year after year. We finally took the plunge and paid for the bus ride up there (worth it as it is a long ways!).You start off from the Gondola terminal at the parking lot and you climb into some old school buses. Its too bad they don't run the gondola in summer as I am sure this would be a way more fun way of getting to the top (and the views would be far superior to the bus windows)At the top, you are dropped off at the village day lodge and given some basic instructions on where the trails are, how often the buses run,etc.After that you start hiking. The first bit is really uphill until you plateau in a large valley. The views around you are spectacular and there is plenty to look at.You hike in a large loop and pass several lakes. At one point, you are actually overlooking a large cliff and valley, which is just fantastic to see.Probably the best part of the entire hike is when you climb up to an observation platform, near the top of one of the lifts, here you can see all that you have hike during the day, as well as many surrounding mountains.Their advertising rates this as one of the premier hikes in the Canadian rockies and they are right, particulary if you can hit this during the flower blooms. We were just at the tail end of the bloom.

Sunshine Meadows is nice at several times of the year. Late summer for the wildflowers! Late Sept and early Oct. for the turning larches! Great that you can take the bus up and then hike around.

Did it twice. Not a difficult hike at all, and the view you'll be rewarded with is absolutely beautiful.

I went in October last day before closing for the season. No meadows, plain brown mountains, bland scenery plus weather wasn't great, so pretty disappointed. However in the right season im sure it would have been spectacular views! Especially when you reach the View point, you can see 360 degrees views of valleys, mountains and all three lakes. Its definitely not the best hike in the Rockies, you have to go to Angel glacier next to Jasper, that one will take your breath away for sure! The ice pond with massive ice pieces, is something incredible. Anyways Sunshine meadows is nice hike during meadows season, otherwise its just ok. In addition the bus driver made me really anxious while going up the steep hill driving on the edges of the mountain! Scared hell out of me.I found it really unprofessional.

Caught the bus to this great little spot- out of season Sept. Able to walk around and hike to the lakes- not too far. Great little trading post and bar with a log fire.

I just had the most wonderful day at Sunshine Meadows courtesy of White Mountain Adventures. (Also posted this review to their page as they organize everything)It was very easy to organize the shuttle through the website, and I was able to call and move my reservation to a different day with no problems - the lady I spoke to on the phone was polite and helpful and made things very easy.I got picked up bright and early this morning and was the only person on the bus - so happy they came to get me - some companies have a minimum policy and I was desperate to do this so I was very grateful they made the journey just for me.It had been snowing quite heavily the night before so the drive up the mountain was a little sketchy, but luckily the driver was very experienced in driving in these conditions and took us up to the top no problem.The actual hike is just stunning - even more so when you are literally the ONLY person on the mountain!!! I took the route that took me to Rock Isle lake, Grizzly lake and Larix lake. I then made my way to the Standish view point which gave the most gorgeous view all the way to Assiniboine.Afterwards I was able to relax at Trappers with a well deserved glass of red wine in front of the fire before being driven back to Banff.Thank you so much for a fabulous day!

Bus service up is just great, worth every penny. There are so many trails and loops, depending how avid hiker you are. Beautiful flowers and lakes. When you are done hiking you can enjoy a cold beer while you are waiting for the bus down.

Went on this walk and the views and tranquility are to die for. This has got to be one of the most easily accessible walks in Canada. The bus ride up and down is an experience in its self , great day out.

We did the whole loop, inlcuding the two lookouts in 3 hours. About 12 km easy hiking with not too much elevation gain. We had to walk a bit fast as we were in a hurry for the last shuttle bus. The views are spectacular, you are above the treeline in most of the hike. Just be aware to allow enough time to reach the last shuttle bus down to Sunshine Village, or you will have to walk the 5-6 km back to your car. The hike can be made shorter if you dont have time for the full loop. 4 hours, including breaks, should be enough to complete everything if you are average fit.