Banff National Park Big Canoe Tour

Recommended by 97% of travelers

Banff, Canada

Popular pick

Booked 5+ times last week!

1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.9

· Tammy_Q ·

Sep 2025

We had the pleasure of having ABBEY as our guide and she was wonderful, kind and very caring. She very knowledgeable and she interacted with all of us. Great experience. The Lake was beautiful!

· dlblevins35 ·

Sep 2025

Definitely worth doing! Paddle upstream and then coast coming back. Wonderful picture opportunities. We saw a bald eagle before we even left the dock. Jesse was a wonderful guide and he made our experience so much more fun! The weather was perfect and that helped for sure!

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Overview

Delve deep into the Banff National Park and admire the scenery from the water on this canoe adventure. Paddle along the pretty Bow River and listen as your guide sheds light on centuries of Canadian history and heritage. Watch the riverbanks for sightings of native wildlife, a great activity for the whole family.

Canoe tour in the Banff National Park
Paddle through the Banff National Park by canoe with your guide
Keep watch for sightings of native animal and bird life
Gain insight into Banff’s rich native history

What's Included

Guide
GST (Goods and Services Tax)

Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Banff Canoe Club
Corner of Bow Ave and, Wolf St, Banff, AB T1L 1A8, Canada
Located on the Corner of Bow Avenue & Wolf Street, Banff

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

The Banff Canoe Club

Banff National Park

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible

Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 24 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Lia_C

What a great way to casually paddle up the Bow River and take in the beautiful mountains, trees and wildlife. Our tour guide, Cam, was fabulous, providing great information about the area and the wildlife. He pointed out an elk, an osprey, a loon and some geese. I would highly recommend this canoe tour to everyone!

Reviews

4.9

based on 303 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

We had the pleasure of...

Tammy_Q, Sep 2025

We had the pleasure of having ABBEY as our guide and she was wonderful, kind and very caring. She very knowledgeable and she interacted with all of us. Great experience. The Lake was beautiful!

Canoeing was Fantastic!

JIM_S, Sep 2025

Great time canoeing! Everyone was helpful getting us all set with life jackets and boarding the canoe. Our guide Abbey was knowledgeable and a great picture taker 😊 we would 100% recommend this trip on the river.

We really enjoyed the...

Rick_C, Sep 2025

We really enjoyed the tour with our guide Maddie. We learned a lot about the park and town, and the jokes were pretty good! I highly recommend this little excursion.

Easy big canoe tour

KimR_H, Sep 2025

This canoe ride was awesome. We saw a lot of wildlife as we rowed upstream and relaxed downstream on the Bow River.

Highly recommend doing this!

dlblevins35, Sep 2025

A perfect day on the water

Julie_W, Sep 2025

Darby was a great guide. Learned a lot about the area and animals . We saw about 18 elk, including 4 bull elk.

Very fun morning kayaking

Douglas_C, Sep 2025

We turned up at 11am and were met by lovely Claire, who quickly got us into our buoyancy aides. She gave us an informative brief talk about the wildlife in the area, what we may see/or more likely not see, and our route for the morning- we did see a Muskrat! We were really pleased that because it was a small group, Claire offered us to go in 2 person kayaks, which made for a great experience. Claire was informative along the way, but also kept the journey super chilled which we liked and appreciated. Overall, 10/10 activity, and kudos to Claire especially.

Our leader was Abbie who...

Teresa_B, Sep 2025

Our leader was Abbie who was amazing , full of knowledge of the local area and animals . Well worth the experience !

beautiful Bow River!

Raquel_S, Sep 2025

Such a beautiful day to canoe. I love this Bow River big canoe experience with all the vibrant colors of the blue skies and the surroundings. Next time, a smaller canoe for a better river experience.

Highly recommend this activity

Prasad_C, Aug 2025

I and my wife had lot of fun with the activity and enjoyed the beautiful views. Our Guide was brilliant. It would have helped if parking instructions were provided as it would have saved us time time and trouble figuring out ourselves.

