Castle Mountain in Banff National Park is one of the most recognizable sites in the park. Its Blackfoot name is Miistukskoowa. In 1858, James Hector named it Castle Mountain due to its castle-like shape. The mountain was renamed Mount Eisenhower in 1946, however public pressure was so great that it reverted to Castle Mountain in 1979. Don't worry about Eisenhower losing his mountain, the southeast pinnacle was renamed the Eisenhower Tower in his honour.

The Castle Mountain Lookout trailhead is easy to find as it is well marked. Heading West on the Bow Valley Parkway from the Castle Mountain Resort the trailhead is 5km up the road on the right-hand side just after the internment camp memorial.

Castle Mountain Lookout is a short hike of about 7.72km round trip. Parks Canada rates this hike a being moderately challenging. Although there are no technical sections, I suspect opinions vary about the trail’s difficulty level depending on your feelings about steady up and downhills. The first two km of the trail follows an old road through the forest. The trail is wide in this section.

This is the elevation profile for our hike. As you can see, there are no 'rest spots' where the trail levels out. Plan to spend 3 hours on this hike including time to enjoy the incredible views at the top. The hike itself took us 2.5 hours plus 30 minutes spent enjoying the view. Round trip, our hike was 7.72km with an elevation of 549m. This trail has a fairly high effort to reward ratio, but it is so worth it. Pack water, snacks and break out the hiking poles if your knees are bad because this hike it worth the effort required.

Castle Mountain Lookout Trail is one of the earliest day hikes to be snow free each spring. According to trail reports this year, there was snow and ice at the top on May 29 and only a few muddy sections left by June 1. Those sections were still a little muddy on June 8. We had a beautiful spring day for our hike.

Wow! The view from the lookout must be one of the most magnificent views in all the Canadian Rocky Mountains! The ultimate experience might be timing your hike for sunrise or the golden hour and to pack a picnic to enjoy from lookout. The view from this angle looks back towards Banff. I hear that on a really clear day you can even see the Three Sisters in Canmore from here.