A Ski Trip to Shadow Lake Lodge near Banff
A cross-country ski trip into Shadow Lake Lodge in Banff National Park (now owned by the Alpine Club of Canada) sure makes the long winter season enjoyable. I try to plan trips well in advance throughout the winter so I always have something to look forward to. That’s especially important in Calgary as the snow is usually flying by the end of October and it doesn’t typically end until late March.
I decided I wanted to spend Alberta’s Family Day weekend (a three-day weekend) up at a backcountry ski lodge, about seven months prior to visiting. I’d heard about Shadow Lake Lodge and decided that it would be worth checking out. It most certainly is.
New in 2025
As of winter 2025 you will need to bring your own sleeping bags. You’ll also have to plan your meals and bring up whatever food you’ll need. Cooking is now your responsibility too. These changes have been made in order to reduce costs for overnight stays. Costs in 2025 are $250 – $350 plus tax per cabin per night. It doesn’t look like their are minimum stays.
There will be a custodian onsite who can orient you to the property and sell you snacks, soft drinks, and alcohol. There is no corkage fee if you bring your own alcohol.
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Cross-country skiing into Shadow Lake Lodge
Shadow Lake Lodge is in Banff National Park. It’s only accessible on skis or on foot via a 14.4 km trail. The trailhead is located 19 km west of Banff just off the Trans-Canada Highway at the well signed Redearth turnoff. It’s a straightforward and relatively easy trail for the first 11 km.
Then it’s a steep climb once you reach the trail intersection to Shadow Lake. Some people walk this section. When you’ve grunted your way to the top, the rest is easy and in 30 minutes or less you’ll be at the lodge. It took us less than three hours with a break for lunch to ski to the lodge from the highway.
The cabins at Shadow Lake Lodge
The cabins at Shadow Lake Lodge offer rustic simplicity. Outfitted with a bed and night tables, they also boast solar powered lighting, a propane heater and a drying rack. There is a jug and bowl for washing up in the cabin – otherwise you need to walk out to the central shower. There are toilet facilities there too.
Apart from the dining room, there is a common room with a wood-fired stove and plenty of games, puzzles and books to keep you occupied.
The food at Shadow Lake Lodge
New in 2024/25: The kitchen and dining areas will now be shared by all guests at the lodge. All cooking and eating utensils are provided as is a commercial-grade gas stove and oven, and both hot and cold running water.
Going forward you’ll need to bring your own food – and cook it too. Some snack foods and soft drinks and alcohol will be available for purchase.
In the winter meals can be taken in the dining room. In the summer there are also picnic tables in the meadow and the private porch of your cabin.
Pre – 2025 at Shadow Lake Lodge
When you first arrive – around mid to late afternoon for most people – there is a tea. Think more in terms of the Brits version of tea. Not only is there tea and hot chocolate but assorted cheeses and crackers, veges, and dip and a wide assortment of cookies, bars and cakes. That has to last you for about three hours when dinner is served.
Every dinner started with freshly baked bread and homemade soup. Then there was a buffet style main course with salmon, beef, chicken etc. offered as well as vegetables and salad. Vegetarians were accommodated and the meals I saw looked mouth-watering. To end there was dessert and a hot beverage.
Breakfast was served at 8:30 AM in the winter. It started with a serve yourself buffet featuring a different type of porridge every morning, yogurts, granola, a giant and well-composed fruit salad and homemade muffins. If that isn’t enough to satisfy you then there is always the egg dish, pancakes, sausages or bacon and a never ending cup of coffee.
Lunch was a make it yourself affair. Right after breakfast all the fixings for sandwiches are set out along with GORP, bars, cookies and fresh fruit. Load up, fill a thermos and water bottle and off you go.
Day trips skiing &/or snowshoeing from Shadow Lake Lodge
There are several ski or snowshoe tours you can do from Shadow Lake Lodge. Snowshoes are available so you don’t have to carry them up.
The easiest tour is a 1.9 km ski to Shadow Lake where you get a beautiful view of Mt. Ball if the sun is shining.
Day trip cross-country skiing to Haiduk Lake
From Shadow Lake Lodge you can continue to Haiduk Lake, 6.3 km further away. That was our plan for the day though we didn’t make it quite as far as the lake.
The snow was very deep, the wind was howling and part of our group didn’t have climbing skins for the steep part. So after 20 minutes of sweating, groaning and cursing we turned around. Next time.
Gibbon Pass snowshoe or cross-country skiing from Shadow Lake Lodge
Another option is to snowshoe or ski 3.1 km one way to Gibbon Pass from Shadow Lake Lodge. If it had been a clear day we would have done it before skiing out, but it wasn’t and I didn’t want to go without getting a view. I understand it’s a steep climb up, so snowshoes are probably the better option.
