Discover Grizzly Bears from Banff: Majestic Wilderness Adventure in Grizzly Refuge

Embark on a majestic wilderness adventure in the grizzly refuge near Banff. Ride a gondola for stunning views of grizzly country and witness an orphaned grizzly bear in its natural habitat.

Duration: 10 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • 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 ( rac{1}{3} mile) walk on a paved trail from the parking area to the base of the impressive falls.
  • 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.

  • Emerald Lake - There will be a brief stop at Emerald Lake, famous for its jade-coloured waters and surrounded by the breathtaking Rocky Mountains.
What's Included
  • 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)
What's Not Included
  • Optional gratuities
Additional Information

If you’re a fan of wildlife, this opportunity to explore the world of the grizzly bear shouldn’t be overlooked! Departing from Banff, you’ll embark on a gondola ride offering stunning views of grizzly territory, followed by a chairlift journey to a grizzly sanctuary. Here, you can watch a rescued grizzly bear frolicking and enjoying life in an environment designed to mimic their natural habitat.

  • 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.
Location
Mount Royal Hotel
Banff Avenue
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.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(122 Ratings)
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Tracy_b
Jul 6, 2024
Highly recommended wildlife/scenery tour - A great tour guide & we were a lucky enough to have a small group this day..spectacular scenery, great information as we drove around to various locations whilst watching out for local wildlife,which we found.A nice quick lunch ready for us as the top of the chair lift at KickingHorse .Highly recommended.
Review provided by Viator
Amyv749
Feb 15, 2024
Discover Grizzly bear tour! - Had a fantastic tour with Andrew going around Yoho national park and seeing Boo the bear. Andrew was a great tour leader, friendly, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and fantastic at keeping the tour on track 👌🏻 Loved hearing about the bears of Banff and learning the difference between black and grizzly. The only thing I didn’t realise was quite how much of the day was taken up by driving (just about half), as I couldn’t see this mentioned in the description of the tour. However, Andrew provided great narration to pass by the time and there were stops along the way at various land marks where you could take photos and have a comfort break. It was incredible seeing Boo the grizzly bear and learning about all the conservation. Really good experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mrsmdevon
Oct 7, 2023
Great day - We did this tour with Liam who was great and really friendly!It was a long day but really worthwhile, Takakkaw Falls was beautiful. Lunch and the visit to see Boo at Kicking Horse Resort was fabulous, the visit to Emerald Falls was brief but lovely
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dudsy
Sep 19, 2023
Brilliant - best tour of our trip !! - The whole trip was excellent - our guide was knowledgeable and obviously enjoyed his job - the lunch that was included was unexpected and again more than we could have hoped for. Great pics of Boo 🐻
Review provided by Viator
Wanderer733845
Sep 18, 2023
An Amazing Day in the Canadian Rockies! - We had the best time traveling to Kicking Horse Mountain with Roz, our guide for the day. She was so knowledgeable, fun, and very passionate about the area and Boo, the grizzly! We spotted Boo playing and splashing around in his pond he dug himself! The gondola was down during our scheduled lunch time, but we were able to ride it up later, and still had a lovely lunch in a restaurant below. The views were spectacular and Roz made it so much more enjoyable! Thanks so much!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
942jefr
Jul 3, 2024
Great itinerary and stars aligned on weather and bears - Fantastic itinerary. The Grizzly Reserve was fantastic, in part because we got to see Boo up close for over an hour. Guide had a great personality, but was newer to the job. Not an issue at the Reserve as the naturalists there were excellent. We would have loved a cooler of water on the bus, but not a big deal.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Paolo_a
Jul 2, 2024
Half of the time in the bus - the guide Cameron was very good, explained and showed a lot. the negative thing about this tour: we started in Banff, of the planned 10 hours we sat in the bus for 5 of them.
Review provided by Viator
Olverjenny
Jun 14, 2024
Special trip away from the Banff crowds. - A great day but be prepared for a long day of.driving. Takkakaw Falls are worth it. Emerald Lake is SO emerald. Boo the grizzly bear was well visible and Keepers” really knowledgeable. The gondola and chairlifts gave great views over Colombia Valley although the sunny weather helped that a lot. I felt we had seen some spots off the usual Banff tours track and was glad I went.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Terence_s
Jun 9, 2024
Bear Necessities. - Nice trip, Great to see Boo the Bear who came and said hello. Meal supplied was very enjoyable. (Beef Burger & Fries)
Review provided by Viator
Donna_g
Jun 23, 2024
False Advertising - Let me begin by sharing THIS IS A 11 HOUR BUS experience. This trip is NOT explained well on aviator, nor was the pickup location correct and they swapped out our lunch at the highest lookout point to the bottom of a ski resort! There is NO hiking, you could do this in sandals. The guide was wonderful and very informative about bears and Canada.
Review provided by Viator
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up to 9 guests
1 Adult
September 2024
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