Bald Hills Hike is the easiest hike to the mountain top in Jasper National Park. With panoramic views of Maligne Lake and the valleys surrounding it, the best view to effort ratio is hard to beat.

While there is no shortage of hikes to the mountain tops in Jasper, they usually require a full day and the trail is steep as you gain elevation. But not on Bald Hills. Even though it’s technically a hill and not a mountain, you will definitely get a feeling of being on top of the world when you see the views from the summit. Plan your trip with our comprehensive travel guide to Jasper National Park.

In this post you will read why we liked this hike (and you will as well), where is the trailhead, when is the best time to go and lots of photos so you know what to expect on the trail.

The Maligne Lake area, where the trailhead to Bald Hills is located, is a very popular place. Visitors can rent a canoe and paddle around the lake, take a boat tour to the Spirit Island – the famous photo location, and more adventurous travellers can rent a canoe and paddle around the lake for a few days while staying at backcountry campgrounds.

There are several hiking trails starting from Maligne Lake and Bald Hills Hike is our favourite.

More hiking ideas:

Pros & Cons of the Bald Hills Hike

Pros:

A great mountain top hike for little effort
Ideal for beginners due to little elevation gain
A prime area for wildlife
The trail is signed and easy to follow
Escaping the crowds at the popular Maligne lake area

Cons:

Half of the trail is in the forest with no views

Where are Bald Hills

Bald Hills are located in Jasper National Park, around 49 km from the town of Jasper. Even though it might seem far away, there are plenty of activities you can do on the way besides hiking. The Maligne Lake area, from which this hike starts, is so beautiful that everyone visiting Jasper goes there. For even more ideas, read our post about 65 adventurous things to do in Jasper.

The end of Maligne Lake Road below is where the parking lot and trailhead are located.

How to get to Bald Hills

Because Jasper doesn’t have any public transport or shuttles, the only option is to rent a car and drive there yourself. If you want to make the most of your time, the same goes for any national park in the Canadian Rockies.

From Jasper, head north on Yellowhead Highway and then take the first right to Maligne Lake Road. You will pass the Maligne Canyon and follow the road all the way to Maligne Lake.

Once you arrive at the lake, drive past all the buildings and cross the Maligne River bridge until you arrive at the end of the paved road and a parking lot. You’ll see an old fire road with a kiosk that is the start of the Bald Hills Hike.

Bald Hills Hike in Jasper National Park

Distance: 12 km (3-4 hours)
Elevation gain: 550 m
Maximum elevation: 2,300 m
Difficulty: moderate (the trail is not technical or rocky)
Best time to go: late June to late September
Gear: water (there’s no option along the way to fill up your bottle), windproof jacket, running shoes, bear spray

Bald Hills trail map

(You will read below the reason we only hiked 9.5 km)

We arrived at Maligne Lake in the afternoon. The hiking season was barely starting as we will learn later on. We weren’t even sure how long the hike would take as we were tired from previous very active days. Luckily, the sun sets very late in June and you can hike almost until 10 pm.

We located the kiosk at the old dirt fire road and started the hike, at this time it was more of a walk. The first 2.5 km is almost entirely flat on the dirt road with little elevation gain.

From this point, there is a sign which divides the trail:

You can either continue on the fire road which is longer but also less steep. You go basically around the hill and then up.
Or you can turn left and hike on a narrower trail through the forest. This trail is half the distance but steeper.

Either way, you arrive at the same place and continue on the main trail.

We chose the latter as we wanted to have the boring part in the forest behind us sooner. If you choose this trail, keep an eye on the sign on the left-hand side in the forest at about 2.5 km. The steep climb seemed never-ending but it’s only 1.5 km.

Once that part was behind us, the views opened up. They truly are spectacular. You can see the majority of Maligne Lake and surrounding peaks. And because we’ve visited so early in the season, there were absolutely no people around.

The end of the trail through the forest was flat and we saw the top of the Bald Hills in front of us. It was a very hot day but the trail was still muddy from melting snow and we encountered more snow than expected.

What started as ankle-deep snow with footprints from previous hikers quickly turned into knee-deep. At this point, I’m sure we didn’t follow the trail as it was nowhere to be found and covered in snow. So we followed someone else’s footprints until they stopped and the snow was more than one meter high. We struggled for a while fully determined to get to the top.

We were literally forced to give up just below the summit because our hands and feet were frozen. The snow was just too high to struggle with. We warmed up with a hot tea, enjoyed the quietness, the sunset views and headed back down. Nevertheless, after 2.5 hours it was still a good hike.

If you visit in dry conditions, you will follow the trail to the summit and then continue on the ridge, making a loop on top.

Another great day in Jasper ended spectacularly. Driving the Maligne Lake Road before sunset is a great opportunity to see wildlife. We saw a moose and six (!!) bears while watching a beautiful sunset at Medicine Lake.

TIP
Plan your trip with our suggested Jasper itinerary

Tips for Bald Hills Hike

National park fees

To visit any national park in Canada, you are required to purchase a Park Pass (daily or yearly).

10.50 CAD per person for a daily pass, 21 CAD for a group/family
72.25 CAD per person for a yearly pass, 145.25 CAD for a group/family

The yearly Discovery Pass is valid for all National parks in Canada. You can purchase it at the gate when you enter the national park, in the Visitor’s Centre or online here.

Staying in Jasper National Park

To have the most freedom and enjoy nature to the fullest while staying on a budget, we always recommend staying in the campgrounds. Jasper National Park has many of them with picturesque scenery (glacier view anyone?). Read our comprehensive guide about Camping in Jasper National Park for all camping info and lots of pictures of the campgrounds.

Road closure

For road closures due to avalanche dangers in Jasper National Park, check out the report from Parks Canada.

Accurate road conditions can be checked here.

Trail report

Before you head out, check current Bald Hills trail conditions on Trail Report from Parks Canada.

Packing list for Bald Hills Hike

Our hiking essentials include:

Paper map of the area and downloaded map of the hike on the phone
External battery for the phone (especially for using GPS on the phone)
Water, as there’s no stream to fill up on the hike
Extra snacks
Windproof & waterproof jacket (yes, in summer as well)
Fleece or down jacket as unexpected snowstorms happen in summer
My absolute favourite trail running shoes
Bear Spray

And a few other items as well. For a full list of our gear, check out our hiking packing list for summer in the mountains. You can see the full list with links to purchase our favourite gear on our Amazon page.

Bear country

As always in the Canadian Rockies, you are in bear habitat. You should always carry a bear spray (can be purchased at Visitor’s Centre or outdoor stores), know when and how to use it and make noise while hiking and running (so you don’ surprise any bears)! Carefully read these instructions on how to behave around them.

*In the spirit of full disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through them, we receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. We appreciate your support!

Our favourite hikes in the Rockies

Jasper National Park:

Canmore & Kananaskis Country:

Banff National Park:

Kootenay National Park:

Floe Lake

Yoho National Park:

Plan your trip to the Rockies

Did you hike to Bald Hills? Let us know about your experience in the comments below.

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2 Comments

Sandy on February 20, 2022 at 4:52 pm

You have described the hike to the fire lookout, not the Bald Hills hike. To start the Bald Hills hike you do not cross the Maligne River Bridge.
- Maya Steiningerova on March 8, 2022 at 10:35 pm
  
  There was no fire lookout on the Bald Hills. The kiosk photo you can see in the post is marking the start of the hike and it’s located after crossing the bridge, just across the parking lot.