Ball Pass, 2.7 km away, can also be visited as a day trip. It’s located on the Great Divide between Alberta and British Columbia.
When is the lodge open?
Shadow Lake Lodge is only open from late January until the third week of March depending on the year. It reopens again in late June for the summer.
Rates were $580.00 – $700.00 per cabin per night based on double occupancy in the winter. Summer rates are slightly more expensive. The rate includes accommodation and all meals. In 2025 they are considerably less, but now you’ll need to pack in food and a sleeping bag.
For more information on Shadow Lake Lodge visit their website.
Location map of Shadow Lake Lodge in relation to Banff
Further reading on lodges that are great winter destinations
- Cozy Log Cabins in Banff National Park to Visit
- A Stay at Storm Mountain Lodge in Banff National Park
- A Trip to Stokely Creek Lodge for Cross-country Skiing
- A Winter Visit to Skoki Lodge in Banff National Park
- A Winter Weekend at Lake O’Hara Lodge in BC
- The Glamping Experience at Mount Engadine Lodge
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How gorgeous! The food would keep me entertained for quite a while 🙂 The snow is beautiful, but there is just so much of it! 🙂
@Nancie I think I gained weight on the trip. The snow was amazing!!
How does the lodge get its supplies, I wonder? Those backcountry views are beautiful, and the food is certainly a draw. I know that I could handle the exertion of snowshoeing, but I’m beginning to think that cold would be the bigger challenge. I am getting to be such a wimp about it now that I’m used to living in the tropics without much air-conditioning.
@Michele They actually skidoo up supplies.
I think people who live in warmer climates underestimate how warm you get with activity – and the fact that if you dress for the weather, unless it’s extreme that you can be very comfortable outside.
Great photos. I spent about 10 days traveling between Calgary and Jasper in September of 2012. Shadow Lake cabins remind me a lot of similar “no frills” accommodations at Manzanita Lake in Lassen Volcanic National Park, although they are closed in winter.
@Dick These type of places have a lot of personality. I haven’t visited Lassen Volcanic NP but now you’ve piqued my interest.
You had me booking a ticket at the first photo of the Redearth Creek Trail though by the time I reached the one of you battling the wind, I wasn’t so sure! Such a beautiful place…the quiet at night must be stunning.
@Jenny Fortunately the wind was only bad in one place; for the most part it was very nice skiing. And the place had a lot of personality.
Now I see why so people brag about going to Canada to ski.
@Mette The Alps are equally amazing but it’s rather nice for me that I can get to the trailhead for skiing to Shadow Lake Lodge within 90 minutes of leaving my house.
I always like to hear about cross country skiing opportunities in other countries. This place looks beautiful, especially with the tall towering mountains.
@Sophie It’s in a beautiful area that I now want to explore in the summer.
I absolutely love the outdoors and though you could have found me in the snow constantly playing years ago I’ve pulled back from that. So, I was reading about the 3 hour trek and thinking to myself, “I dunno…” then you “opened” the cabin door and yowsah!! MY kinda cabin with that food waiting! Your pictures are absolutely spectacular again! I’m in, Leigh 🙂
@Mike We ate like kings and queens over the weekend – and it was a lucky thing we skied for several hours every day. This isn’t as hard as it sounds – and the scenery you get is so beautiful.
Wow, gorgeous snow scenery! Leigh, I have always wanted to ski, how difficult/exhausting is it for one who’s never tried it? Is cross country skiing comparable to running or taking a walk in terms of effort?
@Rachel I think for first time skiers it can be exhausting – but if you stick with the flats and take a few lessons you’d be skiing in no time. Cross country skiing can be one of the most aerobic sports you do – but it all depends on how much effort you want to put out.
@Ukash It was super.
Wow! Mt. Ball is absolutely stunning and love the setting for the lodge. That nice spread of food made my mouth-water as well. I think I’d do the hike-in option if I were to ever get the opportunity to visit there.
@Jackie Hiking up here in the summer would be so worth the effort. The views from teh chairs outside the cabins are superb.
Wow! These are so beautiful it almost makes me want to get out there and do some skiing. Almost. Sounds like a wonderful place though.
@Cindy You could actually get up there snowshoeing which is almost like walking….
Canada is gorgeous. These snow scenes, the lodge, the day trips – it is all so spectacular. Makes me feel like getting fit enough to do it. But then we are not used to snow so it would be very hard for us. How lucky you are to do this so regularly.
@Jan I am very lucky to have Banff NP so close by. I do make more of an effort than most people because it feels so good to get out there in the wilderness. And even when it’s very cold, it’s possible to comfortably cross country ski. You definitely do not have to be in great shape to so some of the trails I ski.