Great guide Mardi who...

marilyn_l, Aug 2025

Great guide Mardi who gave us an informative talk about the river , animals and all the sites around the river - loads of fun

Canoe Tour

Krista_B, Aug 2025

Maddie was a great guide. We had a great time with our group paddling down the river enjoying the view.

Great family adventure!

DaraLynn_R, Jul 2025

Our family had an incredible time canoeing down the Bow River. The views were incredible, the water was beautiful, and our guide Darby was great. Highly recommend this excursion for anyone visiting the area!

Easy ride with enjoyable guide

Teresa_S, Jul 2025

Jessie, our guide from Australia, made our Big Canoe Tour fun and informative. The rowing was easy and we laughed a lot as we glided along the beautiful Bow River. Saw ospreys and a bald eagle too.

Fun paddle on the Bow River.

Rick_N, Jul 2025

Fun trip with great views. Phone safe (you will not get wet). Some exertion as you paddle upstream, but not too intense. Stephanie is great.

Serene experience

Syed_I, Jul 2025

Great experience and peaceful with a great and knowledgeable tour guide Fergus. It was such a nice experience seeing the river from this perspective especially with a knowledgeable and experienced tour guide.

Cruisin down the Bow

Christine_M, Jul 2025

We opted to join a group for this activity as opposed to renting a canoe ourselves. Was just a personal preference as we'd been running pretty hard and were looking for something a little less strenuous for the morning. Was a terrific group of people and Cam really educated us on the area and was very personable! Would highly recommend.

Great Canoe ride with great scenery

Yohan_G, Jul 2025

Nice scenic canoe ride down the Bow river with a very informative and interesting guide. My family and I had a great time and the scenery was stunning.

Canoeing on Bow River

Karen_G, Jul 2025

It was an hour and a half canoe trip on the Bow River. Our group paddled up river a bit with guidance and then the return was mostly relaxing and taking in the spectacular views. You don’t need any experience to enjoy this. Our tour guide was outstanding and provided lots of information and great stories. We fortunately had beautiful weather that day.

Relaxing canoe ride, beautiful scenery!

Lia_C, Jun 2025

Great scenery and tour...

Bercie_P, Jun 2025

Great scenery and tour guide. Not much more I can say about it. The survey is too long though. Cam was great!

It’s amazing! I would...

Mayra_G, Jun 2025

It’s amazing! I would absolutely do this again. Everyone was so nice and it was so informative!!!! We had so much fun.

The tour guide was very...

Denise_R, Jun 2025

The tour guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. The crew made safety a priority. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful!

Great Unique Experience

Thomas_S, Oct 2024

Fun and entertaining at the same time. Our guide , Ian, made the experience so much better. He is a real professional

Very nice

Michelle_H, Oct 2024

Our guide, Ethan, was OUTSTANDING!! He made the experience fun & so memorable!! We could not ask for a better guide. I only gave 4 stars because it was more strenuous than I thought it would be. But still fun & LOVED Ethan!

Must Do!

Chavery_M, Oct 2024

We had a great time and would definitely do it again! Our tour guide was fantastic, very knowledgeable, safe and funny! Even made my little one feel confident in paddling. Must do!

Fun group activity

Christina_F, Sep 2024

Beautiful views and a fun group activity. The tour guides really do their best to make sure you have a good time. Bri was excellent! Such a fun personality and very educational too!

Fun & Informative Canoe Ride

Wani_A, Sep 2024

Alec was such an amazing and knowledgable guide! I learnt many new things about the wildlife in Banff, and we're on a canoe tour! He has such great passion that it made me super excited for the ride. His stories were the best, we learnt about The Boss from him and I wished we did see him! It was such a fun and chill canoe ride, absolutely love it.

Fun and enjoyable

Lisa_W, Sep 2024

Alec was a great guide. He was informative and the setting was pristine. Everyone was very friendly and made sure everyone felt welcome

Rowing in the rain

Mimi_M, Sep 2024

Although it was raining quite heavily, Jacob did a good job in keeping us entertained despite the adverse weather. I would still recommend the tour as it could be an opportunity to spot some wildlife!